The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction and art published in English during the preceding calendar year. The awards have been described by sources such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most renowned speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and science fiction). The World Fantasy Special Award—Professional is given each year to individuals for their professional work in the preceding calendar year in fields related to fantasy that is not covered by other World Fantasy Award categories. These have included editors of magazines and novels, publishers, and authors of non-fiction works. Occasionally, especially in the first few years of the award, some publishing companies were nominated along with individual editors and publishers. The nomination reasons were not specified in the first year of the award, and have sometimes not been specified beyond "contributions to the genre". Individuals are also eligible for the Special Award—Non-professional category for their non-professional work. The World Fantasy Special Award—Professional has been awarded annually since 1975.
World Fantasy Award nominees and winners are decided by attendees and judges at the annual World Fantasy Convention. A ballot is posted in June for attendees of the current and previous two conferences to determine two of the finalists, and a panel of five judges adds three or more nominees before voting on the overall winner. The panel of judges is typically made up of fantasy authors and is chosen each year by the World Fantasy Awards Administration, which has the power to break ties. The final results are presented at the World Fantasy Convention at the end of October. Winners were presented with a statue in the form of a bust of H. P. Lovecraft through the 2015 awards; more recent winners receive a statuette of a tree.
During the 52 nomination years, 183 individuals and 5 publishing companies have been nominated; 62 people have won, including ties and co-nominees. For his work at Donald M. Grant, Publisher Donald M. Grant has won three times out of eight nominations, and six other nominees have won twice. Ian Ballantine and Betty Ballantine have won twice out of two nominations each for their non-fiction and publishing work, and Peter Crowther twice out of four nominations for his work at PS Publishing. Edward L. Ferman won twice out of six nominations for his work at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Stephen Jones twice out of seven for his editing and anthology work, and Gordon Van Gelder twice out of seven nominations for his editing work in both books and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Ellen Datlow has received the most nominations with ten, winning once, for her editing and anthology work, and David Pringle has the most nominations without winning with five, for his work at Interzone and for "contributions to the genre".
Winners and nominees In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the work was performed. The table includes the stated reason the individual (or company) was nominated, which may not have been the only fantasy-related professional work they did during the previous calendar year. "N/A" in the reason column represents a nomination where no reason was given. Entries with a yellow background and an asterisk (*) next to the individual's name have won the award; the other entries are the other nominees on the shortlist.
* Winners
+ YearWinner or nomineeReason(s)Ref. 1975 * N/A * N/A 1976 * publishing publishing and editing Arkham House publishing Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside Lovecraft at Last Lovecraft: A Biography 1977 * Alternate World Recordings * Arkham House publishing DAW Books publishing Ballantine Books publishing 1978 * N/A DAW Books Ballantine Books 1979 * Donald M. Grant, Publisher 1980 * Donald M. Grant, Publisher Doubleday Arkham House DAW Books Ballantine Del Rey Fantasy 1981 * DAW Books Underwood–Miller anthologies Ballantine Del Rey Timescape Books 1982 * Timescape Books Underwood–Miller Donald M. Grant, Publisher 1983 * Donald M. Grant, Publisher Ballantine Del Rey Timescape Books Doubleday writing and reviewing 1984 * The High Kings * * * * Doubleday Dark Valley Destiny 1985 * Doubleday Asimov's Science Fiction Underwood–Miller Fantasists on Fantasy 1986 * Doubleday editing Donald M. Grant, Publisher 1987 * Favorite Folktales from Around the World Ace Books Interzone Arbor House Donald M. Grant, Publisher 1988 * Arbor House, Tor Books, anthologies service to the field Ace Books, Armadillo Bantam Spectra Asimov's Science Fiction, anthologies Weird Tales 1989 * editing * Omni, anthologies writing Dark Harvest 1990 * Mark V. Ziesing editing Dark Harvest Underwood–Miller 1991 * designing, Mark V. Ziesing, and Ursus editing Dark Harvest Interzone 1992 * Weird Tales * writing and editing publishing publishing, Pulphouse Publishing editing 1993 * editing Dell Abyss anthologies editing Batman: Gothic Dinotopia 1994 * publishing, Underwood–Miller * reviewing editing book editing publishing 1995 * editing Fedogan & Bremer book publishing reviewing Mark V. Ziesing 1996 * contributions to the genre editing and anthologies editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction editing Microcosmic God: Volume II: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon and for his work with the Literary Estate of Theodore Sturgeon 1997 * editing and anthologies contributions to the genre editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 1998 * * editing and anthologies editing and anthologies editing and anthologies editing books at St. Martin's Press and editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 1999 * Golden Gryphon Press editing Interzone editing The Avram Davidson Treasury Superman: The Complete History 2000 * editing books at St. Martin's Press and editing The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Wildside Press DNA Publications Millennium Movies 2001 * J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century editing Sci Fiction and anthologies Subterranean Press Golden Gryphon Press Spectrum 7: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art 2002 * editing the Fantasy Masterworks series * editing editing Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic Fantasy of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History 2003 * Paper Tiger art books editing Subterranean Press Golden Gryphon Press editing 2004 * PS Publishing artwork in The Lord of the Rings Small Beer Press Firebird Books Interzone and services to the field Prime Books 2005 * scholarship Small Beer Press editing editing 2006 * Prime Books Ace Books editing at Pyr Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia Pan MacMillan UK and Tor UK MonkeyBrain Books 2007 * work at Science Fiction Book Club Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard copyediting DreamHaven Books 2008 * PS Publishing MonkeyBrain Books Borderlands Books Night Shade Books Realms of Fantasy 2009 * Small Beer Press and Big Mouth House * Rhetorics of Fantasy Weird Tales Tachyon Publications 2010 * editing anthologies PS Publishing editing anthologies Ponyo Ash-Tree Press Tachyon Publications 2011 * Angry Robot editing and anthologies editing at Pyr Bragelonne ChiZine Publications 2012 * publishing in translation – Dedalus Books editing – Jo Fletcher Books editing – anthology and magazine ChiZine Publications 2013 * ChiZine Publications PS Publishing Subterranean Press Weird Fiction Review 2014 * art direction of Tor.com * Subterranean Press magazine and anthology editing editing at Ace Books Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction Centipede Press 2015 * ChiZine Publications * editing anthologies and Nightmare and Fantasy magazines Odyssey Writing workshops Centipede Press 2016 * contributions to the genre Gods, Memes and Monsters: A 21st Century Bestiary 2017 * Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction * Aqueduct Press contributions to the genre contributions to the genre 2018 * Writing Madness * * art direction at Tor Books and Tor.com DreamHaven Books The New Annotated Frankenstein 2019 * The Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands Serial Box art direction at Tor Books and Tor.com Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth exhibition 2020 * The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games (New York University Press) The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham (Liveright) We Need Diverse Books Contributions to the genre 2021 * The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic (Palgrave Macmillan) Jo Fletcher Books Beowulf: A New Translation (MCD x FSG Originals US/Scribe UK) The Monster Theory Reader (University of Minnesota Press) 2022 * Monstress Volume Six: The Vow (Image Comics) * Never Say You Can't Survive (Tor.com Publishing) Old Gods of Appalachia (podcast) Tor.com Subterranean Press editing 2023 * The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness (Dirt Lane Press) Tor.com Small Beer Press Without Walls (PS Publishing) Management Lessons from Game of Thrones: Organization Theory and Strategy in Westeros (Edward Elgar Publishing) 2024 * Locus Rosarium Books A Guest in the House (First Second Books) Wish I Was Here: An Anti-Memoir (Serpent's Tail) The Weird Tales Boys (PS Publishing) 2025*Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction (The University of the Philippines Press) **The Night Guest audiobook (Nightfire) editorial work with Solaris Books/Rebellion Developments The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Tachyon Publications 2026 London Uncanny: A Gothic Guide to the Capital in Weird History and Fiction (Bloomsbury Academic)Tachyon Publications Succubus (PS Publishing/Electric Dreamhouse)Blumhouse ProductionsHorror's New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse (Simon Element) Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature (Saga Press) Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods!: Interviews with Science Fiction Legends (Tachyon Publications)
See also World Fantasy Convention
References
External links World Fantasy Convention official site