Hugo Award Finalists To Be Announced Saturday 19 April

~ Kevin

Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”), has announced that the finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and for the Retrospective (“Retro”) Hugo Awards for 1939 will be announced on Saturday 19 April, starting at 8:30 PM BST.

In their press release, Loncon 3 said that the number of nomination ballots received this year set a new response record. Participation in the Retro Hugos was also strong, and at least nine categories will feature on the ballot.

The nominations announcement will be live-streamed from Glasgow on UStream and broadcast simultaneously at two conventions in the United States.

The shortlists will be published through the Loncon 3 website immediately afterwards.

Conventions taking part in the announcement are:

  • Satellite 4, the British National Science Fiction Convention (Eastercon), in Glasgow, Scotland (8:30 PM BST).
  • Norwescon 37, one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier science fiction and fantasy conventions, in SeaTac, WA (12:30 PM PDT)
  • Minicon 49, Minnesota’s longest-running science fiction convention, in Bloomington, MN (2:30 PM CDT)

Nominations will also be released category by category via the Loncon 3 Facebook page and the Loncon 3 Twitter feed. TheHugoAwards.org regrets that we will not be able to do a CoverItLive event covering this year’s awards finalist announcement, although we do expect to be covering the award ceremonies themselves later this year.

Loncon 3 Co-Chair Alice Lawson said, “We are all delighted with the massive turnout, which confirms that interest in the Hugo Awards continues to grow to new heights.”

Co-Chair Steve Cooper added, “Loncon 3 will also be the 75th anniversary of the first Worldcon in New York in 1939, and members of the convention will be able to celebrate the early days of science fiction as a genre.”

After the announcement of the nominees, the final voting process will begin. Attending, Young Adult, and Supporting members of Loncon 3 will be able to cast final ballots up to 11:59 PM PDT on Thursday 31 July 2014. (Note that voting is limited to members of the current Worldcon only, and that the voting deadline is in North American Pacific Time, not UK British Summer Time.)

The winners of the Retro-Hugo Awards will be announced on Thursday 14 August. The 2014 Hugo Awards ceremony will be Sunday 17 August. Both events will take place during Loncon 3.

The full press release from Loncon 3 is available on their web site.