Misinterpretation

[kevin_standlee]

One of the comments on the Fan Writer Hugo Controversy croggled me sufficiently that I want to quote it here. I'm not meaning to pick on the writer, who comments here and is a BASFA member, but this one sort of surprised me:

...my reading of the WSFS constitution's section on the Hugo awards, taken in its entirety, leads me to believe the purpose of the Fan Writer award is to recognize non-professional sci-fi writers.

Wow. What I'm wondering if this is a widespread opinion -- that "Fan Writer" is taken by a significant number of people as "non-professional, fan-written science fiction." Of course, it's not -- "Fan" doesn't mean "Amateur" in our field; it means "enthusiast," which is not the same thing, and that's why one can be a fan and a pro simultaneously. Nor is "Fan Writer" intended as a category aimed at recognizing "fan fiction." Fan writing is writing about science fiction, fantasy, and fandom. All of the people nominated in that category (and everyone who has been nominated in that category in my memory) have been nominated for their writing about the field, not because of any fiction they've written.

Comments

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

If you've been nominated for a pro Hugo or some such, you're not eligible.

What's a "Pro Hugo," then? There's only one category with the word "Professional" in its title (Best Professional Artist) and it's handled differently (see a different branch of the discussion).

The Best Editor Hugo Awards do not have the word "professional" in them any more (the predecessor category did).

The four written fiction categories and two dramatic presentation categories do not require that the works be "professional" -- whatever that actually means. Two amateur works were nominated for the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award in 2006. I was nominal Executive Producer of both those works. Would that now make me permanently ineligible under Best Fan Writer, where I placed 12th in 1995?

See why I often approach drafting WSFS legislation the way a trained expert approaches an unexploded bomb?

[johnnyeponymous.livejournal.com]

I was speaking of Best Novel, Novella, Short Story and Novelette (because I like talking about them out of order) and perhaps related book and the editor categories.

I approach everything like I approach an unexploded bomb: with complete ignorance of it's existance!
CHris