Day: July 1, 2014

Retro-Hugo Voter Packet Available

~ Kevin ~ 1 Comment

The 1939 Retro Hugo voter packet is now available for download by Supporting, Attending, and Young Adult members of Loncon 3. The packet is an electronic package of nominated works made available by Hugo nominees and their publishers. The packet will remain available until voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Thursday 31 July 2014.

The 1939 Retro Hugos celebrate the science fiction and fantasy that fans at the very first Worldcon in 1939 would have known. The voter packet includes full editions of several of the works nominated for the Retro Hugos, though it was not possible to acquire permission for all of the nominated works to be included.

The 1939 Retro Hugo Awards will be presented at a ceremony on the evening of Thursday 14 August at a ceremony jointly presented by Mary Robinette Kowal and Rob Shearman, with music provided by the Brideshead Ballroom Stompers. The ceremony will be streamed live via the Internet to enable fans around the world to take part in this commemoration of the best of the science fiction and fantasy of 1939.

Full details of the 2014 Hugo and 1939 Retro Hugo Awards are available at the Loncon 3 website. Direct questions about the voter packets and the administration of the voting (such as questions about memberships and voting PINs) to Loncon 3, not to the Hugo Awards web site. We here at the Hugo Awards web site do not actually run the individual Hugo Award elections, so questions we receive can be delayed while we forward them to the current Worldcon for action.

Hugo and Retro Hugo Base Designs Selected

~ Kevin

After reviewing the design proposals, Loncon 3 has selected the winner of the design competition for the Loncon 3 Hugo Award bases.

The winning design for the 2014 award was submitted by Joy Alyssa Day. This is Ms. Day’s first Hugo base design. The base for the 1939 Retro Hugo will be created by Marina Gélineau, who also participated in the design competition. This is Ms. Gélineau’s second Hugo base; she previously designed the 2011 base awarded by Renovation. Both bases will be unveiled at the Opening Ceremony of Loncon 3 and will be on display throughout the run of the convention.

The actual Hugo Award trophy takes the form of a silver rocket. (The original concept by Jack McKnight and Ben Jason was inspired by the gleaming finned rocketships of Willy Ley.) The exact design has become standardized in recent years and the rockets are currently produced by British fan Peter Weston. The base on which the rocket is mounted is the responsibility of each Worldcon committee, and therefore the design changes each year, often inspired by the location of the convention.