Ep043 Hugo Nominees

2020 Hugo Award Nominees for Short Story Award season for science fiction and fantasy is in full swing. Earlier this year the Nebula and Locus award winners were announced, but in early August the Hugo Awards will be given out. In this episode of Leave It To The Prose, Isaac and Reid discuss the current … Continue reading Ep043 Hugo Nominees →

2020 Hugo Award Nominees for Short Story

Award season for science fiction and fantasy is in full swing. Earlier this year the Nebula and Locus award winners were announced, but in early August the Hugo Awards will be given out. In this episode of Leave It To The Prose, Isaac and Reid discuss the current nominees for best short story and provide their opinions and predictions on the 2020 Hugo Awards.

“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing” by Shiv Ramadas, read it on Strange Horizons.
“As the Last I May Know” by S.L. Huang, read it on Tor.com.
“Blood Is Another Word for Hunger” by Rivers Solomon, read it on Tor.com.
“A Catalog of Storms” by Fran Wilde, read it on Uncanny Magazine.
“Do Not Look Back, My Lion” by Alix E. Harrow, read on Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen, read on Nightmare Magazine.

Whereas the Nebula Awards can be thought of as analogous to the Acadamy Awards, creators voting for creators, the Hugo Awards merge creators and fandom. Anyone who purchases an attendance to World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon) is granted a voting ballot for the Hugo Awards. Both creators and fans attend WorldCon, so the sharing of the ballot among everyone in the community often makes the Hugo Awards deemed as the most prestigious of the Science Fiction Awards, though that is a matter of personal opinion.

What are the Hugo Awards?
Descriptions of each of the nominees for Hugo Award for Best Short Story, and if any themes transcend these stories. Each story is intense and conveys strong emotion in their own way. Other themes involve family and family relations. We postulate short stories have a shorter publication timeframe and thus can move faster with the tides of social dialogue. We discuss how these stories are pushing science fiction/ fantasy in a new direction, a direction that allows us to convey, express, and understand a new level of catharsis and emotion as it relates to humanity.
Our predictions. Isaac’s choice of “As the Last I May Know”; Reid’s of “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”
Elaboration on the short story “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island.” How this story innovates on how a story, plot, and chapter can be conveyed.
Why “As the Last I May Know” is a story worthy of awards. Exploration of how not declaring an end can further emphasize a theme.
Why “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing” is a story worthy of awards. Exploration of how tragedy can be set up, and retribution can be fully justified.

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