The World Fantasy Awards are given each year
by the World Fantasy Convention for the best
fantasy fiction published in English during
the previous calendar year. The awards have
been described by book critics such as The
Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize",
and one of the three most prestigious speculative
fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula
Awards (which cover both fantasy and science
fiction). The World Fantasy Award—Long Fiction
is given each year for fantasy stories published
in English. A work of fiction is eligible
for the category if it is between 10,000 and
40,000 words in length; awards are also given
out for longer pieces in the Novel category
and shorter lengths in the Short Fiction category.
The Long Fiction category has been awarded
annually since 1982, though between 1975—when
the World Fantasy Awards were instated—and
1982 the short fiction category covered works
of up to 40,000 words. In 2016, the name of
the category was changed from Best Novella
to Long Fiction.World Fantasy Award nominees
and winners are decided by attendees and judges
at the annual World Fantasy Convention. A
ballot is posted in June for attendees of
the current and previous two conferences to
determine two of the finalists, and a panel
of five judges adds three or more nominees
before voting on the overall winner. The panel
of judges is typically made up of fantasy
authors and is chosen each year by the World
Fantasy Awards Administration, which has the
power to break ties. The final results are
presented at the World Fantasy Convention
at the end of October. Winners were presented
with a statue in the form of a bust of H.
P. Lovecraft through the 2015 awards; more
recent winners receive a statuette of a tree.During
the 37 nomination years, 131 authors have
had works nominated; 37 of them have won,
including ties and co-authors. Only four authors
have won more than once: Elizabeth Hand, with
three wins out of eight nominations; Richard
Bowes, with two wins out of three nominations;
K. J. Parker, who also won twice out of three
nominations; and Ellen Klages, with two wins
out of two nominations. Of authors who have
won at least once, Hand has the most nominations,
followed by George R. R. Martin at five and
Ursula K. Le Guin at four. Lucius Shepard
has the most nominations without winning and
the most overall at ten; he is followed by
Kim Newman, who has six nominations without
winning.
== Winners and nominees ==
In the following table, the years correspond
to the date of the ceremony, rather than when
the work was first published. Each year links
to the corresponding "year in literature".
Entries with a blue background and an asterisk
(*) next to the writer's name have won the
award; those with a white background are the
other nominees on the shortlist.
* Winners
