The 2016 Hugo Award winners were announced on the weekend, and I was really happy to see that, despite the ongoing drama of the Sad / Rabid Puppies and their efforts to return science fiction to its “traditional” roots, the Hugos are continuing to reward innovative and diverse storytelling. I’m also stoked that my two favourite novels from 2015 have both picked up awards (and two of the most prestigious ones to boot!) – Naomi Novik’s Uprooted won the Nebula, and N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season won the Hugo. I wouldn’t have been able to pick one over the other, so I’m glad they were both recognized.

For those unfamiliar with the major awards in this multi-faceted genre, here’s a roundup of some of the major ones, and the winners/nominees for 2016 so far!

The Hugo Awards 

First awarded in 1953, the Hugos are given by the World Science Fiction Society. Anyone can actually nominate and vote on the Hugos by becoming a Worldcon member for the coming year. There are currently 14 categories, including best novel, best novella, best novelette, best short story, best graphic story, best dramatic presentation (long and short). See http://www.thehugoawards.org/ for the full list.

2016 Winners Include:

• Best Novel: The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
• Beset Novella: Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
• Best Graphic Story: The Sandman: Overture, by Neil Gaiman

 

The Nebula Awards

Established in 1965, the Nebulas are presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and honour the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. There are 6 categories: best novel, best novella, best novelette, best short story, the Ray Bradbury award for outstanding dramatic presentation, and the Andre Norton award for young adult science fiction and fantasy. See http://www.sfwa.org/ for more.

2016 Winners Include:

• Best Novel: Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
• Best Novella: Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
• Andre Norton Award: Updraft, by Fran Wilde

 

The Bram Stoker Awards

Presented by the Horror Writer’s Association, this has been awarded for “superior achievement” (rather than “best”) in horror and dark fantasy writing since 1987. There are currently 11 categories, including: novel, first novel, short fiction, long fiction, and young adult fiction. More information – and a better look at their amazing trophy – here: http://horror.org/awards/stokers.htm

2016 Winners Include:

• Superior Achievement in a Novel: A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay
• Superior Achievement in a First Novel: Mr. Suicide, by Nicole Cushing
• Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel: Devil’s Pocket, by John Dixon

 

The Philip K. Dick Award

This award is given to the single best original paperback of the year, published the US. It’s a joint effort, currently presented by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, The Philip K. Dick Trust, and the Northwest Science Fiction Society, and was first presented in 1982. See http://www.philipkdickaward.org/ for more info.

2016 Winner: Apex, by Ramez Naam

And there are still a few of the major awards still to be distributed this year:

The World Fantasy Awards 

First presented in 1975, the World Fantasy Awards are given out for the best fantasy fiction by the World Fantasy Convention. Up until this year the trophy was a bust of a caricatured H.P. Lovecraft, but it has now been retired due to complaints that Lovecraft, while an important influence on the genre, cannot be representative of the entire genre due to his overt racism. No word on what the new trophy will be, although the World Fantasy Convention finished receiving submissions in April. The 2016 winners will announced in late October, and there are 10 categories. Read more at http://www.worldfantasy.org/

2016 Best Novel Nominees:

• The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
• Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
• Savages, by K.J. Parker
• The Chimes, by Anna Smaill
• A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay

 

The Arthur C. Clarke Award

This is a British award, given to the best science fiction novel published in the UK (although there’s no restriction on the author’s nationality, as long as the book was published in the UK – Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was the first winner). It was established in 1987, and, like the Philip K. Dick, is a single-category award. Read more at https://www.clarkeaward.com/

2016 Nominees:

• The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers
• Europe at Midnight, by Dave Hutchinson
• The Book of Phoenix, by Nnedi Okorafor
• Arcadia, by Iain Pears
• Way Down Dark, by J.P. Smythe
• Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

Sunburst Awards 

Canada’s own award for “excellence in Canadian Literature of the fantastic,”
this is a juried award for speculative fiction in 3 categories: adult, young adult, and short stories. It has been distributed since 2001. Find out more at http://www.sunburstaward.org/

2016 Shortlist Nominees for Adult Fiction:

• The Little Washer of Sorrows, by Katherine Fawcett
• Experimental Film, by Gemma Files
• Signal to Noise, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Daydreams of Angels, by Heather O’Neill
• The Affinities, by Robert Charles Wilson

 

I know this list of awards is woefully incomplete, so for a great run-down of more of the sf/fan/horror awards out there, check out http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/

Any ideas for 2017’s nominees yet?

– Kat