In the chapter on awards, A Reader's Guide to Fantasy, published in 1982, makes the point that fantasy, "as a viable genre," is still pretty young. The earliest award they have listed is the August Derleth Fantasy Award (in 1976 renamed the British Fantasy Awards) which began in 1972. The Gandalf Award, a "Grand Master" award awarded in conjunction with the Hugo, goes back to 1974. The first World Fantasy Award was given at the first World Fantasy Convention in 1975.
The oldest SF award is the Hugo from 1955. WorldCon, aka the World Science Fiction Convention, awarder of the Hugo, was first thrown by the World Science Fiction Society in 1939.
Of course fantasy's actually been around as long as there's been literature. I wonder if it's this dichotomy that makes it so hard for a lot of people to understand?
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)