Tag Archives: YA

Loncon 3 Nixes Experimental YA Hugo

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Steve Cooper, Co-Chair of the 2014 Worldcon, Loncon 3, said in a message to the Smofs list that a meeting of the full committee decided against introducing a YA special Hugo or YA award despite requests to use its one-time authority under the WSFS Constitution to do so.

Reasoning – As there is currently a business meeting sub-committee in place to bring forward proposals for a YA Hugo / Award to the WSFS business meeting at Loncon 3, we believe it would be wrong for Loncon 3 to pre-empt the workings of this committee, especially as they do not have a draft proposal we could test. So any such move would be seen as Loncon 3 giving an opinion that we believe X is the solution to the YA award, and as the administrating convention for the business meeting where the proposals will be tabled this would be inconsistent with the due impartiality the WSFS membership would expect of us.

Cooper added, “We do not plan to issue a press release on this as it is not our policy to announce things we are not doing, but many of the individuals who have lobbied us to run and not-run a YA Special Hugo have been informed of our decision. People on this list are free to pass on our decision to others not on-here, but we would ask that the decision in full – including the reasoning – is quoted.”

Advocates for a YA Hugo category Chris M. Barkley and Juli Marr responded on Facebook expressing “profound disappointment” about the decision and criticizing the way it was communicated. They also rebutted the reasons given for the decision.

That being said, we would like to reiterate several points; the call for this Special award would have served a dual purpose; to see if the idea a of YA award had any traction with the Hugo Award electorate and for the Hugo Award administrators to provide the YA Committee (and the Business Meeting) any indications of problems that may have occurred during the nomination or voting process.

While we acknowledge the Committee’s reasoning for not presenting the award, we maintain that such an award can be administered this year, without the appearance of prejudice or impropriety by the Committee towards the YA study group. Language from previous proposals could have been used for the expressed purpose of administering the award for this occasion.

However, In light of this decision, we can only look forward to the upcoming discussions of the YA study group over the winter. It is our fervent hope that we will present a viable YA Hugo Award proposal for passage at the Loncon 3 Business Meeting.

Experimental YA Hugo Urged

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Chris Barkley has started a Facebook discussion page for the Young Adult Book Hugo Award Proposal where he calls on fans to contact Loncon 3, the 2014 Worldcon, and ask the committee to exercise its right under the WSFS rules to create a one-time Best YA Book Hugo Award.

Barkley’s appeal reads —

Please tell the Loncon Three Committee how is vitally important that the viability of this category should be tested (as the Graphic Story and Podcast Hugo awards were before their inceptions as regular categories) and that authors, editors and that publishers of young adult fantasy and science fiction should be recognized and honored on an annual basis by one the premiere awards in genre literature.

He also reminds readers that the 2013 Worldcon Business Meeting appointed a YA Hugo study committee with Dave McCarty as Chair scheduled to make recommendations at Loncon 3.

Hugo Multiplication Tabled

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An impassioned march on the Worldcon Business Meeting is expected Friday morning to make sure no Hugos are subtracted. Then, depending on how much of the agenda survives the preliminary meeting, members may get a chance on Saturday to play Santa by adding two new Hugos and radically expanding eligibility for another.

For the third consecutive year voters will be asked to create a YA Hugo category. This time called Best Youth Book, the Hugo would be given to “a science fiction or fantasy book published in the previous calendar year for young adults, middle readers, or children.”

The 2012 motion to create a Best Young Adult Fiction Hugo failed 51-67, however, losing a relatively close vote represented an improvement from the year before when the YA Hugo motion never made it to the floor, being disposed of by a vote to object to consideration.

Attendees of this year’s Business Meeting will also be invited to further subdivide the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo by adding a category for short length works.

Proposed by Eemeli Aro and seconded by James Bacon, John Coxon, and Jesi Pershing, this new Hugo would be given to a “video, audio recording or other production, with a complete running time of less than 15 minutes, in any medium of dramatized science fiction, fantasy or related subjects.”

They say an extra category will “provide a more even ground for the promotion and popularization of both more and less professional short films, filk songs, commercials, and even acceptance speeches” which are now being overwhelmed by episodes of TV shows.

The existing Long Form category would continue to cover work more than 90 minutes in length, but be renamed “Best Dramatic Presentation, Feature Length Long Form.” The Short Form category would become “Best Dramatic Presentation, Mid-Length Short Form” and cover works 15 to 90 minutes in length.

Lastly, Joshua Kronengold and Lisa Padol want to transform the Best Fan Artist Hugo into something that can also be won by “musical, dance, jewelry and costuming artists.”

The new eligibility definition would be — “An artist or cartoonist working in any visual or performance medium whose work has appeared through publication in semiprozines or fanzines or through other public, non-professional, display (including at a convention or conventions) during the previous calendar year.”

Illustrators and cartoonists appearing in fanzines and semiprozines would remain eligible. Kronengold and Padol, in a commentary, say animators and artists working in special effects would also be eligible. But the motion’s fate could depend on wooing votes from costumers and filkers onsite at LSC3. Saturday is also the day of the masquerade, so costumers might need to juggle the demands on their schedules if they want to vote for the change.

Chicon 7 Votes on Hugo Rules Changes

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The Main Business Meeting at Chicon 7 ratified the new Best Fancast category [PDF file], most of the changes to the Semiprozine and Fanzine Hugo categories [PDF file] first passed at Renovation in 2011, the existing Best Graphic Story category — which faced a sunset date — and rejected a motion for new Best Young Adult Fiction category.

The Best Fancast category was passed last year and Chicon 7 exercised its option to place it the 2012 Hugo ballot. Best Fancast recognizes fan podcasts, videos, etc. — and effectively removes them from the fanzine category. Statistics provided to the Business Meeting showed on its trial run this year Best Fancast had participation levels that favorably compared with the fanzine category in terms of nominating vote totals and number of items nominated. The ratification vote sailed through without much comment. The category comes with a sunset provision, so it will come up again for review in a few years.

The redefinition of the Semiprozine and Fanzine categories had to get over a few more hurdles before being ratified, due to fans offering amendments.

Voters agreed to restore the phrase “or the equivalent in other media” that had been struck out of the existing Best Fanzine rules. The cover argument was that keeping the language protected the eligibility of publications done in electronic form, although that has been policy for years — the vast majority of fanzines are now created in digital media and distributed online. What the real effect of keeping “equivalent” in the rule will be is hard for me to say. Rich Lynch said he was comfortable with the outcome because the new requirement for “periodical publication” was retained.

Ben Yalow also convinced the meeting to adjust the new verification rule in the Semiprozine and Fanzine categories. Nominees will now “be required to provide information that they meet the qualification of their category” instead of being “required to confirm…” Yalow felt the original wording implied an unwanted restriction on the powers of the Hugo Administrator.

The meeting also agreed to Rich Lynch’s housekeeping amendment to delete a few surplus words that had been unintentionally passed as part of the motion in 2011.

The Best Graphic Story category needed to be ratified once more at this year’s meeting to stay in the constitution, though of course it has been functioning for several years. We were told 344 nominating votes were cast in the category this year, for 244 distinct items, of which only 9 had 5% of the vote (a minimum eligibility standard). Two fans cited these stats as support for their opposing views, Chris Barkley saying it proved the category’s viability, Kent Bloom saying it showed the pool of Hugo-worthy works is very limited. Phil Foglio spoke in favor of keeping the category — one where he’s won nearly all the Hugos — humorously admitting, “Yes, at the moment we’re dominating, but you know, we’ll die someday…” Despite a lively controversy, the ratification easily passed.

The proposed Best Young Adult Fiction Hugo category aroused more passion. Some in favor argued the Worldcon would stunt its growth by rejecting the category, while opponents noted YA has no real definition and Ben Yalow said, “We don’t give out Hugos for marketing categories, we give Hugos out for works.” Lew Wolkoff contended there really wasn’t enough expertise among Hugo voters because many don’t read YA works unless something especially draws one to their attention. The motion failed 51-67.

Jane Yolen on YA Hugo Possibility

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Fans are divided over the proposal to add a Hugo category for YA books. No matter your opinion, it’s worth hearing what a leading YA author thinks about the idea.

Jane Yolen has enjoyed success in many literary categories and is renowned among YA audiences. Craig Miller had an opportunity to ask for her views. Here’s what she said about adding a YA book category to the Hugos:

All the YA and children’s book writers I know who do sf and fantasy WANT a Hugo within a designated category and don’t feel it would ghettoize the award at all. It will also make it much easier to “sell” sf/fantasy books to the teachers and librarians. They LOVE to see award stickers and lists of award winners and buy from those lists. It would make a huge difference.

[Thanks to Craig Miller for the story.]

YA Hugo Proposal

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A proposal to create a Best Young Adult Book Hugo category has been submitted to the Chicon 7 business meeting by Juli Hanslip, Lou Berger, Dan Kimmel, Stu Segal, Bobbi DuFault and Chris M. Barkley.

Barkley reports the category definition is:

(a) A young adult science fiction or fantasy book of any length published in the previous calendar year.

(b) Any work nominated in this category may not be simultaneously considered, if eligible, in any other fiction category.

(c) Two years after being implemented, this Constitutional Amendment may be repealed by a simple majority vote at the subsequent Main Business Meeting.

(A young adult book is defined as one in which the author(s) and/or the publisher specifically targeted a potential nominee to this intended audience. In the event of any confusion on the issue, the Hugo Administrator may inquire with the author(s) of potential nominated work for clarification.)

Note: The parenthetical phrase is part of the proposed rule.

Barkley and others submitted a YA Hugo motion last year at Renovation which was disposed of by a vote to object to consideration, although this was done in the expectation he would come back with a revision in 2012.

Shaun Tan Wins Children’s Lit Award

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Shaun Tan

Australian author/illustrator Shaun Tan has won the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, reports Publishers Weekly. It is the biggest prize for children’s and young adult literature, worth five million Swedish krona.

Melbourne-based Tan has illustrated more than 20 books, including The Rabbits (1998), The Lost Thing (2000), The Red Tree (2001), The Arrival (2006) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008).

His award citation, quoted in The Australian, reads: “Shaun Tan has reinvented the picture book by creating visually spectacular pictorial narratives with a constant human presence.”

[Thanks to Michael J. Walsh and Andrew Porter for the story.]

Denying the YA Mafia

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John Scalzi cannot believe there’s a conspiracy among YA writers to crush the careers of rival authors who say bad things about their books — it would just be too much bother:

Because, I gotta tell you, after everything else I do on a daily basis, I don’t have a lot of time left over to take your dreams, lovingly cradle them in my arms and then just when they feel safe fling them into a pit filled with gasoline and napalm and laugh boisterously while they shrivel and burn.

I guess John’s gotten awfully busy since he was elected President of SFWA. Because he always had time for those things when he was a fan writer.

[Thanks to Janice Gelb for the hilarious link.]

Baen Launches Redesigned Website

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Baen Books has spiffed up its website — www.baen.com – and reloaded it with free fiction and other features aimed at people who work with YA readers.

“Space Hero” by Patrick Lundrigan is the first free story, winner of the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest, co-sponsored by Baen Books.

Free tools for teachers, librarians and book groups also are available, to help them use Baen fiction to reach YA readers. There are author interviews, all-new teacher’s study guides and reading group discussion question topics. The first of these offerings is a guide to Robert A. Heinlein’s The Rolling Stones, written by Felecia McDuffie, PhD.

The full press release follows the jump.

Continue reading →

SF/Fantasy Talents Are Finalists
for Children’s Literature Award

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Shaun Tan and Diana Wynne Jones have made the shortlist for the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Literature Award. It is the world’s largest prize for children’s and young adult literature, amounting to SEK 5 million (over 700,000 US dollars). It is given annually to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature, and in children’s rights, around the globe. A jury selects the winner. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council.

 [Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]