Hugo Nom
So I’m a Hugo finalist for Best Fan Artist! The announcement went out over a week ago and I’ve posted on the socials, but now that the initial excitement has died down I thought I’d post more complete thoughts than just “yay!”.*
The Hugos and fandom are inextricably linked for me. I became aware of the existence of conventions, and therefore fandom, thanks to one of the old Hugo Winners anthologies. The introduction included some anecdote that took place at a Worldcon party. I don’t remember the story, or the names of the people involved, but the glimpse into that world was revelatory. A few years later I moved to the States and entered fandom by attending my first convention ever, which was that year’s Worldcon, ConFrancisco. A Hugo nomination for my thirty-year anniversary in fandom is quite the gift.
When I received the notification email, I had very mixed emotions though. I spent the day working through my thoughts and feelings, then talked them through with John when he got home (he is also on the ballot, but didn’t get his email till the next day).
My main thoughts on the issue, summarized:
There’s no chance I’m winning, so accepting is pretty low stakes for me.
Aside from that; I have issues with this year’s Worldcon, its location, its choice of GOH, and the committee’s lack of communication and responsiveness to the membership. I won’t pretend that attending in person was ever an option financially, but I decided quite a while back that I wouldn’t be participating virtually or volunteering and see no reason to change that. That said, the Hugo nominators, the voters, the overall convention membership, Chinese Worldcon fandom, and the Chengdu concom are all different things, though they overlap. Most of the folks involved I have nothing but good feelings towards. Some may also feel like they are in an awkward spot.
Of course the ceremony itself is always a big part of the hosting convention, and that I do need to think on, but for right now I’m content with my decision.
*Other finalists have posted their thoughts already, most of what I’ve seen I broadly agree with, but ultimately everyone has to come to their own conclusions.