The Campbell Conference
The Hall of Fame
The John W. Campbell Award
The Theodore Sturgeon Award
Hall of Fame inducts first four members
By David A. Truesdale
Contributing Writer
he Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society awarded the first ever Science Fiction Hall of Fame Awards as part of the ceremonies held in conjunction with the John W. Campbell and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.
The first inductees to the hall were Hugo Gernsback, John W. Campbell Jr., Jack Williamson and A.E. van Vogt. The former pair were cited for their tremendous influence on the science fiction field, and the latter pair for their lifelong contributions to the field.
The Hall of Fame was the brainchild of longtime Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America member and officer Robin Bailey. Bailey explained that a primary reason for the new award was to honor those who, while still living, could appreciate the honor bestowed upon them by this celebration of their contributions, and also to recognize the enormous accomplishments of those no longer with us.
Bailey said the idea for the new award came to him when he realized that, while many of today's fans may be well read in contemporary areas of science fiction and fantasy, they often have no idea of the many great authors and their classic works who helped form the genre.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame Award will be housed on a permanent basis at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kas, as are the Campbell and Sturgeon Awards. The award itself is a specially crafted and boxed hand-held telescope, symbolic of those whose vision seeks to go beyond what is seen with the naked eye.
Both Williamson and van Vogt were unable to attend for health reasons but expressed through letters read at the ceremony their deep appreciation and thanks.
David A. Truesdale is the editor of Tangent, a critical review magazine covering short stories of science fiction and fantasy. For further information about the magazine, contact 103133.1350@compuserve.com.
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The John W. Campbell Memorial Award
By James Gunn
Contributing Writer
The award was created to honor the late editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, which is now named Analog. Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971, is considered by many writers and scholars to be the father of modern science fiction. Authors and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss established the award in Campbell's name as a way of continuing his efforts to encourage writers to produce their best possible work.
The award differs from the other two major awards in the field by being restricted to the novel and by its method of selection. The Hugo Awards are voted upon by those members who pay advance fees to attend the World Science Fiction Convention, which meets annually at different locations on Labor Day weekend. The Nebula Awards are voted by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and they are presented at the annual Nebula Award meeting, usually held in late April.
The Campbell Award is the only one of the three that is selected by a committee small enough to discuss among its members the novels published during the year and to arrive at a consensus choice. The award has been presented to an unusual variety of authors. In recent years the Campbell Award has been presented at the University of Kansas as the focal point of a weekend of discussion about the writing, illustration, publishing, teaching and criticism of science fiction.
James Gunn is the director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas. For further information about the center or about attending next year's ceremonies write to:James Gunn
The University of Kansas
Dept. of English
3116 Wescoe Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045-2115.
The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
By James Gunn and David A. Truesdale
Contributing Writers
In addition to fiction -- his best-known novel is the classic More Than Human -- Sturgeon also wrote book reviews, poetry, screenplays, radio plays and television plays, including two classic teleplays for the original Star Trek. He was a popular lecturer and teacher and was a regular visiting writer at the University of Kansas' Intensive English Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction. Sturgeon died in 1985, and his books, manuscripts and papers are being deposited at the University of Kansas, as he wished.
The Theodore Sturgeon Award for the best short science fiction of the year was established in 1987 by James Gunn, Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, and the heirs of Sturgeon. It was conceived as an appropriate memorial to one of the great short story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.
Since 1995 the Sturgeon Award has been selected from a list of more than one hundred initial nominations supplied by the reviewers in Tangent, a critical review magazine devoted entirely to short science fiction and fantasy, as well as other writers and editors in the field. The process is organized and directed by author Christopher McKitterick. The top 10-12 ranked stories are then presented to the Sturgeon judges -- James Gunn, Frederik Pohl and Judith Merril -- for a final determination of the winner.
Previous winners of the Sturgeon Award have been:
1987 "Surviving" by Judith Moffett
1988 "Rachel in Love" by Pat Murphy
1989 "Schrodinger's Kitten" by George Alec Effinger
1990 "The Edge of the World" by Michael Swanwick
1991 "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson
1992 "Buffalo" by John Kessel
1993 "This Year's Class Picture" by Dan Simmons
1994 "Fox Magic" by Kij Johnson
1995 "Forgiveness Day" by Ursula K. Le Guin
1996 "Jigoku no Mokoshiroku" by John D. McDaid
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