Hugo Award for Best Fancast

Hugo Award for Best Fancast
Awarded for The best non-professional science fiction or fantasy video or audio series published in the prior calendar year
Presented by World Science Fiction Society
First awarded 2012
Most recent winner SF Signal Podcast (Patrick Hester)
Official website thehugoawards.org

The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was previously officially known as the Science Fiction Achievement Award.[1] It has been described by The Guardian and Litro Magazine as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".[2][3]

The Hugo Award for Best Fancast is awarded to the best non-professional audio or video periodical devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects. The fancast must have released four or more episodes by the end of the previous calendar year, at least one of which appeared in that year, and it must not qualify for the dramatic presentation category. It must also not provide or be published by an entity that provides a quarter or more of the income of any one person working on the fancast.[4] The name of the award is a portmanteau of fan and podcast. The Hugo Award for Best Fancast was first proposed as a category after the 2011 awards, and then appeared as a temporary category at the 2012 awards. Temporary awards are not required to be repeated in following years. The 2013 awards, however, did repeat the category, and afterwards it was ratified as a permanent category, and will appear in all future years.

Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the awards presentation constitutes its central event. Supporting members are those who do not attend the convention itself, and pay a smaller membership fee as a result. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with five nominees, except in the case of a tie. These five fancasts on the ballot are the five most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of fancasts that can be nominated. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of five nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held.[5] Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and are held in a different city around the world each year.[1][6]

During the 4 years the award has been active, 12 fancasts by 41 people have been nominated, and two of those fancasts have won. SF Squeecast, created by a team of five people, won the award in both 2012 and 2013, and declined to be nominated for 2014.[7] SF Signal Podcast, run by Patrick Hester, won the 2014 award.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the story was first published. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominated works.

  *   Winners

Year Fancast Editor(s) Ref.
2012 SF Squeecast* Thomas, Lynne M.Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, and Catherynne M. Valente [8]
The Coode Street Podcast Strahan, JonathanJonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe [8]
Galactic Suburbia Podcast Krasnostein, AlisaAlisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Andrew Finch [8]
SF Signal Podcast DeNardo, JohnJohn DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester [8]
StarShipSofa Smith, Tony C.Tony C. Smith [8]
2013 SF Squeecast* Bear, ElizabethElizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente, and David McHone-Chase [9]
The Coode Street Podcast Strahan, JonathanJonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe [9]
Galactic Suburbia Podcast Krasnostein, AlisaAlisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Andrew Finch [9]
SF Signal Podcast DeNardo, JohnJohn DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester [9]
StarShipSofa Smith, Tony C.Tony C. Smith [9]
2014 SF Signal Podcast* Hester, PatrickPatrick Hester [10]
The Coode Street Podcast Strahan, JonathanJonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe [10]
Galactic Suburbia Podcast Krasnostein, AlisaAlisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Andrew Finch [10]
The Skiffy and Fanty Show Duke, ShaunShaun Duke, Jen Zink, Julia Rios, Paul Weimer, David Annandale, Mike Underwood, and Stina Leicht [10]
Tea and Jeopardy Newman, EmmaEmma Newman [10]
Verity! Stanish, DeborahDeborah Stanish, Erika Ensign, Katrina Griffiths, L. M. Myles, Lynne M. Thomas, and Tansy Rayner Roberts [10]
The Writer and the Critic McDermott, KirstynKirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond [10]
2015 Adventures in SF Publishing Bower, BrentBrent Bower, Kristi Charish, Timothy C. Ward, and Moses Siregar III [11]
Dungeon Crawlers Radio Swenson, DanielDaniel Swenson, Travis Alexander, Scott Tomlin, Dale Newton, and Damien Swenson [11]
Galactic Suburbia Podcast Krasnostein, AlisaAlisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Andrew Finch [11]
The Sci Phi Show Rennie, JasonJason Rennie [11]
Tea and Jeopardy Newman, EmmaEmma Newman and Peter Newman [11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Locus index to SF Awards: About the Hugo Awards". Locus. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  2. ↑ Jordison, Sam (2008-08-07). "An International Contest We Can Win". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  3. ↑ Cleaver, Emily (2010-04-20). "Hugo Awards Announced". Litro Magazine. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  4. ↑ "Hugo Award Categories". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  5. ↑ "The Hugo Awards: Introduction". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  6. ↑ "World Science Fiction Society / Worldcon". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  7. ↑ Gallo, Irene; Engle-Laird, Carl; Bourke, Liz; Landon, Justin (2014-04-22). "Rocket Talk, Episode 5: The Hugo Awards". Rocket Talk. Tor.com. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "2012 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2012-04-09. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "2013 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 "2014 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 "2015 Hugo and Campbell Award Finalists". Locus. 2015-04-04. Retrieved 2015-04-04.

External links