Because in the modern day, people are having trouble separating fantasy with reality. People expect a fictional character like Lara Croft to reduce her boob size and be an underage whiny cunt
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) - Nerds protecting nonces
- Thread starter Meat Target
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2017
Paul Weimer is whining about being ruled ineligible for a Hugo:
Sadly, I doubt he's being excluded for being a pedo.
Sadly, I doubt he's being excluded for being a pedo.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
You are ineligible paul because you are a 52 year old white straight male who takes creep pictures of other people's children. Nobody and I mean nobody would vote for you. Why bother putting you on the list at all?
I find it hilarious his ass is the only one disqualified!
I find it hilarious his ass is the only one disqualified!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2016
The Grauniad has now waded into the Tor and Orbit Authors Award Hugos fray.
Science fiction awards held in China under fire for excluding authors
I'm only gonna post a link because being here on Tor makes my connection to KF frustratingly slow.
It is funny that Kuang got censored when her full-time job is being a professional gook. Neil Gaiman whining is also amusing, the fucking hypocrite.
Science fiction awards held in China under fire for excluding authors
I'm only gonna post a link because being here on Tor makes my connection to KF frustratingly slow.
It is funny that Kuang got censored when her full-time job is being a professional gook. Neil Gaiman whining is also amusing, the fucking hypocrite.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
I'll post the text! I got you!
A prestigious literary award for science fiction, which was hosted in China for the first time, has come under fire for excluding several authors from the 2023 awards, raising concerns about interference or censorship in the awards process.
The New York Times bestseller Babel by RF Kuang, an episode of the Netflix drama The Sandman and the author Xiran Jay Zhao were among the works and authors excluded from the 2023 Hugo awards, which were administered by the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in Chengdu in October.
Babel, which won fiction book of the year at the British book awards in 2023, is a speculative fiction novel by Kuang, a Chinese-American author also known for her novel Yellowface.
No reason was given for the exclusions, which were only revealed on 20 January when the Hugo awards published the full nomination statistics for last year’s prize. Certain titles were listed as having been given votes, but were marked with an asterisk and the words “not eligible”, with no further details given.
The Hugo awards are the premier accolade for sci-fi and fantasy fiction. They are administered by the World Science Fiction Society, a loose collective of sci-fi fans who vote for their favourite works or authors across more than a dozen categories before the annual conference, Worldcon, which is held in a different city each year. Last year’s event was the first time it had been held in China.
Recently released documents showed that several works or authors – some with links to China – had been excluded from the ballot despite receiving enough nominations to be included on their respective shortlists. The excluded nominees include Kuang and Xiran, authors who were born in China but are now based in the west.
Concerns have been raised that the authors were targeted for political reasons, connected to the fact that the ruling Chinese Communist party exerts a tight control on all cultural events that take place inside its borders.
Dave McCarty, the head of the 2023 Hugo awards jury, wrote on Facebook: “Nobody has ordered me to do anything … There was no communication between the Hugo administration team and the Chinese government in any official manner.”
McCarty did not respond to a request from the Guardian for comment, but shared what he said was the official response from the awards administration team on Facebook: “After reviewing the constitution and the rules we must follow, the administration team determined those works/persons were not eligible.” He declined to elaborate on what the rules were.
“I can only guess to why I was excluded, but it probably has something to do with my critical comments about the Chinese government in the past,” said Xiran. “You would think that as a big, powerful country, China would be graceful about criticisms, but they in fact take it very personally, and doubly so when it’s from Chinese diaspora.”
Kuang debuted as an author with the Poppy War trilogy, an award-winning fantasy series inspired by modern Chinese history that imagines Mao Zedong as a teenage girl.
Episode six of The Sandman, which is based on a comic book written by Neil Gaiman, was excluded from the best dramatic presentation category, despite receiving enough nominations to be on the final ballot. Gaiman has publicly criticised the Chinese authorities for imprisoning writers.
In an Instagram post published on 22 January, Kuang wrote: “I wish to clarify that no reason for Babel’s ineligibility was given to me or my team. I did not decline a nomination, as no nomination was offered … I assume this was a matter of undesirability rather than ineligibility.”
Paul Weimer, a hobbyist sci-fi writer, discovered last week that he was excluded from the best fan writer category, despite receiving enough nominations to be shortlisted. “I had the highest of hopes for Chengdu,” said Weimer, who has been nominated for Hugos in previous years. “I thought it was amazing that a number of Chinese fans had got together to get this bid together.”
The organising committee of Chengdu Worldcon did not respond to requests for comment. Some people in the sci-fi community had raised concerns about the event being hosted in China when Chengdu won the bid to host the event in 2021.
“My Hugo acceptance speeches would have gotten me arrested in China. I have said things on record that are just illegal,” said the writer Jeannette Ng in 2021.
The Worldcon organisers “should have taken our concerns about the awards being held in China seriously from the beginning. We knew something like this was going to happen,” said Xiran.
Writing on Facebook, Gaiman said: “Until now, one of the things that’s always been refreshing about the Hugos has been the transparency and clarity of the process … This is obfuscatory, and without some clarity it means that whatever has gone wrong here is unfixable, or may be unfixable in ways that don’t damage the respect the Hugos have earned over the last 70 years.”
The New York Times bestseller Babel by RF Kuang, an episode of the Netflix drama The Sandman and the author Xiran Jay Zhao were among the works and authors excluded from the 2023 Hugo awards, which were administered by the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in Chengdu in October.
Babel, which won fiction book of the year at the British book awards in 2023, is a speculative fiction novel by Kuang, a Chinese-American author also known for her novel Yellowface.
No reason was given for the exclusions, which were only revealed on 20 January when the Hugo awards published the full nomination statistics for last year’s prize. Certain titles were listed as having been given votes, but were marked with an asterisk and the words “not eligible”, with no further details given.
The Hugo awards are the premier accolade for sci-fi and fantasy fiction. They are administered by the World Science Fiction Society, a loose collective of sci-fi fans who vote for their favourite works or authors across more than a dozen categories before the annual conference, Worldcon, which is held in a different city each year. Last year’s event was the first time it had been held in China.
Recently released documents showed that several works or authors – some with links to China – had been excluded from the ballot despite receiving enough nominations to be included on their respective shortlists. The excluded nominees include Kuang and Xiran, authors who were born in China but are now based in the west.
Concerns have been raised that the authors were targeted for political reasons, connected to the fact that the ruling Chinese Communist party exerts a tight control on all cultural events that take place inside its borders.
Dave McCarty, the head of the 2023 Hugo awards jury, wrote on Facebook: “Nobody has ordered me to do anything … There was no communication between the Hugo administration team and the Chinese government in any official manner.”
McCarty did not respond to a request from the Guardian for comment, but shared what he said was the official response from the awards administration team on Facebook: “After reviewing the constitution and the rules we must follow, the administration team determined those works/persons were not eligible.” He declined to elaborate on what the rules were.
“I can only guess to why I was excluded, but it probably has something to do with my critical comments about the Chinese government in the past,” said Xiran. “You would think that as a big, powerful country, China would be graceful about criticisms, but they in fact take it very personally, and doubly so when it’s from Chinese diaspora.”
Kuang debuted as an author with the Poppy War trilogy, an award-winning fantasy series inspired by modern Chinese history that imagines Mao Zedong as a teenage girl.
Episode six of The Sandman, which is based on a comic book written by Neil Gaiman, was excluded from the best dramatic presentation category, despite receiving enough nominations to be on the final ballot. Gaiman has publicly criticised the Chinese authorities for imprisoning writers.
In an Instagram post published on 22 January, Kuang wrote: “I wish to clarify that no reason for Babel’s ineligibility was given to me or my team. I did not decline a nomination, as no nomination was offered … I assume this was a matter of undesirability rather than ineligibility.”
Paul Weimer, a hobbyist sci-fi writer, discovered last week that he was excluded from the best fan writer category, despite receiving enough nominations to be shortlisted. “I had the highest of hopes for Chengdu,” said Weimer, who has been nominated for Hugos in previous years. “I thought it was amazing that a number of Chinese fans had got together to get this bid together.”
The organising committee of Chengdu Worldcon did not respond to requests for comment. Some people in the sci-fi community had raised concerns about the event being hosted in China when Chengdu won the bid to host the event in 2021.
“My Hugo acceptance speeches would have gotten me arrested in China. I have said things on record that are just illegal,” said the writer Jeannette Ng in 2021.
The Worldcon organisers “should have taken our concerns about the awards being held in China seriously from the beginning. We knew something like this was going to happen,” said Xiran.
Writing on Facebook, Gaiman said: “Until now, one of the things that’s always been refreshing about the Hugos has been the transparency and clarity of the process … This is obfuscatory, and without some clarity it means that whatever has gone wrong here is unfixable, or may be unfixable in ways that don’t damage the respect the Hugos have earned over the last 70 years.”
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2021
I read that title as "Science fiction awards held in China under fire for executing authors" and was disappointed when it wasn't the case when I read Gaiman being a dumb cunt.
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2022
I'm so sorry Paul
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2015
Which is why they all reeeee’d like retards over the whole Sad Puppies thing, right?
Considering all the very abnormal sci-fi writers out there, I've only read sci-fi from Jack Vance, which are mostly good reads (avoid the Cugel books, they read as mostly filler). He had a wife and kid; and was the typical struggling writer.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2015
This is causing ripples in the communities I listen to. Many are going "but we're just trying to highlight Chinese authors who are underrepresented". But no, it's probably Party intervention and if this isn't investigated, well... I don't even know.
Kermit the Impaler
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2023
What did these people think was going to happen when they let a Worldcon be held in China? They deserve all of this for being so stupid.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2015
It’s like having the World Cup in Qatar, and being shocked there were human rights abuses building the stadiums.
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2016
LOL. LMAO, even.
Resignations, Censures Follow in Wake of Hugo Awards Controversy
I have a vague sense McCarty basically is the Hugos at this point; doing all the grunt work set up the meeting or whatever the dog and pony show is annually. Wonder if any of the people bitching on Twitter will step up to the plate and do some tedious, unpleasant work to keep the award going, or if it just goes away now?
Resignations, Censures Follow in Wake of Hugo Awards Controversy
Resignations, Censures Follow in Wake of Hugo Awards Controversy
By Sophia Stewart |
Feb 01, 2024
Two leaders of Worldcon Intellectual Property (WIP), the nonprofit that holds the service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, have reportedly stepped down from their posts following accusations of censorship in the voting process for the 2023 Hugo Awards.
In a January 30 statement, WIP officials announced that director Dave McCarty and board chair Kevin Standlee have both resigned from their positions. McCarty was also censured for "public comments that have led to harm of the goodwill and value of our marks and for actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon that he presided over." Standlee was "reprimanded" for "public comments that mistakenly led people to believe that we are not servicing our marks."
In addition, WIP announced that two others, Chen Shi and Ben Yalow, were also censured for "actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon [they] presided over." The statement adds that there "may be other actions taken or to be taken that are not in this announcement." Yalow, who co-chaired the Chengdu Worldcon with Shi, is no longer listed on the 2024 Glasgow Worldcon committee and staff page.
"WIP takes very seriously the recent complaints about the 2023 Hugo Award process," the statement reads, "and complaints about comments made by persons holding official positions in WIP."
The Hugo Awards are the most prestigious honors in the sci-fi/fantasy community. The awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, are awarded annually at the group's global convention, Worldcon. Last year's Worldcon was held for the first time in China, in Chengdu.
The resignations and disciplinary actions come after the nomination data for the 2023 awards was made public on January 20 and it was revealed that certain authors and books—including R.F. Kuang's hit novel Babel—had been inexplicably deemed "not eligible" for the Hugo. Kuang is Chinese American, and her work draws heavily from Chinese culture and history. Many fans and authors have speculated that state censorship—or self-censorship under the state's watch—was the reason for the opaque ineligibility rulings by the Chengdu–based committee.
Also deemed ineligible were Chinese Canadian author Xiran Jay Zhao, whose book Iron Widow is about China's only female emperor, and writer Paul Weimer, who expressed concerns in 2021 over holding Worldcon 2023 in Chengdu.
In response to the outcry, McCarty took to Facebook on January 20 and attempted (sometimes curtly) to address hundreds of comments from angered authors, including Neil Gaiman and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. An episode of Netflix's TV series The Sandman, based on Gaiman's comic series, was also declared ineligible.
In a Bluesky post, Kuang addressed Babel's snub, writing that the censorship evident in the nomination data "is not only embarrassing for all involved parties, but renders the entire process and organization illegitimate."
As the WIP statement notes, "each year’s World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is run by a separate organization" that administers the Hugo Awards for that year. The leaders of 2024 Glasgow Worldcon, which will be held August 8–12 in Scotland's largest city, are already distancing themselves from the Chengdu committee. On January 27, the Glasgow group issued a statement pledging total transparency in the Hugo voting process, assuring fans that it will "publish the reasons for any disqualifications of potential finalists, and any withdrawals of potential finalists from the ballot."
In addition to the resignations and censures, WIP this week also announced that Don Eastlake has been elected as the new WIP board chair.
A version of this article appeared in the 02/05/2024 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
Also on PW
The Publishing Industry Salary Survey 2023
Check Out Our Podcasts! more...
Tomi Adeyemi Returns
QUICKLINKS
(+)
By Sophia Stewart |
Feb 01, 2024
Two leaders of Worldcon Intellectual Property (WIP), the nonprofit that holds the service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, have reportedly stepped down from their posts following accusations of censorship in the voting process for the 2023 Hugo Awards.
In a January 30 statement, WIP officials announced that director Dave McCarty and board chair Kevin Standlee have both resigned from their positions. McCarty was also censured for "public comments that have led to harm of the goodwill and value of our marks and for actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon that he presided over." Standlee was "reprimanded" for "public comments that mistakenly led people to believe that we are not servicing our marks."
In addition, WIP announced that two others, Chen Shi and Ben Yalow, were also censured for "actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon [they] presided over." The statement adds that there "may be other actions taken or to be taken that are not in this announcement." Yalow, who co-chaired the Chengdu Worldcon with Shi, is no longer listed on the 2024 Glasgow Worldcon committee and staff page.
"WIP takes very seriously the recent complaints about the 2023 Hugo Award process," the statement reads, "and complaints about comments made by persons holding official positions in WIP."
The Hugo Awards are the most prestigious honors in the sci-fi/fantasy community. The awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, are awarded annually at the group's global convention, Worldcon. Last year's Worldcon was held for the first time in China, in Chengdu.
The resignations and disciplinary actions come after the nomination data for the 2023 awards was made public on January 20 and it was revealed that certain authors and books—including R.F. Kuang's hit novel Babel—had been inexplicably deemed "not eligible" for the Hugo. Kuang is Chinese American, and her work draws heavily from Chinese culture and history. Many fans and authors have speculated that state censorship—or self-censorship under the state's watch—was the reason for the opaque ineligibility rulings by the Chengdu–based committee.
Also deemed ineligible were Chinese Canadian author Xiran Jay Zhao, whose book Iron Widow is about China's only female emperor, and writer Paul Weimer, who expressed concerns in 2021 over holding Worldcon 2023 in Chengdu.
In response to the outcry, McCarty took to Facebook on January 20 and attempted (sometimes curtly) to address hundreds of comments from angered authors, including Neil Gaiman and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. An episode of Netflix's TV series The Sandman, based on Gaiman's comic series, was also declared ineligible.
In a Bluesky post, Kuang addressed Babel's snub, writing that the censorship evident in the nomination data "is not only embarrassing for all involved parties, but renders the entire process and organization illegitimate."
As the WIP statement notes, "each year’s World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is run by a separate organization" that administers the Hugo Awards for that year. The leaders of 2024 Glasgow Worldcon, which will be held August 8–12 in Scotland's largest city, are already distancing themselves from the Chengdu committee. On January 27, the Glasgow group issued a statement pledging total transparency in the Hugo voting process, assuring fans that it will "publish the reasons for any disqualifications of potential finalists, and any withdrawals of potential finalists from the ballot."
In addition to the resignations and censures, WIP this week also announced that Don Eastlake has been elected as the new WIP board chair.
A version of this article appeared in the 02/05/2024 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
Also on PW
The Publishing Industry Salary Survey 2023
Check Out Our Podcasts! more...
Tomi Adeyemi Returns
QUICKLINKS
(+)
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2019
Wait, but I thought only the badthinking chuds were supposed to be excluded? How could they allow goodthinking guardians of the new social reality to be censored??
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
These idiots honestly believed they could have their little get-together in one of the most censorious countries in the world and none of them would get burned. The fact that that the convention hall was purpose built for their little event should have been a supernova bright warning that the Chinese government had its dick all in their pie. Say what you will about loud mouths like Larry Correia and his lot, but they will never be this stupid.
This couldn't have happen to a more deserving lot of self-serving jackasses.
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2021
Surely a vote to not give themselves resignations or censures would've worked instead?
Sargon's wife's son
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2019
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2021
Cold off the press but NYT covered this.
Edit:
Ah i thought the NYT did actual journalism for once here's the actual reporting,
Edit:
Ah i thought the NYT did actual journalism for once here's the actual reporting,
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2018
The funniest part is that this is coming out of File 770 of all places.
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2022
Joss Whedon has done more damage to the practice of writing than any other person since 1990 because everyone thinks his shitty plots and snark are what make good writing.
Also lolol at these supposed progressives simping for one of the most repressive and censorious governments in the world. What a bunch of faggots.