Nominations for the 2011 Hugo Awards

Apr 25, 2011
Steve Rogerson

Colin Harris, Nik Whitehead and Vincent Doherty prepare to announce the nominees - Photo by Steve Rogerson

The nominations for the 2011 Hugo Awards were announced on 24 April 2011 simultaneously in Birmingham, England, and Seattle, USA.

The nominations for the 2011 Hugo Awards were announced on 24 April 2011 simultaneously at Illustrious, the annual British Science Fiction Convention in Birmingham, England, and at Norwescon in Seattle, USA. The awards were announced by Hugo administrator Vincent Docherty, Illustrious chair Nik Whitehead and Colin Harris, co-chair of the 2005 World Science Fiction Convention.

The presentation ceremony was unusual at the Birmingham event in that it was held during a masque ball with most of the audience and the presenters in fancy dress costumes. Sadly, the technology let people down as the plan was for nomination categories to be announced alternately between Birmingham and Seattle with the ceremony from the other country on a big screen. In the end, the link that worked fine in rehearsal failed and all the announcements had to be made at each ceremony.

The Birmingham event had regular cheers as five of the nominees were present in the audience - Aliete de Bodard, Mark Plummer, Claire Brialey, James Bacon and Cheryl Morgan.

Best Novel

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra); Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen); The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz, Pyr); Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit); and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin (Orbit).

Best Novella

The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010); The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Magazine); The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow); The Sultan of the Clouds by Geoffrey A Landis (Asimov’s, September 2010); and Troika by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club).

Best Novelette

Eight Miles by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010); The Emperor of Mars by Allen M. Steele (Asimov’s, June 2010); The Jaguar House, in Shadow by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s, July 2010); Plus or Minus by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s, December 2010); and That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made by Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010).

Best Short Story

“Amaryllis” by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010); “For Want of a Nail” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s, September 2010); “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010); and “The Things” by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010).

Best Related Work

Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001, by Gary K Wolfe (Beccon), The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing, by Mike Resnick and Barry N Malzberg (McFarland); Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea (Mad Norwegian); Robert A Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907–1948): Learning Curve, by William H Patterson, Junior (Tor); and Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler and Dan Wells.

Best Graphic Story

Fables: Witches, written by Bill Willingham, illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo); Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colours by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment); Grandville Mon Amour, by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse); Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler, colours by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton (Hypernode); and The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man, written by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo).

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves, directed by David Yates (Warner); How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (DreamWorks); Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner); Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright, directed by Edgar Wright (Universal); and Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales); Doctor Who: “The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang”, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales); Doctor Who: “Vincent and the Doctor”, written by Richard Curtis, directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales); "F*ck Me, Ray Bradbury", written by Rachel Bloom, directed by Paul Briganti; and "The Lost Thing", written by Shaun Tan, directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures).

Best Editor, Short Form

John Joseph Adams, Stanley Schmidt, Jonathan Strahan, Gordon Van Gelder and Sheila Williams.

Best Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders, Ginjer Buchanan, Moshe Feder, Liz Gorinsky, Nick Mamatas, Beth Meacham and Juliet Ulman.

Best Professional Artist

Daniel Dos Santos, Bob Eggleton, Stephan Martiniere, John Picacio and Shaun Tan.

Best Semiprozine

Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace, podcast directed by Kate Baker; Interzone, edited by Andy Cox; Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams; Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong; and Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H Segal.

Best Fanzine

Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer; Challenger, edited by Guy H Lillian III; The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon; and File 770, edited by Mike Glyer; and StarShipSofa, edited by Tony C Smith.

Best Fan Writer

James Bacon, Claire Brialey, Christopher J Garcia, James Nicoll and Steven H Silver.

Best Fan Artist

Brad W Foster, Randall Munroe, Maurine Starkey, Steve Stiles and Taral Wayne

John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2009 or 2010, sponsored by Dell Magazines. This is not a Hugo Award but is presented at the same time. The nominees are Saladin Ahmed, Lauren Beukes, Larry Correia, Lev Grossman and Dan Wells

About the Hugo Awards

The Hugo Awards are science-fiction’s top awards and are presented annually at the World Science Fiction Convention. The 2011 event will be from 17 to 21 August 2011 in Reno, Nevada, USA, and goes by the name Renovation.