2021 Hugo Awards

2021 Hugo Award Trophy

Presented at: DisCon III, Washington, DC, USA on December 18, 2021

Hosts: Andrea Hairston, Sheree Renée Thomas

Base design: Sebastian Martorana

Awards Administration: Linda Deneroff, Fred Bauer, Kevin Standlee, Sharon Sbarsky, Kathy Bond, Kat Jones, Cassidy Riddlebarger, Marguerite Smith, Nicholas Whyte

 

 

The 2021 Hugo Awards were presented on the evening of Saturday, December 18, 2021 at a ceremony at DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, DC, USA.

There were 1249 valid nominating ballots (1246 electronic and 3 paper) received and counted from the members of the 2020 and 2021 World Science Fiction Conventions for the 2021 Hugo Awards. DisCon III received 2,362 final award ballots from the members of DisCon III.

Final Ballot Voting Details (PDF)
Nominations Voting Details (PDF)

2021 Hugo Awards Ceremony video
2021 Hugo Award Finalists Announcement video

Best Novel
2040 final ballots cast (86.4%)
1093 nominating ballots for 441 nominees, finalist range 309-132

  • Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
  • The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
  • Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
  • Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Gallery / Saga Press / Solaris)
  • The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books / Solaris)
  • Harrow The Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com)

Best Novella
1691 final ballots cast (71.6%)
778 nominating ballots for 157 nominees, finalist range 219-124

  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tor.com)
  • Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com)
  • Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com)
  • Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey (Tor.com)
  • Finna, Nino Cipri (Tor.com)
  • Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tor.com)

Best Novelette
1499 final ballots cast (63.5%)
465 nominating ballots for 197 nominees, finalist range 108-33

  • Two Truths and a Lie, Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)
  • “The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, July/August 2020)
  • “Monster”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
  • “The Pill”, Meg Elison (from Big Girl, (PM Press))
  • “Helicopter Story”, Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
  • “Burn, or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super”, A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020)

Best Short Story
1574 final ballots cast (66.6%)
586 nominating ballots for 634 nominees, finalist range 65-35

  • “Metal Like Blood in the Dark”, T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
  • Little Free Library, Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
  • “A Guide for Working Breeds”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris))
  • “Open House on Haunted Hill”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots – 2020, ed. David Steffen)
  • “The Mermaid Astronaut”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
  • “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse”, Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2020)

Best Series
1872 final ballots cast (79.3%)
727 nominating ballots for 180 nominees, finalist range 300-87

  • The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
  • The Lady Astronaut Universe, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books/Audible/Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction/Solaris)
  • October Daye, Seanan McGuire (DAW)
  • The Interdependency, John Scalzi (Tor Books)
  • The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)
  • The Daevabad Trilogy, S.A. Chakraborty (Harper Voyager)

Best Related Work
1423 final ballots cast (60.2%)
456 nominating ballots for 277 nominees, finalist range 74-31

  • Beowulf: A New Translation, Maria Dahvana Headley (FSG)
  • A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler, Lynell George (Angel City Press)
  • FIYAHCON, L.D. Lewis–Director, Brent Lambert–Senior Programming Coordinator, Iori Kusano–FIYAHCON Fringe Co-Director, Vida Cruz–FIYAHCON Fringe Co-Director, and the Incredible FIYAHCON team
  • “George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun, Or: The 2020 Hugo Awards Ceremony (Rageblog Edition)”, Natalie Luhrs (Pretty Terrible, August 2020)
  • The Last Bronycon: a fandom autopsy, Jenny Nicholson (YouTube)
  • CoNZealand Fringe, Claire Rousseau, C, Cassie Hart, Adri Joy, Marguerite Kenner, Cheryl Morgan, Alasdair Stuart.

Best Graphic Story or Comic
1048 final ballots cast (44.4%)
303 nominating ballots for 254 nominees, finalist range 43-24

  • Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings (Harry N. Abrams)
  • Ghost-Spider vol. 1: Dog Days Are Over, Author: Seanan McGuire, Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa and Rosi Kämpe (Marvel)
  • Monstress, vol. 5: Warchild, Author: Marjorie Liu, Artist: Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
  • Once & Future vol. 1: The King Is Undead, written by Kieron Gillen, iIllustrated by Dan Mora, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, lettered by Ed Dukeshire (BOOM! Studios)
  • Invisible Kingdom, vol 2: Edge of Everything, Author: G. Willow Wilson, Artist: Christian Ward (Dark Horse Comics)
  • DIE, Volume 2: Split the Party, written by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
1551 final ballots cast (64.7%)
574 nominating ballot for 192 nominees, finalist range 164-56

  • The Old Guard, written by Greg Rucka, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Netflix / Skydance Media)
  • Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), written by Christina Hodson, directed by Cathy Yan (Warner Bros.)
  • Soul, screenplay by Pete Docter, Mike Jones and Kemp Powers, directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers, produced by Dana Murray (Pixar Animation Studios/ Walt Disney Pictures)
  • Palm Springs, written by Andy Siara, directed by Max Barbakow (Limelight / Sun Entertainment Culture / The Lonely Island / Culmination Productions / Neon / Hulu / Amazon Prime)
  • Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, written by Will Ferrell, Andrew Steele, directed by David Dobkin (European Broadcasting Union/Netflix)
  • Tenet, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros./Syncopy)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
1667 final ballots cast (70.6%)
454 nominating ballot for 321 nominees, finalist range 130-30

  • The Good Place: Whenever You’re Ready, written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group)
  • The Expanse: Gaugamela, written by Dan Nowak, directed by Nick Gomez (Alcon Entertainment / Alcon Television Group / Amazon Studios / Hivemind / Just So)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Peyton Reed (Golem Creations / Lucasfilm / Disney+)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi, written and directed by Dave Filoni (Golem Creations / Lucasfilm / Disney+)
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Heart (parts 1 and 2), written by Josie Campbell and ND Stevenson, directed by Jen Bennett and Kiki Manrique (DreamWorks Animation Television / Netflix)
  • Doctor Who: Fugitive of the Judoon, written by Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall, directed by Nida Manzoor (BBC)

Best Editor, Short Form
951 final ballots cast (40.3%)
370 nominating ballot for 162 nominees, finalist range 79-38

  • Ellen Datlow
  • Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya
  • Neil Clarke
  • Sheila Williams
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • C.C. Finlay

Best Editor, Long Form
667 final ballots cast (28.2%)
310 nominating ballots for 82 nominees, finalist range 83-52

  • Diana M. Pho
  • Navah Wolfe
  • Sheila E. Gilbert
  • Sarah Guan
  • Brit Hvide
  • Nivia Evans

Best Professional Artist
924 final ballots cast (39.1%)
331 nominating ballots for 179 nominees, finalist range 91-37

  • Rovina Cai
  • John Picacio
  • Galen Dara
  • Tommy Arnold
  • Maurizio Manzieri
  • Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine
1063 final ballots cast (45.0%)
331 nominating ballots for 77 nominees, finalist range 174-39

  • FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L. Wiggins, executive editor DaVaun Sanders, managing editor Eboni Dunbar, poetry editor Brandon O’Brien, reviews and social media Brent Lambert, art director L. D. Lewis, and the FIYAH Team.
  • Uncanny Magazine, editors in chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor: Chimedum Ohaegbu, non-fiction editor: Elsa Sjunneson, podcast producers: Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky
  • Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, S. K. Campbell, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Joyce Chng, Liz Christman, Linda H. Codega, Kristian Wilson Colyard, Yelena Crane, Bruhad Dave, Sarah Davidson, Tahlia Day, Arinn Dembo, Nathaniel Eakman, Belen Edwards, George Tom Elavathingal, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Colette Grecco, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Stephen Ira, Amanda Jean, Ai Jiang, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Anna Krepinsky, Kat Kourbeti, Clayton Kroh, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Catherine Krahe, Natasha Leullier, A.Z. Louise, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Emory Noakes, Sara Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Vanessa Rose Phin, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Endria Richardson, Natalie Ritter, Abbey Schlanz, Clark Seanor, Elijah Rain Smith, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Kwan-Ann Tan, Luke Tolvaj, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, Fred G. Yost, staff members who prefer not to be named, and guest editor Libia Brenda with guest first reader Raquel González-Franco Alva for the Mexicanx special issue
  • Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart, audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht and the entire Escape Pod team.
  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. Scott H. Andrews
  • PodCastle, editors, C.L. Clark and Jen R. Albert, assistant editor and host, Setsu Uzumé, producer Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the entire PodCastle team.

Best Fanzine
643 final ballots cast (27.2%)
271 nominating ballots for 94 nominees, finalist range 79-38

  • nerds of a feather, flock together, ed. Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, The G, and Vance Kotrla
  • Lady Business, editors. Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan.
  • Journey Planet, edited by Michael Carroll, John Coxon, Sara Felix, Ann Gry, Sarah Gulde, Alissa McKersie, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, Steven H Silver, Paul Trimble, Erin Underwood, James Bacon, and Chris Garcia.
  • Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, ed. Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne
  • The Full Lid, written by Alasdair Stuart, edited by Marguerite Kenner
  • Quick Sip Reviews, editor, Charles Payseur

Best Fancast
632 final ballots cast (26.8%)
376 nominating ballots for 230 nominees, finalist range 72-28

  • The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, producer
  • Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Rowenna Miller, Marshall Ryan Maresca and Cass Morris
  • The Skiffy and Fanty show, produced by Shaun Duke and Jen Zink, presented by Shaun Duke, Jen Zink, Alex Acks, Paul Weimer, and David Annandale.
  • Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
  • Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced by Claire Rousseau
  • Kalanadi, produced and presented by Rachel

Best Fan Writer
680 final ballots cast (28.8%)
365 nominating ballots for 185 nominees, finalist range 89-42

  • Elsa Sjunneson
  • Cora Buhlert
  • Jason Sanford
  • Alasdair Stuart
  • Paul Weimer
  • Charles Payseur

Best Fan Artist
732 final ballots cast (31.0%)
221 nominating ballots for 158 nominees, finalist range 54-10

  • Sara Felix
  • Laya Rose
  • Grace P. Fong
  • Iain J. Clark
  • Maya Hahto
  • Cyan Daly

Best Video Game
DisCon III used their authority under the WSFS constitution to create a one-time Special Hugo Award Category for Best Video Game. See this announcement for further details.

956 final ballots cast (40.5%)
341 nominating ballots for 145 nominees, finalist range 183-30

  • Hades (Publisher and Developer: Supergiant Games)
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Publisher and Developer: Nintendo)
  • Spiritfarer (Publisher and Developer: Thunder Lotus)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Publisher Square Enix)
  • The Last of Us: Part II (Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Developer: Naughty Dog)
  • Blaseball (Publisher and Developer: The Game Band)

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (presented by the World Science Fiction Society)

The Lodestar Award is not a Hugo Award, but is an Award established by the World Science Fiction Society and administered in the same manner and in parallel with the Hugo Awards. This means that works that are finalists for the Lodestar Award are also eligible for a Hugo Award in the appropriate category based on the length of the work.

1330 final ballots cast (56.3%)
507 nominating ballots for 172 nominees, finalist range 201-55

  • A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher (Argyll Productions)
  • A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
  • Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
  • Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Margaret K. McElderry/ Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
  • Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas (Swoon Reads)
  • Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet / Hot Key)

Astounding Award for Best New Writer (presented by Dell Magazines)

The Astounding Award is not a Hugo Award, but is administered in a similar manner and in parallel with the Hugo Awards. The eligibility rules are specified by the sponsor of the Award. See Hugo Award Categories for additional details about how this category works.

1330 final ballots cast (41.1%)
973 nominating ballots for 181 nominees, finalist range 99-54

  • Emily Tesh (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Micaiah Johnson (1st year of eligibility)
  • Jenn Lyons (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Lindsay Ellis (1st year of eligibility)
  • Simon Jimenez (1st year of eligibility)
  • A.K. Larkwood (1st year of eligibility)