Hugo Award for Best Novelette
The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of between 7,500 and 17,500 words; awards are also given out in the short story, novella and novel categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
The Hugo Award for Best Novelette was first awarded in 1955, and was subsequently awarded in 1956, 1958, and 1959, lapsing in 1960. The category was reinstated for 1967 through 1969, before lapsing again in 1970; after returning in 1973, it has remained to date. In addition to the regular Hugo awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro Hugos may only be awarded for years after 1939 in which no awards were originally given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been given for novelettes for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954.
During the 63 nomination years, 197 authors have had works nominated; 48 of these have won, including coauthors and Retro Hugos. 1 translator has been noted along with the author whose work she translated. Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, and Harlan Ellison both have received the most Hugos for Best Novelette at three, with Ellison having been nominated a total of six times, while seven other authors have won twice. Mike Resnick has had the most nominations at eight, and Ursula K. Le Guin and Greg Egan have been nominated seven times each. Fifteen other authors have been nominated at least four times, while Egan has the most number of nominations without winning.
Selection
Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the award presentation constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with six nominees, except in the case of a tie. The novelettes on the ballot are the six most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of stories that can be nominated. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held. Prior to 2017, the final ballot was five works; it was changed that year to six, with each initial nominator limited to five nominations. Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and are held in a different city around the world each year.Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the novelette was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature". Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the novelette was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.* Winners and joint winners
Year | Author | Novelette | Publisher or publication | Ref. |
1955 | * | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1956 | * | "Exploration Team" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
1956 | Galaxy Science Fiction | |||
1956 | "Brightside Crossing" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1956 | "Home There's No Returning" | No Boundaries | ||
1956 | "Home There's No Returning" | No Boundaries | ||
1956 | "Legwork" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1956 | Fantastic Universe | |||
1956 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1956 | "Who?" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1958 | * | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1959 | * | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1959 | "Unwillingly to School" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1959 | "Captivity" | ' | ||
1959 | "Reap the Dark Tide" | Vanguard | ||
1959 | ' | |||
1959 | "Second Game" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1959 | "Rat in the Skull" | If | ||
1959 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1967 | * | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1967 | "Call Him Lord" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1967 | "Apology to Inky" | ' | ||
1967 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
1967 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
1967 | Galaxy Science Fiction | |||
1967 | ' | |||
1967 | "For a Breath I Tarry" | Fantastic | ||
1967 | "This Moment of the Storm" | ' | ||
1968 | * | "Gonna Roll the Bones" | Dangerous Visions | |
1968 | "Wizard's World" | If | ||
1968 | "Faith of Our Fathers" | Dangerous Visions | ||
1968 | "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes" | Knight | ||
1969 | * | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1969 | "Total Environment" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1969 | "Getting Through University" | If | ||
1969 | "Mother to the World" | ' | ||
1973 | * | "Goat Song" | ' | |
1973 | "Patron of the Arts" | ' | ||
1973 | "Basilisk" | ' | ||
1973 | ' | |||
1973 | "Painwise" | ' | ||
1974 | * | ' | ||
1974 | "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1974 | "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" | ' | ||
1974 | ' | |||
1974 | "He Fell into a Dark Hole" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1975 | * | "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W" | ' | |
1975 | ' | |||
1975 | "Midnight by the Morphy Watch" | If | ||
1975 | "After the Dreamtime" | New Dimensions #4 | ||
1975 | "Extreme Prejudice" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1975 | "Nix Olympica" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1975 | ' | |||
1976 | * | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1976 | ' | |||
1976 | "And Seven Times Never Kill Man" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1976 | "San Diego Lightfoot Sue" | ' | ||
1976 | "Tinker" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1977 | * | Stellar #2 | ||
1977 | Future Power | |||
1977 | "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1977 | Galaxy Science Fiction | |||
1978 | * | "Eyes of Amber" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
1978 | "Ender's Game" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1978 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
1978 | "Prismatica" | ' | ||
1978 | ' | |||
1979 | * | "Hunter's Moon" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
1979 | "Mikal's Songbird" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1979 | ' | |||
1979 | "Devil You Don't Know" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1979 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1980 | * | "Sandkings" | Omni | |
1980 | "Homecoming" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1980 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
1980 | "Fireflood" | ' | ||
1980 | "Options" | ' | ||
1980 | "Palely Loitering" | ' | ||
1981 | * | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1981 | "Savage Planet" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1981 | "Beatnik Bayou" | New Voices #3: The Campbell Award Nominees | ||
1981 | ' | |||
1981 | ' | |||
1981 | ' | |||
1982 | * | "Unicorn Variation" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1982 | "Guardians" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1982 | ' | |||
1982 | ' | |||
1982 | ' | |||
1983 | * | "Fire Watch" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1983 | "Nightlife" | ' | ||
1983 | "Pawn's Gambit" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1983 | "Aquila" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1983 | "Swarm" | ' | ||
1984 | * | "Blood Music" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
1984 | ' | |||
1984 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1984 | "Slow Birds" | ' | ||
1984 | "Black Air" | ' | ||
1985 | * | "Bloodchild" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1985 | ' | |||
1985 | "Return to the Fold" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1985 | "Blued Moon" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1985 | "Silicon Muse" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1985 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
1985 | ' | - | ||
1986 | * | "Paladin of the Lost Hour" | ' | |
1986 | "Portraits of His Children" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1986 | ' | |||
1986 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1986 | "Dogfight" | Omni | ||
1986 | "Dogfight" | Omni | ||
1987 | * | "Permafrost" | Omni | |
1987 | "Thor Meets Captain America" | ' | ||
1987 | Stardate | |||
1987 | "Hatrack River" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1987 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
1988 | * | "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |
1988 | "Rachel in Love" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1988 | "Dinosaurs" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1988 | "Flowers of Edo" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1988 | "Dream Baby" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1989 | * | "Schrödinger's Kitten" | Omni | |
1989 | "Peaches for Mad Molly" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1989 | "Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance?" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1989 | Midnight Graffiti | |||
1989 | "Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1990 | * | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1990 | "For I Have Touched the Sky" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
1990 | "Everything But Honor" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1990 | "At the Rialto" | Omni | ||
1990 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1990 | "Dogwalker" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1991 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1991 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1991 | "Tower of Babylon" | Omni | ||
1991 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1991 | "Over the Long Haul" | Amazing Stories | ||
1992 | * | "Gold" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
1992 | "Dispatches from the Revolution" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1992 | "Miracle" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1992 | "Fin de Cyclé" | Night of the Cooters: More Neat Stories | ||
1992 | "Understand" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1993 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1993 | "Danny Goes to Mars" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1993 | "True Faces" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
1993 | "Suppose They Gave a Peace..." | Alternate Presidents | ||
1993 | "In the Stone House" | Alternate Kennedys | ||
1994 | * | "Georgia on My Mind" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |
1994 | "Dancing on Air" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1994 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1994 | "Deep Eddy" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1994 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1995 | * | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
1995 | "Cocoon" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1995 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1995 | "Solitude" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
1995 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
1995 | Crank | |||
1996 | * | "Think Like a Dinosaur" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1996 | "When the Old Gods Die" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1996 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
1996 | "Must and Shall" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1996 | "Luminous" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1996 | "TAP" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1997 | * | "Bicycle Repairman" | Intersections | |
1997 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1997 | "Mountain Ways" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1997 | "Beauty and the Opéra or The Phantom Beast" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1997 | "Age of Aquarius" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1998 | * | "We Will Drink a Fish Together..." | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1998 | "Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1998 | "Moon Six" | SF Age | ||
1998 | "Broken Symmetry" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
1998 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1999 | * | "Taklamakan" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1999 | "Echea" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1999 | "Zwarte Piet's Tale" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
1999 | "Steamship Soldier on the Information Front" | Future Histories | ||
1999 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
1999 | "Time Gypsy" | ' | ||
2000 | * | "1016 to 1" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
2000 | "Stellar Harvest" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2000 | "Border Guards" | Interzone | ||
2000 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
2000 | "Fossil Games" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2000 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
2001 | * | "Millennium Babies" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
2001 | "On the Orion Line" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2001 | "Agape Among the Robots" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2001 | "Generation Gap" | Artemis | ||
2001 | "Redchapel" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2002 | * | "Hell Is the Absence of God" | Starlight #3 | |
2002 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
2002 | "Undone" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2002 | "Lobsters" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2002 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
2003 | * | "Slow Life" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |
2003 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
2003 | "Halo" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2003 | "Presence" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
2003 | "Madonna of the Maquiladora" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2004 | * | "Legions in Time" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
2004 | Scifi.com | |||
2004 | "Nightfall" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2004 | "Into the Gardens of Sweet Night" | Writers of the Future #19 | ||
2004 | "Bernardo's House" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2004 | "Hexagons" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2005 | * | ' | ||
2005 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
2005 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
2005 | "Biographical Notes to 'A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Airplanes', by Benjamin Rosenbaum" | All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories | ||
2005 | Scifi.com | |||
2006 | * | "Two Hearts" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |
2006 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
2006 | "TelePresence" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2006 | "I, Robot" | ' | ||
2006 | Scifi.com | |||
2007 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2007 | "Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
2007 | "Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2007 | "All the Things You Are" | Jim Baen's Universe | ||
2007 | "Yellow Card Man" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2008 | * | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
2008 | Logorrhea | |||
2008 | "Dark Integers" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2008 | "Glory" | ' | ||
2008 | "Finisterra" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
2009 | * | "Shoggoths in Bloom" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
2009 | "Pride and Prometheus" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
2009 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
2009 | Fast Forward 2 | |||
2009 | "Alastair Baffle's Emporium of Wonders" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2010 | * | ' | ||
2010 | "Eros, Philia, Agape" | Tor.com | ||
2010 | "It Takes Two" | Eclipse #3 | ||
2010 | "One of Our Bastards is Missing" | ' | ||
2010 | "Overtime" | Tor.com | ||
2010 | "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" | Interzone | ||
2011 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2011 | "Eight Miles" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2011 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
2011 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
2011 | "Plus or Minus" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2012 | * | "Six Months, Three Days" | Tor.com | |
2012 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
2012 | "Fields of Gold" | Eclipse #4 | ||
2012 | "Ray of Light" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2012 | "What We Found" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
2013 | * | Edge of Infinity | ||
2013 | Postscripts: Unfit For Eden | |||
2013 | "Fade To White" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2013 | "In Sea-Salt Tears" | Self-published | ||
2013 | "Rat-Catcher" | ' | ||
2014 | * | Tor.com | ||
2014 | "Opera Vita Aeterna" | ' | ||
2014 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
2014 | Subterranean Magazine | |||
2014 | ' | |||
2015 | * | Lightspeed | ||
2015 | * | Lightspeed | ||
2015 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
2015 | "Championship B’tok" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2015 | "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Earth to Alluvium" | Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show | ||
2015 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
2016 | * | "Folding Beijing" | Uncanny Magazine | |
2016 | "And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead" | Lightspeed | ||
2016 | "Flashpoint: Titan" | There Will Be War Volume X | ||
2016 | "Obits" | ' | ||
2016 | "What Price Humanity?" | There Will Be War Volume X | ||
2017 | * | Apex Magazine | ||
2017 | ' | Self-published | ||
2017 | Tor.com | |||
2017 | Tor.com | |||
2017 | "Touring with the Alien" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2017 | "You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2018 | * | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2018 | "Children of Thorns, Children of Water" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2018 | "Extracurricular Activities" | Tor.com | ||
2018 | Clarkesworld Magazine | |||
2018 | "Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2018 | "Wind Will Rove" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2019 | * | "If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again" | B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog | |
2019 | Tor.com | |||
2019 | "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth" | Tor.com | ||
2019 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
2019 | Uncanny Magazine | |||
2019 | "When We Were Starless" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2020 | Lightspeed Magazine | |||
2020 | "Away With the Wolves" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2020 | Uncanny Magazine | |||
2020 | Amazon.com | |||
2020 | Siobhan Carroll | "For He Can Creep" | Tor.com | |
2020 | "Omphalos" |
Retro Hugos
Beginning with the 1996 Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Society created the concept of "Retro Hugos", in which the Hugo award could be retroactively awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years before the current year, if no awards were originally given that year. Retro Hugos have been awarded eight times, for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954.Year | Year awarded | Author | Novelette | Publisher or publication | Ref. |
1939 | 2014 | * | "Rule 18" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
1939 | 2014 | "Dead Knowledge" | Astounding Stories | ||
1939 | 2014 | "Hollywood on the Moon" | Thrilling Wonder Stories | ||
1939 | 2014 | "Pigeons from Hell" | Weird Tales | ||
1939 | 2014 | "Werewoman" | Leaves | ||
1941 | 2016 | * | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
1941 | 2016 | "Blowups Happen" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
1941 | 2016 | "Darker Than You Think" | Unknown | ||
1941 | 2016 | "Farewell to the Master" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
1941 | 2016 | "It!" | Unknown | ||
1943 | 2018 | * | "Foundation" | Astounding Science Fiction | |
1943 | 2018 | "Bridle and Saddle" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
1943 | 2018 | "Goldfish Bowl" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
1943 | 2018 | Planet Stories | |||
1943 | 2018 | "There Shall Be Darkness" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
1943 | 2018 | Astounding Science Fiction | |||
1944 | 2019 | * | "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
1944 | 2019 | * | "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
1944 | 2019 | "Citadel of Lost Ships" | Planet Stories | ||
1944 | 2019 | Astonishing Stories | |||
1944 | 2019 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1944 | 2019 | "Symbiotica" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1944 | 2019 | "Thieves' House" | Unknown Worlds | ||
1945 | 2020 | "Arena" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1945 | 2020 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1945 | 2020 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1945 | 2020 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1945 | 2020 | "City" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1945 | 2020 | "No Woman Born" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1945 | 2020 | "When the Bough Breaks" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1945 | 2020 | "When the Bough Breaks" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1946 | 1996 | * | "First Contact" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
1946 | 1996 | "Pi in the Sky" | Thrilling Wonder Stories | ||
1946 | 1996 | "Into Thy Hands" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1946 | 1996 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1946 | 1996 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1951 | 2001 | * | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1951 | 2001 | "Scanners Live in Vain" | Fantasy Book | ||
1951 | 2001 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
1951 | 2001 | "Okie" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1951 | 2001 | "Dear Devil" | Other Worlds | ||
1954 | 2004 | * | "Earthman, Come Home" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
1954 | 2004 | "Second Variety" | Space Science Fiction | ||
1954 | 2004 | Universe | |||
1954 | 2004 | "Sam Hall" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
1954 | 2004 | Beyond Fantasy Fiction |