Hugo Award for Best Novella
The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between 17,500 and 40,000 words; awards are also given out in the short story, novelette and novel categories. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
The Hugo Award for Best Novella has been awarded annually since 1968. In addition to the regular Hugo awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years prior in which no awards were given. Retro Hugos may only be awarded for years after 1939 in which no awards were originally given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been given for novellas for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954.
During the 61 nomination years, 178 authors have had works nominated; 42 of these have won, including coauthors and Retro Hugos. Connie Willis has received the most Hugos for Best Novella at four, and at eight is tied for the most nominations with Robert Silverberg. Willis and Charles Stross at three out of four nominations are the only authors to have won more than twice, while thirteen other authors have won the award twice. Nancy Kress has earned seven nominations and Robert A. Heinlein, George R. R. Martin, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Lucius Shepard six, and are the only authors besides Willis and Silverberg to get more than four. Robinson has the highest number of nominations without winning.
Selection
Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by the supporting and attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with six nominees, except in the case of a tie. These novellas on the ballot are the six most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of stories that can be nominated. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held. Prior to 2017, the final ballot was five works; it was changed that year to six, with each initial nominator limited to five nominations. Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and are held in a different city around the world each year. Members are permitted to vote "no award", if they feel that none of the nominees is deserving of the award that year, and in the case that "no award" takes the majority the Hugo is not given in that category. This happened in the Best Novella category in 2015.Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the novella was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature". Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the novella was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.* Winners and joint winners
+ No winner selected
| Year | Author | Novella | Publisher or publication | Ref. |
| 1968 | * | "Riders of the Purple Wage" | Dangerous Visions | |
| 1968 | * | "Weyr Search" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
| 1968 | "Damnation Alley" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
| 1968 | Worlds of Tomorrow | |||
| 1968 | "Hawksbill Station" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
| 1969 | * | "Nightwings" | Galaxy Science Fiction | |
| 1969 | "Dragonrider" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1969 | "Lines of Power" | |||
| 1969 | "Hawk Among the Sparrows" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1970 | * | "Ship of Shadows" | ||
| 1970 | ||||
| 1970 | "We All Die Naked" | Three for Tomorrow | ||
| 1970 | "Dramatic Mission" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1970 | "To Jorslem" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
| 1971 | * | "Ill Met in Lankhmar" | ||
| 1971 | If | |||
| 1971 | Galaxy Science Fiction | |||
| 1971 | Galaxy Science Fiction | |||
| 1971 | "Beastchild" | Venture Science Fiction Magazine | ||
| 1972 | * | |||
| 1972 | Playboy | |||
| 1972 | Quark/4 | |||
| 1972 | "Dread Empire" | Fantastic | ||
| 1972 | New Dimensions 1 | |||
| 1973 | * | Again, Dangerous Visions | ||
| 1973 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1973 | Orbit #10 | |||
| 1973 | "Hero" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1973 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1974 | * | New Dimensions 3 | ||
| 1974 | Universe 3 | |||
| 1974 | "Death and Designation Among the Asadi" | If | ||
| 1974 | ||||
| 1974 | "Chains of the Sea" | Chains of the Sea | ||
| 1975 | * | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1975 | "Strangers" | New Dimensions 4 | ||
| 1975 | "Born with the Dead" | |||
| 1975 | "Riding the Torch" | Threads of Time | ||
| 1975 | "Assault on a City" | Universe 4 | ||
| 1976 | * | "Home Is the Hangman" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
| 1976 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1976 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1976 | "ARM" | Epoch | ||
| 1976 | ||||
| 1976 | ||||
| 1977 | * | "By Any Other Name" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
| 1977 | * | "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" | Aurora: Beyond Equality | |
| 1977 | ||||
| 1977 | "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" | |||
| 1978 | * | "Stardance" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
| 1978 | * | "Stardance" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
| 1978 | "In the Hall of the Martian Kings" | |||
| 1978 | "Aztecs" | 2076: The American Tricentennial | ||
| 1978 | ||||
| 1978 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1979 | * | |||
| 1979 | "Fireship" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1979 | ||||
| 1979 | "Enemies of the System" | |||
| 1979 | "Seven American Nights" | Orbit #20 | ||
| 1980 | * | "Enemy Mine" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1980 | "Songhouse" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1980 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1980 | "Ker-Plop" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1980 | ||||
| 1981 | * | "Lost Dorsai" | Destinies #2 | |
| 1981 | "One-Wing" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1981 | "One-Wing" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1981 | "Nightflyers" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1981 | ||||
| 1981 | "All the Lies that Are My Life" | |||
| 1982 | * | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1982 | "In the Western Tradition" | |||
| 1982 | "Blue Champagne" | New Voices #4 | ||
| 1982 | "With Thimbles, With Forks and Hope" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1982 | "True Names" | Binary Star #5 | ||
| 1982 | "Emergence" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1983 | * | "Souls" | ||
| 1983 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1983 | "Unsound Variations" | Amazing Stories | ||
| 1983 | "Brainchild" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1983 | "To Leave a Mark" | |||
| 1983 | "Another Orphan" | |||
| 1984 | * | "Cascade Point" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
| 1984 | "Hardfought" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1984 | "In the Face of My Enemy" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1984 | "Seeking" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1984 | "Hurricane Claude" | |||
| 1985 | * | "Press Enter ■" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1985 | "Cyclops" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1985 | "Valentina" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1985 | "Valentina" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1985 | "Summer Solstice" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1985 | "Elemental" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1986 | * | "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1986 | "Sailing to Byzantium" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1986 | ||||
| 1986 | "Green Mars" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1986 | Alien Stars | |||
| 1987 | * | "Gilgamesh in the Outback" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1987 | "Escape from Kathmandu" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1987 | "R&R" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1987 | "Spice Pogrom" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1987 | "Eifelheim" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1988 | * | "Eye for Eye" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1988 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1988 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1988 | "Mother Goddess of the World" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1988 | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |||
| 1989 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1989 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1989 | "Journals of the Plague Years" | Full Spectrum | ||
| 1989 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 1989 | "Surfacing" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1990 | * | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
| 1990 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1990 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1990 | "Time-Out" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1990 | "Tiny Tango" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1991 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1991 | "Bully!" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1991 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1991 | "Bones" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1991 | "Fool to Believe" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1992 | * | "Beggars in Spain" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1992 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1992 | "Jack" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1992 | St. Martin's Press | |||
| 1992 | "And Wild for to Hold" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1993 | * | "Barnacle Bill the Spacer" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1993 | Bantam Spectra | |||
| 1993 | "Protection" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1993 | "Uh-Oh City" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 1993 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 1994 | * | "Down in the Bottomlands" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |
| 1994 | "Wall, Stone, Craft" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 1994 | "Into the Miranda Rift" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 1994 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 1994 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1994 | "Mefisto In Onyx" | Omni | ||
| 1995 | * | "Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |
| 1995 | "Les Fleurs du Mal" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1995 | "Forgiveness Day" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1995 | "Cri de Coeur" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1995 | "Melodies of the Heart" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 1996 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1996 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1996 | "Bibi" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1996 | "Bibi" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1996 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 1996 | "Fault Lines" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1997 | * | "Blood of the Dragon" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1997 | "Time Travelers Never Die" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1997 | "Immersion" | SF Age | ||
| 1997 | "Abandon in Place" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 1997 | "Gas Fish" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1997 | Starlight #1 | |||
| 1998 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1998 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 1998 | "Ecopoiesis" | SF Age | ||
| 1998 | "Loose Ends" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 1998 | "Marrow" | SF Age | ||
| 1999 | * | "Oceanic" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1999 | "Aurora in Four Voices" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 1999 | "Story of Your Life" | Starlight #2 | ||
| 1999 | "Get Me to the Church on Time" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 1999 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2000 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2000 | "Forty, Counting Down" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2000 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
| 2000 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
| 2000 | "Hunting the Snark" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2000 | "Son Observe the Time" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2001 | * | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2001 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
| 2001 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
| 2001 | "Oracle" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2001 | "Seventy-Two Letters" | Vanishing Acts | ||
| 2001 | "Radiant Green Star" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2002 | * | "Fast Times at Fairmont High" | ||
| 2002 | "Stealing Alabama" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2002 | "May Be Some Time" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2002 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2002 | Jubilee | |||
| 2003 | * | HarperCollins | ||
| 2003 | "Brontë's Egg" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 2003 | "Breathmoss" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2003 | PS Publishing | |||
| 2003 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 2003 | "In Spirit" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2004 | * | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2004 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2004 | "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2004 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2004 | "Walk in Silence" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2005 | * | |||
| 2005 | "Sergeant Chip" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 2005 | "Elector" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2005 | "Winterfair Gifts" | Irresistible Forces | ||
| 2005 | "Time Ablaze" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2006 | * | "Inside Job" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 2006 | Tachyon Publications | |||
| 2006 | "Magic for Beginners" | Magic for Beginners | ||
| 2006 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2006 | "Identity Theft" | Down These Dark Spaceways | ||
| 2007 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2007 | "Lord Weary's Empire" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2007 | PS Publishing | |||
| 2007 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2007 | "Inclination" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2008 | * | "All Seated on the Ground" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 2008 | "Recovering Apollo 8" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2008 | "Fountain of Age" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2008 | "Stars Seen Through Stone" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 2008 | "Memorare" | Fantasy & Science Fiction | ||
| 2009 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2009 | "Truth" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2009 | Galactic Empires | |||
| 2009 | "True Names" | Fast Forward 2 | ||
| 2009 | "True Names" | Fast Forward 2 | ||
| 2009 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 2010 | * | "Palimpsest" | ' | |
| 2010 | "Act One" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2010 | Subterranean Press | |||
| 2010 | Tachyon Publications | |||
| 2010 | "Vishnu at the Cat Circus" | Cyberabad Days | ||
| 2010 | Subterranean Press | |||
| 2011 | * | Subterranean Press | ||
| 2011 | Subterranean Magazine | |||
| 2011 | Stories: New Tales | |||
| 2011 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2011 | "Troika" | Godlike Machines | ||
| 2012 | * | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
| 2012 | Orbit Books | |||
| 2012 | Fantasy & Science Fiction | |||
| 2012 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2012 | Panverse 3 | |||
| 2012 | WSFA Press | |||
| 2013 | * | Tachyon Publications | ||
| 2013 | Tachyon Publications | |||
| 2013 | Immersion Press | |||
| 2013 | Orbit Books | |||
| 2013 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |||
| 2014 | * | Tor.com | ||
| 2014 | Privateer Press | |||
| 2014 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | |||
| 2014 | Subterranean Press | |||
| 2014 | Tor.com | |||
| 2014 | Tor.com | |||
| 2015 | + | |||
| 2015 | "Flow" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
| 2015 | Castalia House | |||
| 2015 | Castalia House | |||
| 2015 | "Pale Realms of Shade" | The Book of Feasts & Seasons | ||
| 2015 | City Beyond Time: Tales of the Fall of Metachronopolis | |||
| 2016 | * | Tor.com | ||
| 2016 | Tor.com | |||
| 2016 | Spectrum Literary Agency | |||
| 2016 | Dragonsteel Entertainment | |||
| 2016 | Tachyon Publications | |||
| 2017 | * | Tor.com Publishing | ||
| 2017 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2017 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2017 | Spectrum Literary Agency | |||
| 2017 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2017 | Del Rey Books / Picador | |||
| 2018 | * | Tor.com Publishing | ||
| 2018 | "And Then There Were " | Uncanny Magazine | ||
| 2018 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2018 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2018 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2018 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2019 | * | Tor.com Publishing | ||
| 2019 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2019 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2019 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2019 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2019 | Subterranean Press / JABberwocky Literary Agency | |||
| 2020 | "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" | ' | ||
| 2020 | Saga Press | |||
| 2020 | Saga Press | |||
| 2020 | Saga Press | |||
| 2020 | Saga Press | |||
| 2020 | Tor.com Publishing | |||
| 2020 | In an Absent Dream | Tor.com Publishing | ||
| 2020 | Saga Press | |||
| 2020 | Saga Press | |||
| 2020 | To Be Taught, if Fortunate | Harper Voyager |
Retro Hugos
Beginning with the 1996 Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Society created the concept of "Retro Hugos", in which the Hugo award could be retroactively awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years before the current year, if no awards were originally given that year. Retro Hugos have been awarded eight times, for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954.| Year | Year awarded | Author | Novella | Publisher or publication | Ref. |
| 1939 | 2014 | * | "Who Goes There?" | Astounding Science-Fiction | |
| 1939 | 2014 | Cassell | |||
| 1939 | 2014 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
| 1939 | 2014 | "Sleepers of Mars" | Tales of Wonder | ||
| 1939 | 2014 | Marvel Science Stories | |||
| 1941 | 2016 | * | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
| 1941 | 2016 | Astounding Science Fiction | |||
| 1941 | 2016 | Unknown | |||
| 1941 | 2016 | Unknown | |||
| 1941 | 2016 | Unknown | |||
| 1941 | 2016 | Unknown | |||
| 1941 | 2016 | Unknown | |||
| 1943 | 2018 | * | "Waldo" | Astounding Science Fiction | |
| 1943 | 2018 | "Asylum" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
| 1943 | 2018 | Unknown | |||
| 1943 | 2018 | "Hell is Forever" | Unknown | ||
| 1943 | 2018 | "Nerves" | Astounding Science Fiction | ||
| 1943 | 2018 | Unknown | |||
| 1944 | 2019 | * | Reynal & Hitchcock | ||
| 1944 | 2019 | "Attitude" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1944 | 2019 | "Clash by Night" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1944 | 2019 | "Clash by Night" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1944 | 2019 | Beyond the Wall of Sleep | |||
| 1944 | 2019 | Hyperion Press | |||
| 1944 | 2019 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
| 1945 | 2020 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
| 1945 | 2020 | Thrilling Wonder Stories | |||
| 1945 | 2020 | "Intruders from the Stars" | Amazing Stories | ||
| 1945 | 2020 | Planet Stories | |||
| 1945 | 2020 | "Killdozer!" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1945 | 2020 | "Trog" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1946 | 1996 | * | Secker and Warburg | ||
| 1946 | 1996 | "Dead Hand" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1946 | 1996 | "Giant Killer" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1946 | 1996 | "I Remember Lemuria" | Amazing Stories | ||
| 1951 | 2001 | * | Shasta Publishers | ||
| 1951 | 2001 | Fantastic Adventures | |||
| 1951 | 2001 | Astounding Science-Fiction | |||
| 1951 | 2001 | "Last Enemy" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1951 | 2001 | "To the Stars" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1954 | 2004 | * | If | ||
| 1954 | 2004 | "Three Hearts and Three Lions" | |||
| 1954 | 2004 | Beyond Fantasy Fiction | |||
| 1954 | 2004 | "Un-Man" | Astounding Science-Fiction | ||
| 1954 | 2004 | Authentic Science Fiction |