- Logo of the Canadian SF Works Database.
The 2011 Prix Aurora nominations are open until April 30. (Ballots have been accepted since January 8.) Auroras are only for Canadian citizens or landed immigrants — Canadian citizens living abroad also are eligible.
Three new categories have been added to the Auroras this year:
- Best Fan Filk
- Best Graphic Novel – English
- Best Poetry/Lyrics – English
Eligible works are listed at the Canadian SF Works Database.
[Via Auroran Lights.]
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At present, the new categories appear to allow filk singing fans to qualify in two categories — Best Filk *and* Best Fan Accomplishment (Other). This doesn’t strike me as altogether fair, but I believe I heard that the Great Big Heads who run the awards plan to discuss this point in future.
Actually, no. There are 2 filk categories: “Professional” and “Fan”. A person may be nominated in one category in a given year, not both. In general, Professionals are paid for their contribution while fans are not. Any confusion around nominations in the wrong category (any category, not just Filk) will be resolved by the Awards Committee, usually in the form of changing categories for submitted nominations.
Randy McCharles
2011 Aurora Awards Committee
@Randy: And yet the award committee’s own newsletter Auroran Lights #1 lists no professional filk category. How do you reconcile that with your comment?
@Mike: I am not sure what text in Aurora Lights #1 you are referring to. I am referring to the category definitions posted on the Awards web site. Professional filkers may qualify in the professional category “Best Poetry/Song”. A filker may not qualify there and in the fan category “Best Fan Filk” in the same year.
The original post seems to refer to 2 fan categories. I didn’t notice this on 1st reading (my fault) as the confusion mentioned hasn’t come up before. The confusion between Fan and Professional has.
@TarelWayne: “Best Fan Other” is a category for activities not included in other categories, therefore it is impossible to be nominated for “Best Fan Filk” and “Best Fan Other”.
There may be some confusion because the The Auroran article doesn’t indicate which of the three new awards are professional and which are amateur. “BEST POETRY/LYRICS” is a professional award, as is “BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL”. Anything that has “FAN” in the title is a fan award, anything that doesn’t is a pro award.
It isn’t impossible to be nominated for both a “Best Fan Filk” and “Best Fan Other”, but it would have to be for two different activities, as a Filk would not qualify for “other” any more. In the same way, a pro could be nominated for a Poem and for a Short Story in the same year, but they couldn’t be for the same piece of writing.