Side notes

[kayshapero]

Wayne Borean wrote an article on the Hugo/Sad Puppies etc. kerfluffle, and I said I'd link to it so here it is:

Still Causing Controversy - Hugo Gernsback

Hugo Gernsback has been dead since 1967, but he, or rather the award named after him, is still causing controversy. The Hugo Awards were first given in 1953, for works showing 'excellence' in Science Fiction. Later the awards were extended to Fantasy as well (at which point we could have a ten year debate on what exactly Science Fiction and Fantasy are, and where are the boundaries, but I need to get the article published this year).

Recently certain conspiracy theorists have claimed that the Hugo Awards are no longer representative of what people 'like' reading. Guess what - the conspiracy theorists are right. The Hugo Awards (and certain related awards, like the John W. Campbell Award) have been 'captured' by a relatively small part of fandom.

Some of the fans who attend Worldcon have claimed that the Sad Puppies attempt to change things was a right wing takeover. Curiously most of the people backing Sad Puppies don't meet any definition I've seen of Right Wing.

They've also claimed that the books in the Sad Puppies Slate weren't representative of fandom, and that the Sad Puppies organizers were taking unfair advantage of the rules. Funny thing is that this sort of stuff has been going on for years. I could mention names, but being a polite sort, I won't.

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Comments

[asg-qa-s7.livejournal.com]

Sadly, Borean makes a lot of sense. The whole vote-skewing thing doesn't suck any less, but now it looks more like "HA!! *THAT'LL* keep you darn kids and your weirdo friends off my lawn!!"