The nominees for the 2023 Robert E. Howard Awards have been announced by the Robert E. Howard Foundation.
THE ATLANTEAN—OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, BOOK
Requirements: Nonfiction work (print or digital), minimum 50,000 words, substantively devoted to the life and/or work of Robert E. Howard, published in the last calendar year.
Considerations: Reprinted works without significant revisions are not eligible. Award goes to the author or authors.
- Dennis McHaney (Ed.): Robert E. Howard in the Pulps (Lulu.com):
THE VALUSIAN—OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, BOOK (ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTION)
No Nominees
THE HYRKANIAN—OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, ESSAY
Requirements: Nonfiction essays (print or digital), no minimum word count, substantively focused on the life and/or work of Robert E. Howard, published in the last calendar year.
Considerations: Short blog posts, news, interviews, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works are not considered. Award goes to the author or authors.
- Remco Van Straten: “Conan in Holland”
- John Bullard & Bill Cavalier: “‘Is That Robert E. Howard?’: A Look At Two Photographs”
- Nicole Emmelhainz: “Gender Performativity in Howard’s ‘Sword Woman’” – New Edge Sword & Sorcery #0
- Willard M. Oliver: “Three Lost Interviews About Robert E. Howard”
THE CIMMERIAN—OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, SCHOLARSHIP (PEER-REVIEWED)
Requirements: Scholarly essays (print or digital), no minimum word count, substantively focused on the life and/or work of Robert E. Howard, published in the last calendar year in a peer-reviewed journal or collection.
Considerations: Can be awarded separately to an essay that appears in a book that wins the Valusian. Award goes to the author or authors.
- Anthony Conrad Chieffalo: “Gendered and Genrefied: Transgressive Heroism in Sword and Sorcery” in The Dark Man vol. 12, no. 2, Mar 2022
- Willard M. Oliver: “Howard and Strange Tales”
THE VENARIUM—EMERGING SCHOLAR
Requirements: Candidates must have recently begun making significant contributions to Howard scholarship through publications and/or presentations over the past few years.
Considerations: Previous winners are not eligible. Award goes to the individual.
- Anthony Conrad Chieffalo (“Gendered and Genrefied: Transgressive Heroism in Sword and Sorcery”)
- Antonio Marco Collares (Brazilian scholar focusing on Robert E. Howard, involved in many projects)
- Nicole Emmelhainz (Co-editor of The Dark Man, “Gender Performativity in Howard’s ‘Sword Woman’”)
THE BLACK LOTUS—OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, WEB-BASED
Requirements: Web-based content (i.e. digital magazine, journals, websites, blogs, podcasts, audiovisual/multimedia presentations, internet sites, etc.), substantively focused on the life and/or work of Robert E. Howard, new content must have been published in the last calendar year.
Considerations: Non-static social media like Facebook and Twitter would not be eligible. Award goes to site owner/administrator.
- The Cromcast: The Howard Days 2022 video recordings and the Cromcast Chronicle #3.
- Ståle Gismervik: The World of Robert E. Howard website and associated articles, interviews, and resources hosted there.
- Gary Romeo: The L. Sprague de Camp Fan website and associated reviews and articles.
THE COSTIGAN—LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT
Awarded for original creative writing that carries on the spirit and tradition of Robert E. Howard, to better recognize and celebrate his influence on future generations of writers.
Requirements: Fiction (i.e. short fiction, novels, comic books, etc.), in the spirit and tradition of Robert E. Howard, published in the last calendar year.
Considerations: Work must be substantial and original in content; translations and adaptations will not be considered. Award goes to the individual writer or writing team.
- Teel James Glenn (author): “The Cowboy and the Conqueror: A Bob Howard Adventure”
- Steven Hubbard (author): A Conspiracy of Ravens
- Andrew Leman & Sean Branney (writers): Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Black Stone
- David C. Smith (author): “Shadow of the Serpent” in Terra Incognita: Lost Worlds of Fantasy and Adventure
- M. Stirling (author): Blood of the Serpent
THE RANKIN—ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
Requirements: Visual media (painting, comics art & covers, film, etc.), directly related to the depiction of Robert E. Howard’s life, characters, or fictional worlds; published in the last calendar year.
Considerations: Work must be substantial and original in content. Award goes to the individual artist.
- Mahmud Asrar – cover/page artist for King Conan #1-6 (Marvel)
- Rodney Buchemi – page artist for Bêlit & Valeria: Swords vs. Sorcery #1-5 (Ablaze)
- Gio Guimarães – cover artist for O Rebelde (Script Editora)
- Stevan Subic – artist for Conan le Cimmérien–Xuthal la Crépusculaire (Éditions Glénat)
- Darell Tuchton – cover artist for Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Black Stone
THE BLACK RIVER—SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
- Jason Ray Carney – Editor of The Dark Man, organizer of SpiralCon and the Trigon Awards, promoted Robert E. Howard through a TED Talk and an article in the LA Review of Books – “Reading Sword-and-Sorcery to Make the Present Less Real”
- Stephen Roelants, Alexis and Yannis Metzinger: “The Sources of Fantasy: Robert E. Howard”
THE CROM AWARD
Nominees will be made, (if there are any nominations for it) and voted on only by the REHF Board of Directors.
THE BLACK CIRCLE AWARD
- Fred Blosser
- L. Sprague De Camp (Posthumous)
Additional nominees may be made by the REHF Board, but the final list will only be voted on by the REHF Board of Directors