Sir Julius Vogel Award
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The Sir Julius Vogel Awards (formerly the New Zealand Science Fiction Fan Awards) are awarded each year at the New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in New Zealand science fiction, fantasy, and science fiction fandom. They are commonly referred to as the Vogels.
The awards have been presented since 1989. Due to the size of New Zealand's science fiction and fantasy communities, the awards cover both of these frequently intertwined genres and attempt to treat each equally. Originally, the awards were aimed primarily at fandom rather than at professional science fiction, but since 2002 the awards have been aimed more at the professional science fiction and fantasy community. This change accompanied a change in the organisation of the awards, which are now run by a national organisation SFFANZ (the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand). Prior to that time, they were organised on an ad-hoc basis by the organising committees of the national conventions, though with the support of the former national fan organisation the National Association for Science Fiction.
Categories change on an annual basis, but normally include best novel, short story, and dramatic presentation, and services to science fiction, as well as awards for fan writing, fan editing, fan art, and services to fandom.
The awards are named for Sir Julius Vogel, a prominent New Zealand journalist and politician, who became Prime Minister of New Zealand in the 1870s. He also, in 1889, wrote what is regarded as New Zealand's first science fiction novel, Anno Domini 2000 - A Woman's Destiny. The book pictured a New Zealand in the year 2000 where most positions of authority were held by women - at the time of writing, a radical proposition. In 2000, New Zealand's Head of State, Governor General, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and Attorney General were all women, as was the CEO of one of the country's largest companies, Telecom.
