Kowal, Shearman Will Co-Host Retro-Hugo Ceremony

Loncon 3 will spread the Hugo presentations over two evenings, giving the Retro Hugos on Thursday, August 14 and the Hugo Awards on Sunday, August 17.

The committee announced today that the Retro Hugo Awards ceremony will be co-hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal and Robert Shearman.

Kowal1-300x297Kowal is excited about the gig — and she is even enlisting her fans to help pick what she’s going to wear:

I have been sitting on this news since February, which was not easy. I mean, there’s a live band; we’re incorporating a radio play into the script. I might be singing. Robert Shearman is a delight and a seriously brilliant playwright. Well, I mean, he’s a brilliant writer in general, but I’m a huge geeky fan of his plays.

And I get to wear a pretty, pretty dress.

Here are four evening gown patterns from 1939. Ignoring the color, which one would you like to see me wear for the night of the Retro Hugos?

Kowal is the author of the Glamourist Histories series of historical fantasy novels. She won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008, and her short story “For Want of a Nail” won the Hugo Award in 2011.

Robert ShearmanRobert Shearman is well-known for reintroducing the Daleks to the first season of the revived Doctor Who, in an episode that was a finalist for the Hugo Award. He has written four short story collections, which have won the World Fantasy Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Edge Hill Readers Prize, and three British Fantasy Awards. His background is in the theatre and his plays have won the Sunday Times Playwriting Award, the Sophie Winter Memorial Trust Award, and the Guinness Award in association with the Royal National Theatre.

Adding to the evening’s retrohistorical atmosphere, the Brideshead Ballroom Stompers will join the hosts on stage. The dance band was originally formed in 2007 to provide music for the ballroom scene in the movie adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.

Loncon 3 still has yet to name a new host for the Hugo Awards ceremony, after Jonathan Ross withdrew amid controversy hours after being selected.

The full press release follows the jump.

MEDIA RELEASE #21

Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention

14-18 August 2014 at ExCeL London

http://www.loncon3.org

[email protected]

Mary Robinette Kowal and Robert Shearman to co-host Retro Hugo Awards ceremony

London, 13 May 2014 – Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”) taking place at the ExCeL in London 14-18 August, is pleased to announce that the Retro Hugo Awards ceremony will be co-hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal and Robert Shearman. They will be joined on stage by the Brideshead Ballroom Stompers for an awards evening full of music, celebration and surprises. The ceremony will take place at 8 pm on Thursday 14 August in the ICC Auditorium at ExCeL; it will also be streamed live on Ustream.

The Retro Hugo Awards celebrate the science fiction that attendees would have known at the time of the very first Worldcon, which was held in New York 75 years before Loncon 3. The Retro Hugos use the same rules and categories as the current awards, with parallel voting processes. If you can vote for the 2014 awards, you can vote for the 1939 awards.

Loncon 3 co-chairs Steve Cooper and Alice Lawson said: “We are thrilled to announce that Mary Robinette Kowal and Robert Shearman will be our co-hosts for the Retro Hugo Awards ceremony. They are both outstanding professionals in science fiction and fantasy and sought-after performers and dramatists, so this ceremony will be a must-see event for the more than 5,000 people who have already bought attending memberships for Loncon 3.”

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Glamourist Histories series of historical fantasy novels. In 2008 she received the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2011, her short story “For Want of a Nail” won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story. Her work has been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Her stories have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Clarkesworld Magazine, and several “year’s best” anthologies. Mary is also a professional puppeteer who has performed for LazyTown (CBS), the Center for Puppetry Arts, and Jim Henson Pictures, and is the founder of Other Hand Productions. She also performs as a voice actor, recording fiction for authors such as Elizabeth Bear, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi.

Robert Shearman has written four short story collections, which have won the World Fantasy Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Edge Hill Readers Prize, and three British Fantasy Awards. His background is in the theatre, and he is the resident dramatist at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, and a regular writer for Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. His plays have won the Sunday Times Playwriting Award, the Sophie Winter Memorial Trust Award, and the Guinness Award in association with the Royal National Theatre. He has won two Sony Awards for his interactive radio series The Chain Gang, and is well known for reintroducing the Daleks to the BAFTA-winning first season of the revived Doctor Who, in an episode that was a finalist for the Hugo Award.

Full details of the Retro Hugo Awards history and voting processes are available on the Loncon 3 web site at http://www.loncon3.org/1939_retro_hugos.php

Full details of how to become a member of Loncon 3 are available at http://www.loncon3.org/memberships/

ENDS

For more information please contact [email protected]

Images of the co-hosts are available:
Mary Robinette Kowal: http://www.loncon3.org/images/Kowal.jpg (© 2012 Rod Searcey)
Robert Shearman: http://www.loncon3.org/images/Rob_Shearman.jpg

ABOUT THE WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION

Founded in 1939, the World Science Fiction Convention is one of the largest international gatherings of authors, artists, editors, publishers, and fans of science fiction and fantasy. The annual Hugo Awards, the leading award for excellence in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, are voted on by the Worldcon membership and presented during the convention.

Loncon 3 is the trading name of London 2014 Ltd, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England, company number: 7989510. Registered Office: 176 Portland Road, Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1DJ, UK.

“World Science Fiction Society”, “WSFS”, “World Science Fiction Convention”, “Worldcon”, “NASFiC”, “Hugo Award”, the Hugo Award Logo, and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Trophy Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.