Monday, September 4, 1972

1972 Hugo Award Nominees

Location: LAcon I in Los Angeles, California.

Comments: In 1972 all of the written fiction awards were won by men who had previously won a Hugo Award. I'm not sure exactly what this means: it could either be a sign that quality writers consistently turn out quality fiction, or a sign that the genre was in danger of becoming an exclusionary inbred club. I'm going to go with the first possibility, because all three of the winning stories from 1972 are excellent fiction.

This year also avoided the embarrassing "No Winner" result in the Best Dramatic Presentation category that afflicted 1971, with the decidedly dystopian A Clockwork Orange taking home the prize, although it did beat out what can only be described as some fairly indifferent competition.

On a side note, although he did not win a Hugo Award this year, Robert Silverberg managed the still impressive feat of having two novels nominated in the Best Novel category.

Best Novel

Winner:
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer

Other Finalists:
Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg
The World Inside by Robert Silverberg

Best Novella

Winner:
The Queen of Air and Darkness by Poul Anderson (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 1)

Other Finalists:
Dread Empire by John Brunner
The Fourth Profession by Larry Niven
A Meeting with Medusa by Arthur C. Clarke
A Special Kind of Morning by Gardner Dozois

Best Short Story

Winner:
Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven (reviewed in The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, Book 1)

Other Finalists:
All the Last Wars at Once by George Alec Effinger
The Autumn Land by Clifford D. Simak
The Bear with the Knot on His Tail by Stephen Tall
Sky by R.A. Lafferty
Vaster than Empires and More Slow by Ursula K. Le Guin

Best Dramatic Presentation

Winner:
A Clockwork Orange

Other Finalists:
The Andromeda Strain
I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus (album)
The Name of the Game: LA 2017
THX 1138

Best Professional Magazine

Winner:
Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Edward L. Ferman

Other Finalists:
Amazing Stories edited by Ted White
Fantastic edited by Ted White
Galaxy edited by Ejler Jakobsson

Best Professional Artist

Winner:
Frank Kelly Freas

Other Finalists:
Vincent Di Fate
Jack Gaughan
Jeff Jones
John Schoenherr

Best Fanzine

Winner:
Locus edited by Charles Brown and Dena Brown

Other Finalists:
Energumen edited by Michael Glicksohn and Susan Glicksohn
Granfalloon edited by Ron and Linda Bushyager
SF Commentary edited by Bruce Gillespie

Best Fan Writer

Winner:
Harry Warner, Jr.

Other Finalists:
Terry Carr
Tom Digby
Susan Glicksohn
Rosemary Ullyot
Bob Vardeman

Best Fan Artist

Winner:
Tim Kirk

Other Finalists:
Alicia Austin
Grant Canfield
Wendy Fletcher
Bill Rotsler

What Are the Hugo Awards?

Go to previous year's nominees: 1971
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1973

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