World Literary Awards

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Hugo Award

ひゅーごーしょう

International annual literary award recognizing outstanding works and achievements in science fiction and fantasy. Announced at Worldcon and selected by member votes.

Science fictionFantasyLiterary awardMultiple categories (novel, novella, short story, series, drama, etc.)
Established
1953
Organizer
World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) / Worldcon
Category
Genre Fiction
Selection Method
Vote
Target
Open
Frequency
1 per year
Application Deadline
around March
Announcement Period
around August
Status
Active

Description

The Hugo Award is a literary award presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) at Worldcon to honor outstanding works and achievements in science fiction and fantasy. Established in 1953, it has been awarded every year since 1955. Nominees are selected through nominations by members (typically January to March), and final selection is made via voting based on instant-runoff voting (IRV) (typically April to July). Each category usually features 6 nominees (5 prior to 2017), and voters can include "No Award" as one of their ranked choices. Winners receive a rocket-shaped trophy; no monetary prize is attached. Eligible works are those published in the previous calendar year or translated into English in the previous year, with eligibility as SF or fantasy left to voters' judgment.

Prize

Main Prize
Rocket-shaped trophy (base design changes every year)
  • Promotional benefits from winning (e.g., logo use on books)
  • Increased honor and international recognition

Selection

Selection Process

Nominations (primary)
Judges Nominations by Worldcon attending members and supporting members (usually January to March)
Announcement After nomination period ends, top nominees finalized and announced as final candidates (usually 6 works)
Final voting (runoff)
Judges Voting by Worldcon attending/supporting members (instant-runoff voting, usually April to July)
Announcement After vote tally, winners announced at Worldcon ceremony
Announcement and ceremony
Judges Worldcon administration (WSFS) and that year's Hugo administration committee
Announcement Winners publicly announced at Worldcon ceremony (e.g., 2024 on August 11)
Retro-Hugos (retrospective award)
Judges Optionally conducted by the Worldcon for the target year (selected similarly by member vote)
Announcement Worldcon decides whether to hold Retro-Hugo for qualifying years; if held, announced similarly

Criteria

  • Works published in the previous year or English-translated in the previous year
  • Whether the work qualifies as science fiction or fantasy is left to voters' judgment
  • Word count criteria per category (e.g., novel=40,000+ words, novella=17,500-40,000 words, novelette=7,500-17,500 words, short story<7,500 words, etc.)
  • Quality of creation, originality, influence, and reader support are central to evaluation
  • Voters can include No Award in rankings and exercise it as needed

Application Tips

Dos

  • Confirm the work was published or English-translated in the target year (previous year)
  • Adhere to nomination and voting timelines (Nominations: January to March / Final voting: approx. April to July)
  • Check category word count requirements and format (novel, novella, short story, etc.)
  • Verify Worldcon attending/supporting membership to secure nomination and voting rights
  • Prepare work details and reader-friendly introductions for proper recommendation (organize reviews and data)

Don''ts

  • Do not manipulate results via fraudulent memberships or votes (organized voting or fraud strictly prohibited)
  • Do not engage in slates (nominee monopolization) or inappropriate solicitation against rules
  • Do not act without confirming rules and publication conditions before nominating
  • Do not manipulate to force a win ignoring the significance of No Award

From Judges

  • Voters judge if a work qualifies as SF/fantasy based on their own discretion
  • In ranked voting (IRV), honestly rank your top supported works
  • If unsure about a work's merit, consider No Award as an option
  • Check rules for same-author multiple nominations (e.g., up to top 2 works)

Related Awards

  • Nebula Award
  • Locus Award
  • BSFA Award
  • Astounding Award for Best New Writer
  • Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book
  • World Fantasy Award
  • Seiun Award
  • SF-related literary awards in various countries (e.g., Locus, Nebula, etc.)

Official Resources

http://www.thehugoawards.org/

Past Winners

Robert Jackson Bennett ろばーと・じゃくそん・べねっと Winner

A bizarre murder in an imperial mansion, where a high officer is found with a tree erupting from his body, sends Din and the brilliant detective Ana into a case tangled with leviathans, state corruption, and a dangerous borderland world. The novel blends the structure of a classic mystery with an inventive fantasy setting.

In an imperial borderland where logic collides with the monstrous, Ana and Din begin their investigation.

432 pages
mysteryempireleviathansmemorycorruptiondetective duo
novelist

A prominent contemporary speculative fiction author who has won multiple major awards, including the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards for Best Novel in 2025.

Emily Tesh えみりー・てしゅ Winner

On a space station built from the last scraps of humanity, Kyr has been raised for revenge, only to confront the lies of her society and the reality of the people around her. The novel combines the momentum of military science fiction with a story of deprogramming and self-discovery.

Raised for revenge, Kyr confronts the truth of the universe and chooses her own future for the first time.

438 pages
space operawarfascismdeprogrammingqueer identityself-discovery
novelist and classics teacher

A rapidly rising science fiction and fantasy author. She won the World Fantasy Award for Novella in 2020, the Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 2021, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2024.

John Scalzi じょん・すかるじ Winner

After losing his job during a pandemic, Jamie is sent to a parallel world where kaiju live and ends up working for a conservation group. The novel is an adventure SF story driven by brisk humor and a clear love of monster movies.

A new job begins for Jamie on another Earth where kaiju are real.

264 pages
kaijuparallel worldsconservationadventure sci-fihumorcorporate greed
Martha Wells まーさ・うぇるず Winner

Murderbotシリーズの長編。自由意志を持つセキュリティアンドロイド(Murderbot)が仲間と共に未曾有の危機に立ち向かい、自らのアイデンティティや人間関係を問い直す。アクションと内省が融合した作品。

Murderbotシリーズの長編。

314 pages
人工知能アイデンティティ友情と共同体倫理
Mary Robinette Kowal めありー・ろびねっと・こーわる Winner

An alternate-history space novel about a woman pilot and mathematician pushing into a male-dominated space program.

An alternate-history space novel about a woman pilot and mathematician pushing into a male-dominated space program.

431 pages
science fictionspace explorationwomenalternate history
N. K. Jemisin えぬ・けー・じぇみしん Winner

The concluding volume of the Broken Earth trilogy. Essun seeks to bring back the Moon and save the world, while her daughter Nassun is drawn toward ending a world she sees as beyond repair. The choices of mother and daughter determine both the history of oppression and the future of civilization.

A mother who would save the world and a daughter who would destroy it face one another at the end of the final Season.

464 pages
apocalypsemother and daughteroppressioncivilizational renewalgeological fantasy
N. K. Jemisin えぬ・けー・じぇみしん Winner

『The Fifth Season』の続編として、地質的危機と社会の分断の中で登場人物たちの関係性と選択が深まる。権力構造、犠牲、共同体の再編成を掘り下げ、語り手の視点と物語技術で世界観を一層拡張する中編以上のスケールの物語。

『The Fifth Season』の続編として、地質的危機と社会の分断の中で登場人物たちの関係性と選択が深まる。

448 pages
地球科学共同体権力と抵抗再生視点の工夫
N. K. Jemisin えぬ・けー・じぇみしん Winner

A novel set in a world where geological catastrophe is ordinary, tracing the oppression and survival of people with special powers. It combines environmental collapse with systems of discrimination to create a vivid end-of-the-world vision.

A novel about survival and oppression in a world of recurring catastrophe.

512 pages
earth scienceoppression and discriminationenvironmental collapsesurvival
Liu Cixin りう・つーしん Winner

A hard-SF novel that begins with events during China's Cultural Revolution and expands into first contact between humanity and an alien civilization. Scientific thinking and civilizational crisis intersect to create an epic account of interstellar tension.

A sweeping hard-SF story that moves from the Cultural Revolution to a cosmic crisis.

416 pages
first contacthard SFcivilizational conflictphysics
Ann Leckie あん・れっきー Winner
Jo Walton じょー・うぉるとん Winner
302 pages
China Miéville ちゃいな・みーゔぃる Winner
336 pages
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman にーる・げいまん Winner

A boy whose family has been murdered grows up among the dead in a graveyard, learning safety, identity, and courage from his unusual guardians. The novel combines eerie fantasy with warmth and a strong sense of coming of age.

A graveyard-raised boy grows into a life shaped by ghosts and guardians.

368 pages
成長物語死と生幽霊family児童文学
Vernor Steffen Vinge ゔぁーなー・ゔぃんじ Winner

A near-future science-fiction novel set in a networked world where augmented reality is part of daily life. It follows older and younger generations as technology reshapes education, culture, and power.

A science-fiction novel set in a near future shaped by augmented reality.

364 pages
near futureaugmented realityinformation societytechnology and culturegenerational conflict
Susanna Clarke すざんな・くらーく Winner

A historical fantasy set in nineteenth-century England, imagining the return of magic and following the rivalry between Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. By weaving real history with magical tradition, it explores power, knowledge, and ambition on an epic scale.

A historical fantasy in which magic returns to nineteenth-century England.

782 pages
historical fantasymagicpower and knowledgeBritish societyfriendship and conflict
Robert J. Sawyer ろばーと・じぇい・そーやー Winner
450 pages
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman にーる げいまん Winner

A story in which the old gods brought by immigrants and the new 'gods' of media and technology collide in modern America. Through clashes among myth, faith, identity, and consumer culture, it presents an allegorical portrait of American society.

Conflict between old and new gods plays out in contemporary America.

480 pages
myth and faithimmigration and identitysocial critiquecultural conflict
Neal Stephenson にーる すてぃーぶんそん Winner
Lois McMaster Bujold ろいす まくますたー びゅじょるど Winner

Set on Barrayar, the political and cultural center of the Vorkosigan universe, the novel depicts the clash between feudal custom and modernization, and the responsibilities of family and state. Through blood ties, loyalty, and political conflict, it probes personal morality and social structure.

On Barrayar, family responsibility collides with the weight of the state.

family and loyaltypolitics and powersocial changeresponsibility and duty
Lois McMaster Bujold ろいす まくますたー びゅじょるど Winner

An entry in the Vorkosigan Saga in which the young soldier Miles faces political intrigue and military difficulties and gets through them with wit and courage. Its appeal lies in a military-political setting enriched by humor and human drama.

Miles uses wit to navigate military and political crises.

352 pages
military politicscoming of agehumorstrategy and loyalty
Dan Simmons だん しもんず Winner

Set in the 28th century, seven pilgrims journey to the planet Hyperion on the eve of an interstellar war, each carrying a desperate hope and a terrible secret. Structured as a frame narrative inspired by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims take turns telling the stories that brought them to seek the Shrike, a mysterious and deadly creature guarding the Time Tombs—enigmatic structures moving backward through time. A landmark of science fiction that weaves together themes of faith, parenthood, artificial intelligence, and the fate of humanity.

On the eve of Armageddon, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives.

496 pages
science fictionspace operaframe narrativetimeartificial intelligencereligionsacrificepilgrimageJohn Keats
C. J. Cherryh (Carolyn Janice Cherry) しー じぇい ちぇりい Winner

Set in a future where cloning and genetic design are deeply embedded in society, the novel is a dense ensemble drama about identity and political intrigue. It richly depicts scientific ethics, the restoration of personality, and struggles for power.

Cloning technology and political struggle unsettle personal identity.

cloning technologyidentitypolitical intriguescientific ethics
Glen David Brin でいびっど ぶりん Winner

A novel about galactic politics and conflict among uplifted species. Through invasion and resistance on a colony world, it explores species rights, cultural clashes, freedom, and autonomy with a strong mix of military action and social satire.

War among uplifted species decides the fate of a colony world.

colonialismspecies rightspolitical conflictuplift
Orson Scott Card おーそん すこっと かーど Winner

A sequel to Ender’s story in which the adult Ender travels to a new world as a 'Speaker' and tells the stories of the dead. It explores misunderstanding with an alien species, cultural friction, atonement, reconciliation, and deep questions of ethics and religion.

The grown Ender takes on the role of revealing the truth of the dead.

cross-cultural understandingethicsreligionatonement
Glen David Brin でいびっど ぶりん Winner

A sweeping space opera centered on first contact, alien intelligence, and a starship in crisis.

In an oceanic cosmos, negotiations for intelligence and survival begin.

462 pages
space operaalien contactadventure
Isaac Asimov あいざっく あしもふ Winner

A science-fiction novel that follows the fate of the Second Foundation amid galaxy-scale political change, pushing the series into a new phase.

The balance of the galaxy starts to shift again.

science fictiongalactic empirepsychohistory
Arthur C. Clarke あーさー・しー・くらーく Winner

Set on a fictional island, the novel follows the construction of a space elevator, a gigantic engineering project. It blends tensions between technological innovation, cultural heritage, and religious values to depict the scale of human ambition and the difficulties of making it real.

The dream of building a space elevator provokes clashes over culture and faith.

256 pages
space elevatortechnology and culturecivil engineeringfuture planning
Kate Wilhelm けいと・うぃるへるむ Winner

Set in a post-collapse world, the novel portrays the conflict between a group created through cloning technology used to sustain population and a minority trying to preserve individuality. It is human-centered SF that probes individuality, creativity, and the meaning of community.

A clone-based society collides with the people trying to preserve individuality.

cloningindividuality and communityenvironmental collapsesocial reconstruction
Arthur C. Clarke あーさー・しー・くらーく Winner

A first-contact science-fiction novel about humanity’s investigation of a huge alien cylinder entering the Solar System.

A mysterious object called Rama expands the imagination of an entire solar system.

224 pages
science fictionfirst contactspace explorationmystery
Isaac Asimov あいざっく・あしもふ Winner

A three-part novel in which energy exchange with a parallel universe governed by different physical laws brings humanity prosperity while also creating a major crisis. It is a rational, science-driven meditation on ethics and the survival of civilization.

Contact with a parallel universe brings humanity both prosperity and danger.

physicsparallel universesscientific ethicscivilizational survival
Laurence van Cott Niven らりー・にーゔん Winner

A story of exploring an artificial ring-shaped megastructure called Ringworld. Through discovery and investigation, it reveals the legacy and ecosystems of alien civilizations while tracing human curiosity and the variety of civilizations. It is notable for its original ideas and meticulous worldbuilding.

An expedition across an artificial ring world reveals unknown civilizations and ecosystems.

352 pages
megascale structureexplorationalien civilizationhard science fiction
Roger Joseph Zelazny ろじゃー・ぜらずにい Winner

A mythic science-fantasy novel of godlike rulers and reincarnation technology. Religious drama and political struggle merge, and an adventure story turns into philosophical dialogue.

What looks like a battle among gods is also a story about power.

306 pages
mythreincarnationpoweradventurescience fantasy
Robert A. Heinlein ろばーと・えー・はいんらいん Winner

A political science-fiction novel about lunar autonomy, self-governing systems, and revolutionary strategy.

A political science-fiction novel about lunar autonomy, self-governing systems, and revolutionary strategy.

383 pages
freedom and independencepolitical philosophyartificial intelligencerevolution and strategy
Frank Herbert ふらんく・はーばーと Winner

A science-fiction epic set on the desert planet Arrakis, following Paul Atreides and the politics of empire. In a world where religion, resources, and power are inseparable, a coming-of-age story turns into a vast myth.

What rules the desert is not water, but prophecy and power.

704 pages
desertempirereligionpowergrowth
Fritz Leiber ふりっつ・らいばー Winner

A science-fiction novel about the approach of the planet Wanderer and the global turmoil it causes. With multiple viewpoints, the end-of-the-world feeling becomes a dense human drama.

The arrival of a planet is both the end of the world and a crack in ordinary life.

256 pages
planetapocalypseensemble castcosmic disasterscience fiction
Clifford D. Simak くりふぉーど・でぃー・しまっく Winner

The story of a man guarding a galactic relay station hidden inside a farm house in Wisconsin. In a quiet rural landscape, the point where Earth meets the cosmos slowly opens up.

A house that has stood in the same place for centuries turns out to be the doorway to the universe.

236 pages
spacesolituderural lifealienspastoral SF
Philip K. Dick ふぃりっぷ・けー・でぃっく Winner

A science-fiction novel set in a world where the Axis powers won the war. The boundary between reality and fiction is further unsettled by the novel-within-the-novel structure.

If history had turned out differently, our reality would wear another face.

288 pages
alternate historycounterfactualoccupationfictionscience fiction
Walter M. Miller Jr. うぉるたー・えむ・みらー・じゅにあ Winner

This post-apocalyptic novel uses a monastery after nuclear war to explore the preservation of knowledge and the cyclical rise and fall of civilization across centuries.

In a shattered world, books become clues to the future.

352 pages
science fictionpost-apocalypsereligionpreserving knowledge
Robert A. Heinlein ろばーと・えー・はいんらいん Winner
352 pages
James Blish じぇーむず・ぶりっしゅ Winner

A science-fiction novel about the theological problem posed by the planet Lithia. Scientific discovery and religious conscience collide over the question of colonization.

Questions of civilization always deepen between faith and ethics.

256 pages
religionethicsalien contactcolonizationscience fiction
No winner
Robert A. Heinlein ろばーと・えー・はいんらいん Winner

A science-fiction novel in which actor Bonner Hoveen is asked to stand in for a politician. Performance, power, and identity blur together at a brisk pace.

Playing someone else becomes a way of testing who you are.

190 pages
political dramadisguiseidentityscience fictionpower
No winner
No winner
Alfred Bester あるふれっど・べすたー Winner

A science-fiction novel set in a future society policed by telepaths, following industrialist Ben Reich’s murder plot. Psychological detection and social order are driven forward with sharp verbal play.

In a world where thoughts can be read, murder is still the one unresolved crime.

250 pages
future societytelepathycrimemysterypsychological conflict
No winner