Here Are All the 2021 Hugo Award Winners!

Did your favorite 2021 book take home an award?   

Hugo Award Winners 2021
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  • Photo Credit: Image via the cover of 'Network Effect' by Martha Wells.

After the Hugo Awards ceremony 2020 was held remotely due to coronavirus, the awards returned to in-person in 2021. This year's winners were announced Saturday, December 18th, 2021 by hosts Andrea Hairston and Sheree Renée Thomas at DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, D.C. 

2021's Hugo Award winners include Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries, an Octavia Butler adaptation, and the short fiction work of editor Ellen Datlow

See the full list of 2021 winners and finalists below!

Best Novel

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Best Novella

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Best Novelette

Two Truths and a Lie

Best Series

Hugo Award winners

Best Graphic Story or Comic

Octavia Butler books

See the rest of the nominees and winners (in bold) below! 

Best Short Story

  • “Metal Like Blood in the Dark”, T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
  • Little Free Library, Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
  • “A Guide for Working Breeds”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris))
  • “Open House on Haunted Hill”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots – 2020, ed. David Steffen)
  • “The Mermaid Astronaut”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
  • “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse”, Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February

Best Related Work

  • Beowulf: A New Translation, Maria Dahvana Headley (FSG)
  • A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler, Lynell George (Angel City Press)
  • FIYAHCON, L.D. Lewis–Director, Brent Lambert–Senior Programming Coordinator, Iori Kusano–FIYAHCON Fringe Co-Director, Vida Cruz–FIYAHCON Fringe Co-Director, and the Incredible FIYAHCON team
  • “George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun, Or: The 2020 Hugo Awards Ceremony (Rageblog Edition)”, Natalie Luhrs (Pretty Terrible, August 2020)
  • The Last Bronycon: a fandom autopsy, Jenny Nicholson (YouTube)
  • CoNZealand Fringe, Claire Rousseau, C, Cassie Hart, Adri Joy, Marguerite Kenner, Cheryl Morgan, Alasdair Stuart.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

  • The Old Guard, written by Greg Rucka, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Netflix / Skydance Media)
  • Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), written by Christina Hodson, directed by Cathy Yan (Warner Bros.)
  • Soul, screenplay by Pete Docter, Mike Jones and Kemp Powers, directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers, produced by Dana Murray (Pixar Animation Studios/ Walt Disney Pictures)
  • Palm Springs, written by Andy Siara, directed by Max Barbakow (Limelight / Sun Entertainment Culture / The Lonely Island / Culmination Productions / Neon / Hulu / Amazon Prime)
  • Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, written by Will Ferrell, Andrew Steele, directed by David Dobkin (European Broadcasting Union/Netflix)
  • Tenet, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros./Syncopy)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

  • The Good Place: Whenever You’re Ready, written and directed by Michael Schur (Fremulon / 3 Arts Entertainment / Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group)
  • The Expanse: Gaugamela, written by Dan Nowak, directed by Nick Gomez (Alcon Entertainment / Alcon Television Group / Amazon Studios / Hivemind / Just So)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 16: The Rescue, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Peyton Reed (Golem Creations / Lucasfilm / Disney+)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi, written and directed by Dave Filoni (Golem Creations / Lucasfilm / Disney+)
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Heart (parts 1 and 2), written by Josie Campbell and ND Stevenson, directed by Jen Bennett and Kiki Manrique (DreamWorks Animation Television / Netflix)
  • Doctor Who: Fugitive of the Judoon, written by Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall, directed by Nida Manzoor (BBC)

Best Editor, Short Form

  • Ellen Datlow
  • Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya
  • Neil Clarke
  • Sheila Williams
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • C.C. Finlay

Best Editor, Long Form

  • Diana M. Pho
  • Navah Wolfe
  • Sheila E. Gilbert
  • Sarah Guan
  • Brit Hvide
  • Nivia Evans

Best Professional Artist

  • Rovina Cai
  • John Picacio
  • Galen Dara
  • Tommy Arnold
  • Maurizio Manzieri
  • Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine

  • FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, publisher Troy L. Wiggins, executive editor DaVaun Sanders, managing editor Eboni Dunbar, poetry editor Brandon O’Brien, reviews and social media Brent Lambert, art director L. D. Lewis, and the FIYAH Team.
  • Uncanny Magazine, editors in chief: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, managing editor: Chimedum Ohaegbu, non-fiction editor: Elsa Sjunneson, podcast producers: Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky
  • Strange Horizons, Vanessa Aguirre, Joseph Aitken, Rachel Ayers, M H Ayinde, Tierney Bailey, Scott Beggs, Drew Matthew Beyer, Gautam Bhatia, S. K. Campbell, Zhui Ning Chang, Rita Chen, Tania Chen, Joyce Chng, Liz Christman, Linda H. Codega, Kristian Wilson Colyard, Yelena Crane, Bruhad Dave, Sarah Davidson, Tahlia Day, Arinn Dembo, Nathaniel Eakman, Belen Edwards, George Tom Elavathingal, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Courtney Floyd, Lila Garrott, Colette Grecco, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright, Julia Gunnison, Dan Hartland, Sydney Hilton, Angela Hinck, Stephen Ira, Amanda Jean, Ai Jiang, Sean Joyce-Farley, Erika Kanda, Anna Krepinsky, Kat Kourbeti, Clayton Kroh, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Catherine Krahe, Natasha Leullier, A.Z. Louise, Dante Luiz, Gui Machiavelli, Cameron Mack, Samantha Manaktola, Marisa Manuel, Jean McConnell, Heather McDougal, Maria Morabe, Amelia Moriarty, Emory Noakes, Sara Noakes, Aidan Oatway, AJ Odasso, Joel Oliver-Cormier, Kristina Palmer, Karintha Parker, Anjali Patel, Vanessa Rose Phin, Nicasio Reed, Belicia Rhea, Endria Richardson, Natalie Ritter, Abbey Schlanz, Clark Seanor, Elijah Rain Smith, Hebe Stanton, Melody Steiner, Romie Stott, Yejin Suh, Kwan-Ann Tan, Luke Tolvaj, Ben Tyrrell, Renee Van Siclen, Kathryn Weaver, Liza Wemakor, Aigner Loren Wilson, E.M. Wright, Vicki Xu, Fred G. Yost, staff members who prefer not to be named, and guest editor Libia Brenda with guest first reader Raquel González-Franco Alva for the Mexicanx special issue
  • Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart, audio producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht and the entire Escape Pod team.
  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. Scott H. Andrews
  • PodCastle, editors, C.L. Clark and Jen R. Albert, assistant editor and host, Setsu Uzumé, producer Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the entire PodCastle team.

Best Fanzine

  • nerds of a feather, flock together, ed. Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, The G, and Vance Kotrla
  • Lady Business, editors. Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan.
  • Journey Planet, edited by Michael Carroll, John Coxon, Sara Felix, Ann Gry, Sarah Gulde, Alissa McKersie, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, Steven H Silver, Paul Trimble, Erin Underwood, James Bacon, and Chris Garcia.
  • Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, ed. Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne
  • The Full Lid, written by Alasdair Stuart, edited by Marguerite Kenner
  • Quick Sip Reviews, editor, Charles Payseur

Best Fancast

  • The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, producer
  • Worldbuilding for Masochists, presented by Rowenna Miller, Marshall Ryan Maresca and Cass Morris
  • The Skiffy and Fanty show, produced by Shaun Duke and Jen Zink, presented by Shaun Duke, Jen Zink, Alex Acks, Paul Weimer, and David Annandale.
  • Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
  • Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced by Claire Rousseau
  • Kalanadi, produced and presented by Rachel

Best Fan Writer

  • Elsa Sjunneson
  • Cora Buhlert
  • Jason Sanford
  • Alasdair Stuart
  • Paul Weimer
  • Charles Payseur

Best Fan Artist

  • Sara Felix
  • Laya Rose
  • Grace P. Fong
  • Iain J. Clark
  • Maya Hahto
  • Cyan Daly

Best Video Game

  • Hades (Publisher and Developer: Supergiant Games)
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Publisher and Developer: Nintendo)
  • Spiritfarer (Publisher and Developer: Thunder Lotus)
  • Final Fantasy VII Remake (Publisher Square Enix)
  • The Last of Us: Part II (Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment / Developer: Naughty Dog)
  • Blaseball (Publisher and Developer: The Game Band)

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (presented by the World Science Fiction Society)

  • A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher (Argyll Productions)
  • A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
  • Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
  • Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Margaret K. McElderry/ Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
  • Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas (Swoon Reads)
  • Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet / Hot Key)

Astounding Award for Best New Writer (presented by Dell Magazines)

  • Emily Tesh (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Micaiah Johnson (1st year of eligibility)
  • Jenn Lyons (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Lindsay Ellis (1st year of eligibility)
  • Simon Jimenez (1st year of eligibility)
  • A.K. Larkwood (1st year of eligibility)