Retro Hugos

'I sent out an email today with a proposal for changing the Retro Hugo awards. If you've been following the Hugo discussions on Twitter, you have some idea of why. Edited excerpt below.

"I think the Retro Hugos offer a wonderful opportunity to recover and better advertise the many excellent SF works that have been overlooked in our history. Unfortunately, it’s not clear to me that the awards have been working this way. At best, they often go to the same old names, reinforcing a ‘canon’ of SF already described in many anthologies and histories. At worst, ...the Retro Hugo awards come across as hostile to the works and people represented in that year’s Hugos.  That’s not the goal of the Retro Hugos, and it’s not the goal of Worldcon.
 ...my suggestions would be to focus on the award’s goal of introducing fans to lesser-known works and teaching us something about SF history. I’d suggest the following format changes:
1) make it a juried award, with the jury consisting of academics and critics who’ve done historical recovery work; 
2) reduce the slate from 12 or so awards to 1 or 2, which would allow for more fan engagement with the work(s) in question; 

3) make its guiding question not, ‘what works might have won in a given year’ but  ‘Which lesser-known SF works from the years of eligibility most speak to the genre and the SF community in 2022?’"





That's my suggestion. Thanks for listening.




Comments

  1. Andrew Burt2 August 2020 at 09:27

    That would make an excellent new award! But I don't think it's in the spirit of the Hugos. (Also bearing in mind that there may not be a lot of candidate material: What made it through the gauntlet to get published back then would typically be "more of the same" that fit the editorial (and reader) tastes of the day, and different voices than that would have had a hard time finding an editor who'd buy it, which in turn would keep many authors from even writing material like that because it would be hard to place. But a great idea for a new award!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Siobhan Carroll2 August 2020 at 09:52

      Thanks for the comment, Andrew! And yes, I agree about the difficulty of recovery work. That's one of the reasons I'd want a group of specialists on the case, with the freedom to range throughout history for a single (or at most, two) texts to discuss. As Jeannette Ng recently indicated, it's not like we're magically going to find a trove of "unproblematic" works to discuss. But if a jury has selected a work because they think it's relevant and if they've put thought into what it says to the community *now*, I think the discussion will be more productive.

      Delete
    2. Andrew Burt2 August 2020 at 14:06

      Maybe pitch it to SFWA President Mary Robinette Kowal, maybe it could be under the Nebula umbrella somehow. I don't know if a "retro Nebula" would be the right name, but they already have other non-Nebula awards like the Bradbury award, the Norton award, etc.

      Delete
  2. Andre Lieven2 August 2020 at 20:56

    This suggests making a new award, related to the juried Nebula Awards, so call it a Retro Nebula...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Siobhan Carroll3 August 2020 at 09:40

      My suggestion is aimed at the Worldcon community that runs the Retro Hugos and for whom those awards have become a problem. The Nebulas are run by a different community with a very specific remit (SFWA), and running a historical award wouldn't align with their mission.

      Since making this post, I've learned that SF already has a recovery award out there: the 'Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award', which I gather is associated with Readercon. (I'd be interested in who is currently administering that award and how they view its mission. ) The presence or absence of a Worldcon-based recovery award thus isn't a huge problem for fandom at large.

      However, the Retro Hugos are an issue for Worldcon members. My suggestion - aimed at the subset of Worldcon members who would be disappointed by the elimination of the award - is just one of many that are on the table re: addressing that issue.

      Delete
  3. Damien Sullivan2 August 2020 at 22:02

    If people get picky about the name, maybe have it be a new award? I suggest "Second Look"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dave Hook4 August 2020 at 13:21

    Siobhan, I like that you're thinking about how to make things better. I will admit I love the Retro Hugo Awards. I find that doing the research and reading to nominate and vote can introduce me to unknown gems and re-introduce me to classics I have loved. Regardless, I do sometimes despair of the quality of the nominations. And, given the 75 years that have passed, there can be things in these works that range from surprising to repugnant or worse.

    Right now, the decision to give Retro Hugo Awards is made by the sitting Worldcon that will be held 25 years (or multiple thereof) after they were not given. For example, after the 2018 Worldcon Site Selection for 2020 was held, ConZealand 2020 decided to do Retro Hugo Awards for 1945.

    Then, the Hugo Administrators for that Worldcon execute the whole process with the nominators and voters. That execution is per the current constitution of the World Science Fiction Society, which has fairly detailed requirements for the Hugo Awards, including the Retro Hugo Awards.

    Looking at various sources, Retro Hugo Awards can still be given at these future Worldcons: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2027, 2040 and 2042.

    Any changes to the Retro Hugo Award process requires amendments to the World Science Fiction Society constitution, introduced and then passed at two successive Business Meetings of the World Science Fiction Society (held at Worldcon).

    There is a Hugo Awards Study Committee, whose task is considering improvements/changes to the Hugo Awards. I did not see that they are looking at the Retro Hugo Awards, but that could change.

    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment