2026 Hugo Award Voting is Now Open

~ Kayla Allen ~ Leave a comment

This is from an announcement sent to LAcon V members by Hugo Award Administrator Tammy Coxen:

Hugo Award voting is now open! Anyone who is an Attending, Online (Virtual), or World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) member of LAcon V prior to the close of voting is eligible to vote in the 2026 Hugo Awards.

Votes can be submitted through our online balloting system, NomNom, or by mailing in a printable ballot (available here). Voting will close on August 8, 2026 at noon PDT.

You can also use NomNom to download the Hugo Awards Voter Packet. We are grateful to the rights holders who generously donate works to the Packet. This resource is provided to allow Hugo Award voters to make informed decisions. Access to the Packet ends when voting closes.

In order to use NomNom you will first need to create an LAcon V virtual convention account. LAcon V members who nominated should already have an account set up. If you joined too late to nominate you will have received an email with instructions on how to set up your account.

Please note that if you made nominations using your Seattle Worldcon 2025 membership, you will not be able to use that account to vote and will need to set up and use your LAcon account instead.

If you use NomNom, you can edit your ballot as often as you like until the close of the voting period. If you have already set up your virtual convention account you can access the ballot directly by logging in to NomNom.

If you encounter any issues or have questions about the Hugo Awards, please contact hugo-help@lacon.org for assistance.

2026 Hugo Award, Lodestar Award, and Astounding Finalists Announced

~ Kayla Allen ~ Leave a comment
Hugo Award Logo without text and in pure black and white
Hugo Award Logo

LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, announced on April 21, 2026 the finalists for the 2026 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer. The full list of finalists is on the 2026 Hugo Awards page.

“The 2026 Hugo Award ballot reflects the wide spectrum of contemporary science fiction and fantasy,” said convention chair Joyce Lloyd. “This shortlist highlights established voices and emerging creators. These are works that comfort us in hard times and challenge us to not only envision, but to work towards, better tomorrows and more inclusive worlds.”

All members of the World Science Fiction Convention are able to vote on the Hugo Awards, including those who have memberships in the virtual portion of the convention. Voting on the final ballot will begin in early May. Information about registration is available at lacon.org/register. In addition to the traditional categories, the 2026 awards will again include a Best Poem category, following a trial run in 2025.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm for the Best Poem category in Seattle,” Hugo Awards Administrator Tammy Coxen said. “We felt that running the category for an additional year would help provide data about its long-term viability before the business meeting chooses whether or not to ratify the amendment and add Best Poem to the Hugo Awards as a permanent category.”

LAcon V, the 2026 World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), is presented by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests (SCIFI), Inc., a California 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

The members of the 2025 and 2026 World Science Fiction Conventions cast 1,488 valid nominating ballots, including 6 paper ballots, for the 2026 Hugo Awards. The nominators made 23,543 nominations for 4,299 works and individuals across 21 categories.

Voting on the final ballot will open in early May 2026. Only LAcon V WSFS members will be able to vote on the final ballot and choose the winners for the 2026 Awards.

The 2026 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award, and the Astounding Award will be presented on Sunday evening, August 30, 2025 at a formal ceremony at LAcon V.

Questions about the Hugo Awards process should be directed to hugo-help@lacon.org. Please do not submit questions to the Hugo Awards website, as we do not administer the Hugo Awards and can only pass your questions on to the award administrators.

2026 Hugo Award Nominations Open Through March 28, 2026

~ Kayla Allen

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Hugo Awards. See the LACon V Worldcon website for nomination information.

WSFS members of the 2026 Worldcon (LACon V) and 2025 Seattle Worldcon as of January 31, 2026 are eligible to make up to five equally weighted nominations in each category of the Hugo Awards, as well as the Lodestar Award for best Young Adult Book and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. You do not need to nominate in all categories, nor do you need to make the maximum number of nominations in any or all categories. Those works/people who receive sufficient nominations will be go on to the final ballot, where WSFS members of LACon V will vote among them. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at LACon V, the 2026 Worldcon.

All ballots must be received by Saturday, March 28, 2026, 12:00 (Noon) Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7).

The 2026 Hugo Awards are administered by LACon V, not by the Hugo Awards web site. Address any questions about the 2026 Hugo Awards to the Hugo Awards Administrators of LAcon V at hugo-help@lacon.org.

2026 Worldcon to Present Hugo Award for Best Poem

~ Kayla Allen

LAcon V, the 2026 Worldcon, announced on December 1, 2025 that they would use their authority under Section 3.3.20 of the WSFS Constitution to present a Hugo Award for Best Poem as part of the 2026 Hugo Awards.

The 2025 Worldcon in Seattle also presented a Best Poem category. There is a proposal to add Best Poem as a permanent category that will be up for ratification at the 2026 WSFS Business Meeting. As stated in LAcon V’s announcement:

“There was a lot of enthusiasm for the Best Poem category in Seattle,” Hugo Awards administrator Tammy Coxen said. “We felt that running the category for an additional year would help provide data about its long-term viability before the business meeting chooses whether or not to ratify the amendment and add Best Poem to The Hugo Awards as a permanent category.”

Best Poem will be on the nominating ballot for the 2026 Hugo Awards along with the permanent categories, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. All WSFS members of the 2025 and 2026 Worldcon as of the end of January 2026 will be eligible to nominate works for the 2026 Awards.

For more information, see the full announcement at the LAcon V website.

2025 Hugo Awards, Astounding Award and Lodestar Award Winners

~ Kayla Allen ~ 4 Comments

The winners of the 2025 Hugo Awards, Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book were announced and the awards presented at a ceremony at Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, on August 16, 2025 at the Seattle Convention Center. The winners, the Hugo Award administrators’ report, and the breakdown of the first place voting on each category on the final ballot are available at the Seattle Worldcon 2025 website.

2025 Hugo Award, Lodestar Award, and Astounding Finalists Announced

~ Kevin
Hugo Award Logo without text and in pure black and white
Hugo Award Logo

Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, announced on April 6, 2025 the finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer. The full list of finalists is on the 2025 Hugo Awards page.

1,338 valid electronic nominating ballots were received by the deadline of March 14 at 11:59 p.m. PDT and counted from the members of the 2024 and 2025 World Science Fiction Conventions for the 2025 Hugo Awards. ​​Unfortunately, two mailed ballots were received 2.5 weeks later on April 3 after the deadline of receipt. (The initial publication of the finalists had an error of 1,738 ballots instead of the correct number of 1,338.)

Voting on the final ballot will open during April 2025.

Only Seattle Worldcon 2025 WSFS members will be able to vote on the final ballot and choose the winners for the 2025 Awards. The 2025 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award, and the Astounding Award will be presented on Saturday evening, August 16, 2025, at a formal ceremony at Seattle Worldcon 2025.

Questions about the Hugo Awards process should be directed to hugo-help@seattlein2025.org. Please do not submit questions to the Hugo Awards website, as we do not administer the Hugo Awards and can only pass your questions on to the award administrators.

2025 Hugo Award Nominations Open Through March 14, 2025

~ Kevin ~ 2 Comments

Nominations are now open for the 2025 Hugo Awards. See the 2025 Seattle Worldcon website for nomination information.

WSFS members of the 2025 Seattle Worldcon and 2024 Glasgow Worldcon are eligible to make up to five equally weighted nominations in each category of the Hugo Awards, as well as the Lodestar Award for best Young Adult Book and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. You do not need to nominate in all categories, nor do you need to make the maximum number of nominations in any or all categories. Those works/people who receive sufficient nominations will be go on to the final ballot, where WSFS members of Seattle Worldcon 2025 will vote among them. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Seattle Worldcon 2025.

All ballots must be received by March 14, 2025, 23:59 (11:59 p.m.) Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7).

The 2025 Hugo Awards are administered by Seattle Worldcon 2025, not by the Hugo Awards web site. Address any questions about the 2025 Hugo Awards to Seattle Worldcon 2025.

2024 Hugo Award Winners

~ Kevin

Glasgow 2024, a Worldcon for Our Futures (the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention) announced the winners of the 2024 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer. The announcement was made at a ceremony on August 11, 2024 at a formal ceremony at the convention a replay of which is available on YouTube.

The list of winners and finalists, as well as a link to the final ballot and nominating statistics and a supplementary Administrators’ Report, is on the 2024 Hugo Awards page.

3,813 final ballots (3,808 electronic and 5 paper) were received and counted from the members of Glasgow 2024. As the convention announced on July 22, 2024, they disqualified 377 of these which they ruled were not cast by natural persons. They did count the remaining 3,436 (3,431 electronic, 5 paper).