Two first-time fan Hugo winners honored at the Chengdu Worldcon have permanently recused themselves from future consideration.
Best Fancast winner Hugo, Girl! told readers:
And Chris M. Barkley said in his Best Fan Writer acceptance speech:
For more examples of fans who have, in recent years, recused themselves temporarily or permanently from Hugo contention, read here.
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Strange attitude – I mean, you’re good but perhaps not THAT good so you’ll get another one… Humble guys they ain’t!
This is a very classy move.
I don’t see it as a strange attitude, Jan. I see it as not wanting to be a ballhog. There are a lot of Hugo worthy winners, and it is true that the conservative laziness of people can lead to people voting for winners again and again out of habit or unwillingness to look at the other finalists.
@Jan
I seem to recall Martha Wells also recused herself from at least one year; she already has several awards and wanted other authors to have a better chance.
There really should be a permanent (perma-linked) list now.
Jan-Erik: Fanwriter and Fanzine are categories that have a history of being repeatedly given to the same few people (and having many of the same people repeatedly nominated), so proactively taking oneself out of the running isn’t so much arrogance as a firm support of the position that fandom should look widely for worthy finalists and winners.
I’d add that there is more stress than you might expect from being a Hugo finalist. The validation is nice but it is weird to feel you are being voted on.