The Hugos were named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction," as a special award described him in 1960.

Originally known as the Science Fiction Achievement Awards, these awards were first presented in 1953.

The Hugo Awards Ceremony is always a highlight of the Worldcon, where we present our awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Join us on Saturday, September 4, 2004, at 8:00 pm for what's sure to be a glittering event.

Master of Ceremonies Neil Gaiman will preside over the presentation of the First Fandom Awards, the Big Heart Award, the Seiun Awards for Best Novel and Short Story (as translsated into Japanese), the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, as well as the Hugo Awards.

This year's Hugo nominees were selected by members (by January 31, 2004) of Noreascon Four and by members of Torcon, the 2003 Worldcon.

First Fandom Awards

First Fandom is a group of science fiction readers and collectors who were active in the 1930s: the early days of fandom. The organzation also includes associate members, fans and writers who have share an interest in early science fiction.

Each year, First Fandom awards its Sam Moskowitz Award for Excellence in Collecting to a prominent collector of rare science fiction.

The First Fandom Hall of Fame Award is presented annually for contributions to the field of science fiction dating back more than 30 years. Contributions can be as a fan, writer, editor, artist, agent, or any combination of the five.

E. Everett Evans Big Heart Award

In Mimosa 23, Forry Ackerman described the genesis of the Big Heart Award:

Walt [Walter J. Daugherty] has been one of my dearest, closest friends, to this very day. We mutually created the 'Big Heart' Award shortly after E. Everett Evans died in 1958. Evans was an elderly fan; he didn't have much money but was extremely generous. At worldcons, if he saw a young fan who he realized wasn't going to be able to attend the banquet, a ticket would appear under the kid's door. Walt and I decided we didn't want E. Everett Evans to be forgotten, so we created the award that's presented at the worldcon each year.

The award is generally described as being for "outstanding service to the Science Fiction field."

Seiun Awards

The Seiun Awards are given by the Japanese National Science Fiction Convention for works translated into Japanese. The translated work must have appeared in the previous year. Many of the nominated works were originally published between 1979 and 2002.

Seiun means nebula in Japanese.

The award winners will be announced August 21–22, 2004, but the actual awards for translated works will be presented at Noreascon Four.

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

The John W. Campbell Award is given to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy appearing in a professional publication was published in the previous two years.

The Campbell Award is administered by the Worldcon Committee and determined by the same nominating and voting mechanisms as the Hugos. It is awarded to the best new science fiction or fantasy writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy appearing in a professional publication (defined as 10,000 or more copies) was published in the previous two years.

The Campbell Award is not a Hugo. Named in honor of John W. Campbell, it was originally sponsored by Conde Nast Publications (1973-1978). Davis Publications (1979-1992) also previously sponsored the Campbell Award. Dell Magazines has been sponsoring the award since 1993.