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 The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science-fiction novel of
the year is one of the three major annual awards for science fiction.
The first Campbell Award was presented at the Illinois Institute of
Technology in 1973. Since then the Award has been presented in
various parts of the world: at California State University at
Fullerton; at St. John's College, Oxford; at the World SF Writers
Conference in Dublin; in Stockholm; at the World SF meeting in Dublin
again; the University of Kansas; and in a joint event with the SFRA Convention
in Kansas City in 2007.
Since 1979, the Campbell Award has been presented during the Campbell Conference Awards Banquet
at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as the focal point of a weekend
of discussions about the writing, illustration, publishing, teaching, and
criticism of science fiction.
The Award was created to honor the late editor of Astounding
Science Fiction magazine, now named Analog.
Campbell, who edited the magazine from 1937 until his death in 1971,
is called by many writers and scholars the father of modern science
fiction. Writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss
established the award in Campbell's name as a way of continuing his
efforts to encourage writers to produce their best possible work.
Selection Process
The Campbell Award differs from most other major awards in the field by being
restricted to the novel and by its method of selection. The Hugo Awards are
voted on by some thousand of the several thousand members who pay advance fees
to attend the World Science Fiction Convention, which meets annually at
different locations on Labor Day weekend. The Nebula Awards are voted on by a
few hundred of about two thousand members of the Science Fiction Writers of America and
presented at the annual Nebula Award meeting usually held late in
the Spring.
The Campbell Award is selected by a distinguished committee
small enough to discuss among its members all of the nominated novels. The current jury:
The jury has been honored to have some of the most distinguished
members of the SF world, including authors, scholars, and academics from the
field. Former jurors include:
- T.A. Shippey served the Campbell Award for 40 years. He joined the panel of judges in its
second year, which looked at the novels for 1974, and retired in 2015.
-
Paul Di Filippo
from 2009-2015.
-
Paul A. Carter
retired in 2009 after serving almost since the Award's inception.
-
Farah Mendlesohn from
2006-2008.
- Brian Stableford
- Robert H. Wilcox
- Sam Lundwall until 1996.
- Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss served as the first jurors in 1972.
James Gunn
has served the jury since its earliest days.
Starting in 2004, winners of the Campbell Award began receiving personalized
trophies.
The permanent Award, beside the new trophies in this photo, bears the names of
every winner.
Nominations come from the science-fiction publishers as well as individual
jurors. Nominations are usually requested in the fall by Chris McKitterick in
the United States and Paul Kincaid in the United Kingdom, and the jurors read and debate the merits of these books through
late April or early May. This process produces a list of finalists based
on jurors' rankings. After vigorous debate on the
merits of the finalists, the final decision arises from a vote by the jurors during
late May. The winning author is usually contacted in May and
invited to attend the Campbell Conference; the winner often attends the last day
or two of the SF Writers Workshop, as well.
Eligible novels are those published in English during the previous calendar
year. If you are a science-fiction publisher interested in participating in
the Award nominations process, please contact Chris McKitterick ([email protected])
for more information.
Campbell Award finalists.
Campbell Conference.
Images of the Campbell Award trophy.
The Award has been presented to an unusual variety of authors from around the
world, including honoring a number of first-time novelists, as listed below.
1973
1st Beyond Apollo, Barry N. Malzberg
2nd The Listeners, James Gunn
3rd Darkening Island (Fugue for a Darkening Plain), Christopher Priest
Special award for excellence in writing: Dying Inside, Robert Silverberg
1974
1st (tie) Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke;
1st (tie) Malevil, Robert Merle
2nd (tie) The Embedding, Ian Watson;
2nd (tie) The Green Gene, Peter Dickinson
Special non-fiction award: The Cosmic Connection, Carl Sagan
1975
1st Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, Philip K. Dick
2nd The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
3rd None awarded
1976
1st The Year of the Quiet Sun, Wilson Tucker*
2nd The Stochastic Man, Robert Silverberg
3rd Orbitsville, Bob Shaw
*The committee felt that no truly outstanding original novel was published in 1975.
1st place, therefore, was a "special retrospective award" made to a truly outstanding
original novel that was not adequately recognized in the year of its publication (1970).
1977
1st The Alteration, Kingsley Amis
2nd Man Plus, Frederik Pohl
3rd Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm
1978
1st Gateway, Frederik Pohl
2nd Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
3rd A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick
1979
1st Gloriana, Michael Moorcock
2nd And Having Writ..., Donald Benson
3rd Altered States, Paddy Chayefski
1980
1st On Wings of Song, Thomas M. Disch
2nd Engine Summer, John Crowley
3rd The Unlimited Dream Company, J. G. Ballard
1981
1st Timescape, Gregory Benford
2nd The Dreaming Dragons, Damien Broderick
3rd The Shadow of the Torturer, Gene Wolfe
1982
1st Riddley Walker, Russell Hoban
2nd None awarded
3rd None awarded
1983
1st Helliconia Spring, Brian W. Aldiss
2nd No Enemy But Time, Michael Bishop
3rd None awarded
1984
1st The Citadel of the Autarch, Gene Wolfe
2nd The Birth of the People's Republic of the Antarctic, John Batchelor
3rd Tik-Tok, John Sladek
1985
1st The Years of the City, Frederik Pohl
2nd Green Eyes, Lucius Shepherd
3rd Neuromancer, William Gibson
1986
1st The Postman, David Brin
2nd Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut
3rd (tie) Kiteworld, Keith Roberts;
3rd (tie) Blood Music, Greg Bear
1987
1st A Door into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski
2nd This Is the Way the World Ends, James Morrow
3rd Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card
1988
1st Lincoln's Dreams, Connie Willis
2nd The Sea and Summer, George Turner
3rd The Unconquered Country, Geoff Ryman
1989
1st Islands in the Net, Bruce Sterling
2nd The Gold Coast, Kim Stanley Robinson
3rd Dragonsdawn, Anne McCaffrey
1990
1st The Child Garden, Geoff Ryman
2nd Farewell Horizontal, K. W. Jeter
3rd Good News from Outer Space, John Kessel
1991
1st Pacific Edge, Kim Stanley Robinson
2nd Queen of Angels, Greg Bear
3rd Only Begotten Daughter, James Morrow
1992
1st Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede, Bradley Denton
2nd The Difference Engine, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
3rd (tie) A Woman of the Iron People, Eleanor Arnason;
3rd (tie) Stations of the Tide, Michael Swanwick;
3rd (tie) The Silicon Man, Charles Platt
1993
1st Brother to Dragons, Charles Sheffield
2nd Sideshow, Sheri S. Tepper
3rd A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge
1994
1st No award
2nd Beggars in Spain, Nancy Kress
3rd Moving Mars, Greg Bear
1995
1st Permutation City, Greg Egan
2nd Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop
3rd No award
1996
1st The Time Ships, Stephen Baxter
2nd The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson
3rd Chaga, Ian McDonald
1997
1st Fairyland, Paul McAuley
2nd Blue Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
3rd The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
1998
1st Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman
2nd Slant, Greg Bear
3rd Secret Passages, Paul Preuss
1999
1st Brute Orbits, George Zebrowski
2nd Starfarers, Poul Anderson
3rd Distraction, Bruce Sterling
2000
1st A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge
2nd Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear
3rd Greenhouse Summer, Norman Spinrad
2001
1st Genesis, Poul Anderson
2002
1st (tie) Terraforming Earth, Jack Williamson
1st (tie) The Chronoliths, Robert Charles Wilson
2nd (no award due to tie)
3rd Probability Sun, Nancy Kress
2003
1st Probability Space, Nancy Kress
2nd Kiln People, David Brin
3rd Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer
2004
1st Omega, Jack McDevitt
2nd Natural History, Justina Robson3rd The X President, Philip Baruth
2005
1st Market Forces, Richard Morgan
2nd Air, Geoff Ryman
3rd The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
2006
1st Mindscan, Robert J. Sawyer
2nd Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
3rd The Summer Isles, Ian R. Macleod
2007
1st Titan, Ben Bova2nd The Last Witchfinder, James Morrow
3rd (tie) Farthing, Jo Walton
3rd (tie) Blindsight, Peter Watts
2008
1st In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan
2nd The Yiddish Policeman's Union, Michael Chabon
3rd The Execution Channel, Ken MacLeod
2009
1st (tie) Song of Time, Ian MacLeod
1st (tie) Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
3rd The Philosopher's Apprentice, James Morrow
2010
1st The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
2nd Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson
3rd The City & the City, China Miéville
2011
1st The Dervish House, Ian McDonald
2nd How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, Charles Yu
3rd The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
2012
1st (tie) The Islanders, Christopher Priest
1st (tie) The Highest Frontier, Joan Slonczewski
3rd Embassytown, China Miéville
Honorable Mention Osama, by Lavie Tidhar
2013
1st Jack Glass: The Story of a Murderer, Adam Roberts
2nd Any Day Now, Terry Bisson
3rd (tie) Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson
3rd (tie) Empty Space, M. John Harrison
2014
1st Strange Bodies, Marcel Theroux
2nd Evening's Empires, Paul McAuley
3rd The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
2015
1st
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North
2nd A Darkling Sea, James L. Cambias
3rd The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu (Ken Liu, translator)
Click here to see the finalists for the John W. Campbell Award.
Click here for
more information about the Campbell Conference.
Click here to see images of the
Campbell Award trophy.
updated 6/13/2015
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