Have you ever watched the Oscars ceremony on TV and wondered what it would be like to be sat there amidst all those glittering people, waiting breathlessly for the results to be announced? Well, not everyone can get to the Oscars, but other arts groups have awards ceremonies too, and while they might not have Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg in attendance, they are great fun all the same.
The Hugo Awards are handed out each year at Worldcon on behalf of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Unlike the Oscars, these are awards voted on by ordinary people. Everyone who is a member of that year's Worldcon may vote, and indeed you do not have to attend as there is a special class of "supporting member" which gives you all the rights of WSFS membership without having the expense of going to the convention. Whether this democratic set-up makes the results more valid or not is open to debate, but the ceremony is certainly more interesting when you have had a part in the results.
The two most high profile award categories are those for Best Novel and Best Dramatic Presentation. This year both were hotly contested. The Novel category was a fascinating fight between Neal Stephenson's massive best seller, Cryptonomicon, Vernor Vinge's excellent evocation of an alien society, A Deepness in the Sky, and A Civil Campaign, the latest episode in Lois McMaster Bujold's hugely popular Miles Vorkosigan saga. Greg Bear and J.K. Rowling also made the nomination list. As it turned out the award went to Vinge who rewarded us with one of the shortest acceptance speeches I have ever heard.
The Dramatic Presentation category was even harder to call. We had the superb special effects of The Matrix, Bruce Willis's tear-jerking Sixth Sense, the critically acclaimed Being John Malkovich, and the hilarious Star Trek spoof, Galaxy Quest. The children's cartoon, Iron Giant, also made the nominations. Prior speculation had made The Matrix favorite, but in the end the award went to Galaxy Quest, and what a good choice it was. Often Hollywood ignores the Hugos as not sufficiently high profile for them. But Dean Parisot and Robert Gordon, the Director and Screenwriter of Galaxy Quest, were clearly overjoyed with their awards and were hugely entertaining in accepting them.
As with the Oscars, there are many other awards as well. These cover short stories, art, non-fiction, magazines, editing and even fannish activities. Kevin and I were particularly pleased to see our good friend Mike Glyer win a Hugo for his fanzine, File 770.
Other than that, the ceremony is a wonderful excused to get dressed up, to gossip, and to commiserate with friends who were nominated but did not win or, like me, who narrowly failed to make the final ballot. As they say, there is always next year.