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Post by vrabinec on Aug 24, 2015 9:13:20 GMT -5
Annie is just too cool for words. One of my favorite people over at KB. She took a stand against the ballot box stuffing tactics of the idiot Voxers. www.thehugoawards.org/2015/04/two-finalists-withdraw-from-2015-hugo-awards/The 2015 Hugo Award Administrators have announced that two of the finalists originally announced for the 2015 Hugo Awards have withdrawn their acceptances and will not appear on the final ballot for the 2015 Hugo Awards. We have updated the 2015 Finalist Shortlist accordingly.
In the Best Novel category, Lines of Departure by Marko Kloos was withdrawn by its author. It has been replaced by The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu).
In the Best Short category, “Goodnight Stars” by Annie Bellet was withdrawn by its author. It has been replaced by “A Single Samurai” by Steven Diamond.
The Administrators also announced that in the Novelette category, the listing for “The Day the World Turned Upside Down” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt originally did not include the name of the translator, Lia Belt. That oversight has now been corrected. The announcement from the 2015 Worldcon further noted that this year appears to be the first time that multiple fiction finalists for the Hugo Award were originally written in languages other than English. Under World Science Fiction Society rules for the Hugo Award, a work originally published in a language other than English gets an additional year of eligibility if it is published in English in a later year.
This year is the first time in the history of the Hugo Awards that a finalist has withdrawn a work after announcement of the finalist shortlist. Nominees with sufficient nominating votes to make the shortlist have in the past declined nomination as Finalists; however, this has always happened before the shortlist was announced.
In the statement explaining the above changes, the Administrators announced that the ballot is now going to the printer and there will be no further revisions. The original finalist announcement stated that they expected to open the final ballot for voting by the members of the 2015 Worldcon “as soon as possible.” We will post an announcement on The Hugo Awards website when online voting opens.
Only supporting and attending members of Sasquan, the 2015 Worldcon, are eligible to vote on the final Hugo Award ballot. See the 2015 Worldcon Membership Registration Page for information about joining Sasquan. Membership is open to any person with an interest in SF and Fantasy literature.
A Hugo Voter Packet of nominated works will be released as soon as it is available with versions of the nominated works for members of the current Worldcon to review so that they can be better-informed voters. The availability of nominated works is dependent upon the generosity of the authors, artists, publishers, and rights holders, and no work is guaranteed to be in the Hugo Voter Packet. Only eligible voters (voting members of the 2015 Worldcon) will be given access to the Hugo Voter Packet.
The 2015 Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award winners will be announced Saturday, August 22, 2015, during the Hugo Awards Ceremony at the 2015 Worldcon.
Please direct questions about the administration of this year’s Hugo and Campbell Awards to the Sasquan Hugo Administration Subcommittee. TheHugoAwards.org does not actually manage the administration of each year’s Hugo Awards, and while we can answer general queries, definitive answers to specific questions about given year’s Awards can only come from that year’s Administrator. |
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Post by Alan Petersen on Aug 24, 2015 11:34:15 GMT -5
Not familiar with Voxers or what was going on here. Was there a group trying to rig the Hugo Awards?
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Post by vrabinec on Aug 24, 2015 11:50:00 GMT -5
Yeah, they're convinced that the Hugos have a progressive lean and that more conservative authors are shamed into acting progressive, and that only pieces of work that have a progressive bent are nominated and awarded prizes. So they got together and created a voting block that voted in more conservative pieces of work. Annie's not exactly a nun, so it's a little surprising that they chose to back her story. Either way, it's unethical IMO that they do that, but then, the Hugos have always been a popularity contest IMO, full of cliques. So, the whole process is tainted anyway.
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Post by lou on Aug 24, 2015 12:11:51 GMT -5
This whole topic, from the first time it became known to me, is one of those that makes me want to run away and hide under the covers while everyone else yells at each other. I think the last thing I read about it was Connie Willis withdrawing from the ceremony: I read her open letter. azsf.net/cwblog/?p=116 . That'll explain it, Alan. |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Aug 24, 2015 12:55:16 GMT -5
It made me sad when I read about this the first time, it felt like someone had pulled back the curtain to show the wizard was a humbug.
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Post by Alan Petersen on Aug 24, 2015 13:01:34 GMT -5
I'm not an SF fan, so I was in the dark, but I've of course heard of the Hugos, and boy, what a fascinating brouhaha. blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/08/23/no-puppy-love-at-science-fictions-hugo-awards/But I think most awards are controlled by small cliques anyway and getting nominated becomes a big campaign push. Look at the Oscars.  Christopher Guest made a funny film about all that BS: "For Your Consideration" |
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Post by Daniel on Aug 24, 2015 18:01:35 GMT -5
Annie kept a cool head on her shoulders, but I'm sure she was uncomfortable with how things developed. Withdrawing had to be an extremely tough decision for her to make. I know she was proud of the story and thought it had a right to be considered, but I think the circumstances of its nomination made it so she wouldn't really enjoy winning.
She don't need no stinkin' Hugo to prove her chops.
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Post by vrabinec on Aug 24, 2015 19:57:15 GMT -5
Yeah, it doesn't help that she knew one of the ring leaders. Everyone who got nominated is being accused in certain circles of being in on it. At least she stepped away, so there's less scrutiny her way.
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rv
New Member
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Post by rv on Aug 24, 2015 21:50:22 GMT -5
I read the linked articles with amazement. That conference didn't sound like much fun.
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Post by Becca Mills on Aug 24, 2015 22:08:43 GMT -5
Annie kept a cool head on her shoulders, but I'm sure she was uncomfortable with how things developed. Withdrawing had to be an extremely tough decision for her to make. She's mentioned on KB that the stressfulness of the whole situation was bad for her health and cost her a month's writing time, or something. What a sucky situation. She's a real champ for doing what she did, IMO. |
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Post by ameliasmith on Aug 25, 2015 5:28:44 GMT -5
I heard a lot about the Hugos this year, and my FB feed still gets some ongoing news. I think if I were in Annie's place I would have withdrawn, too.
It seems like quite a few people lost some valuable writing time to it.
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Post by whdean on Aug 25, 2015 14:00:27 GMT -5
I have a feeling the Hugos will go the way of other awards that have embraced diversity: They’ll be praised for a while by those for whom diversity is more important than SF, and then the awards will fade into obscurity, as those whose interest is SF quietly lose interest.
It's sad that excellence and politics can't coexist, but I've rarely seen the two stay married long.
ETA: I just noticed a mirror thread over at KB congratulating Annie. This thread's quick descent into obscurity will demonstrate my point. The last time this issue came up, the one person to dissent from orthodoxy was shouted down and derided for his efforts. Everyone gets the message now, and everyone responds with the only option open: forced indifference.
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Post by vrabinec on Aug 25, 2015 18:14:52 GMT -5
I have a feeling the Hugos will go the way of other awards that have embraced diversity: They’ll be praised for a while by those for whom diversity is more important than SF, and then the awards will fade into obscurity, as those whose interest is SF quietly lose interest. It's sad that excellence and politics can't coexist, but I've rarely seen the two stay married long. ETA: I just noticed a mirror thread over at KB congratulating Annie. This thread's quick descent into obscurity will demonstrate my point. The last time this issue came up, the one person to dissent from orthodoxy was shouted down and derided for his efforts. Everyone gets the message now, and everyone responds with the only option open: forced indifference. Funny, I was just wondering how many people are plotting something similar to game the thing and win themselves a Hugo. As far as the diversity thing goes, I never liked it when the left disrupted speeches and threw people like Coulter off campus because of her views, and I never liked it when the church people showed up at funerals saying God is killing our soldiers because we're embracing homosexuality. That part of it is the same here. Making a point by fucking it up for anyone who cares. But, withdrawing your name from a ballot like she did for something she might have won anyway because of the ballot stuffing? THAT'S impressive. Of course, it would be more impressive if the people stuffing the box have held her views and then she withdrew, but I guess we'll never know whether she would have done that or not. I tend to think she would've. |
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Post by whdean on Aug 25, 2015 19:16:44 GMT -5
I have a feeling the Hugos will go the way of other awards that have embraced diversity: They’ll be praised for a while by those for whom diversity is more important than SF, and then the awards will fade into obscurity, as those whose interest is SF quietly lose interest. It's sad that excellence and politics can't coexist, but I've rarely seen the two stay married long. ETA: I just noticed a mirror thread over at KB congratulating Annie. This thread's quick descent into obscurity will demonstrate my point. The last time this issue came up, the one person to dissent from orthodoxy was shouted down and derided for his efforts. Everyone gets the message now, and everyone responds with the only option open: forced indifference. Funny, I was just wondering how many people are plotting something similar to game the thing and win themselves a Hugo. As far as the diversity thing goes, I never liked it when the left disrupted speeches and threw people like Coulter off campus because of her views, and I never liked it when the church people showed up at funerals saying God is killing our soldiers because we're embracing homosexuality. That part of it is the same here. Making a point by fucking it up for anyone who cares. But, withdrawing your name from a ballot like she did for something she might have won anyway because of the ballot stuffing? THAT'S impressive. Of course, it would be more impressive if the people stuffing the box have held her views and then she withdrew, but I guess we'll never know whether she would have done that or not. I tend to think she would've. Oh God, I was at the University of Ottawa when the mob and the administration attacked Coulter. Now, I wouldn't walk across the room to see Coulter, but the bullying and the school's tacit endorsement of it was downright disgusting. Even worse things have happened at the Montreal universities. |
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Post by Alan Petersen on Aug 25, 2015 20:05:25 GMT -5
Funny, I was just wondering how many people are plotting something similar to game the thing and win themselves a Hugo. As far as the diversity thing goes, I never liked it when the left disrupted speeches and threw people like Coulter off campus because of her views, and I never liked it when the church people showed up at funerals saying God is killing our soldiers because we're embracing homosexuality. That part of it is the same here. Making a point by fucking it up for anyone who cares. But, withdrawing your name from a ballot like she did for something she might have won anyway because of the ballot stuffing? THAT'S impressive. Of course, it would be more impressive if the people stuffing the box have held her views and then she withdrew, but I guess we'll never know whether she would have done that or not. I tend to think she would've. Oh God, I was at the University of Ottawa when the mob and the administration attacked Coulter. Now, I wouldn't walk across the room to see Coulter, but the bullying and the school's tacit endorsement of it was downright disgusting. Even worse things have happened at the Montreal universities. Civility in politics and religion (on the left and the right) is going the way of the Dodo bird. |
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Post by whdean on Aug 26, 2015 9:30:32 GMT -5
Oh God, I was at the University of Ottawa when the mob and the administration attacked Coulter. Now, I wouldn't walk across the room to see Coulter, but the bullying and the school's tacit endorsement of it was downright disgusting. Even worse things have happened at the Montreal universities. Civility in politics and religion (on the left and the right) is going the way of the Dodo bird. The "civility" part is key there. Passions have always flared over these topics, even in democracies. What's changed, I think, is that people want to equate their own views with civility. No one wants to have to argue their case or show that someone else is wrong; they want to say that anyone who agrees with them is being civil, while anyone who disagrees is behaving badly and causing harm to someone. |
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Post by Daniel on Aug 26, 2015 11:58:00 GMT -5
Civility in politics and religion (on the left and the right) is going the way of the Dodo bird. Agreed. It reminds me of some old song lyrics. Substitute your country/belief for Politzania... |
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Post by vrabinec on Aug 26, 2015 15:09:30 GMT -5
By the way, I just posted this on my Facebook page:
Someone associated with the Hugo Awards explain to me how the sad and rabid puppies didn't violate the following:
Section 4.3: Non-Natural Persons. Corporations, associations, and other non-human or artificial entities may cast ballots, but only for “No Preference”. “Guest of” memberships may only cast “No Preference” ballots. Memberships transferred to individual natural persons may cast preferential ballots, provided that the transfer is accepted by the administering convention.
I believe they acted as an association when they made their slate and turned it in. Look up the definition of "association" if you're not sure. Technically, they were not allowed to cast a ballot.
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