Hello all –

Well, it’s that time of the year again: Hugo Award season. Yes, nominations are now open for the 2009 Hugo Awards, to be presented at Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Montréal, Quebec, at the Palais des congrès de Montréal from August 6th – 10th, 2009.

And if nominations are open for the Hugo that means that nominations are also open for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. This is my second year (of two years) of eligibility.

The John W. Campbell Award is given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work was published in a professional publication in the previous two years. For the 2009 award, the qualifying work must have been published in 2007 or 2008–and you may recall I’ve had three publications in that window. You can see my Campbell eligibility profile over at Writertopia.

The Campbell Award uses the same nomination and voting mechanism as the Hugo, though the Campbell Award is not a Hugo. The award is sponsored by Dell Magazines and administered on their behalf by the World Science Fiction Society.

To be able to nominate a writer for the 2009 award, you must have either been an attending member of the 2008 Worldcon in Denver or be a supporting or attending member of the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal.

Nomination ballots must be received by March 1, 2009. Please see the official nomination ballot (in PDF) on the Anticipation website.

Thanks for your consideration!

– S.