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Sunday, October 30, 1983

1983 World Fantasy Award Nominees

Location: World Fantasy Convention, Chicago, Illinois.

Comments: In 1983, the World Fantasy Awards stopped publishing the full slate of candidates nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award, opting instead to merely announce that Roald Dahl had won. I'm not sure why the World Fantasy Awards made the decision to do this, but it is one of the few times I have seen an Award decide to give out less information about their process. There doesn't seem to have been any scandal or embarrassing result that would have prompted this choice. It just seems that the organizers of the World Fantasy Convention simply decided that they wouldn't bother telling anyone who else they had considered for a Lifetime Achievement Award any more.

Other than this change in reporting, the World Fantasy Awards seem to have been about what one might expect. The people you would expect to be nominated were nominated. The people you would expect to win did win. And women were mostly ignored. For the most part, it was business as usual for the World Fantasy Awards.

Best Novel

Winner:
Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea

Other Nominees:
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
The Nestling by Charles L. Grant
Phantom by by Thomas Tessier
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe

Best Novella

Winner:
(tie) Beyond Any Measure by Karl Edward Wagner
(tie) Confess the Seasons by Charles L. Grant

Other Nominees:
The Breathing Method by Stephen King
Horrible Imaginings by Fritz Leiber
Night's Swift Dragons by Charles L. Grant

Best Short Fiction

Winner:
The Gorgon by Tanith Lee

Other Nominees:
Deathtracks by Dennis Etchison
Firestorm by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Man Who Met Picasso by Michael Swanwick
Petra by Greg Bear

Best Anthology or Collection

Winner:
Nightmare Seasons edited by Charles L. Grant

Other Nominees:
The Dark Country by Dennis Etchison
Different Seasons by Stephen King
Hecate's Cauldron edited by Susan M. Shwartz
Perpetual Light edited by Alan Ryan
Shadows 5 edited by Charles L. Grant

Lifetime Achievement

Winner:
Roald Dahl

Other Nominees:
None

Best Artist

Winner:
Michael Whelan

Other Nominees:
Jill Bauman
Tom Canty
R.J. Krupowicz
Don Maitz

Special Award, Professional

Winner:
Donald M. Grant

Other Nominees:
Lester del Rey
David G. Hartwell
Pat LoBrutto
Douglas E. Winter

Special Award, Non-Professional

Winner:
Stuart David Schiff

Other Nominees:
Francesco Cova
W. Paul Ganley
Robert T. Garcia
Stephen Jones and David Sutton
Ken Keller

Special Convention Award

Winner:
Arkham House

Other Nominees:
None

Go to previous year's nominees: 1982
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1984

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