Hugo Award for Best Novel
| Hugo Award for Best Novel | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | The best science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000 words or more published in the prior calendar year |
| Presented by | World Science Fiction Society |
| First awarded | 1953 |
| Most recent winner | N. K. Jemisin (The Fifth Season) |
| Official website | thehugoawards.org |
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,000 words or more; awards are also given out in the short story, novelette, and novella categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
The Hugo Award for Best Novel has been awarded annually by the World Science Fiction Society since 1953, except in 1954 and 1957. In addition to the regular Hugo awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro Hugos may only be awarded for years in which a World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, was hosted, but no awards were originally given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been given for novels for 1939, 1941, 1946, 1951, and 1954.
Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. 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 novels on the ballot are the five most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of stories that can be nominated. The 1953 through 1958 awards did not include any recognition of runner-up novels, but since 1959 all five candidates have been recorded. 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. Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and are held in a different city around the world each year.
During the 65 nomination years, 137 authors have had works nominated; 48 of these have won, including co-authors, ties, and Retro Hugos. Robert A. Heinlein has received the most Hugos for Best Novel as well as the most nominations, with five wins (including one Retro Hugo) and eleven nominations. Lois McMaster Bujold has received four Hugos on ten nominations; the only other authors to win more than twice are Isaac Asimov (including one Retro Hugo), Connie Willis, and Vernor Vinge, who have each won three times. Nine other authors have won the award twice. Larry Niven and Robert J. Sawyer have each been nominated eight times, but have only won once, while Robert Silverberg has the greatest number of nominations without winning at nine.
...
Wikipedia