Dublin 2019: Retrospective Hugos for 1944

Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon was the 77th World Science Fiction Convention, the oldest science fiction convention in the world. Each year, it meets in a different city, and for 2019, the host was Dublin, Ireland, the first time for Ireland to host a World Science Fiction Convention.

The Opening Ceremony was Thursday, August 15, hosted by Nebula award-winning science fiction author Ellen Klages and Irish science fiction author Dave Rudden. As part of the Opening Ceremony, Retrospective Hugos were handed out, selected through nominations and voting by the members of the convention.

Retrospective Hugos (Retro Hugos) were first awarded in 1996, originally intended for works that “would have been eligible” for a Hugo, if the World Science Fiction Convention had been awarding Hugos in that year. As the first Hugos were awarded in 1953, then skipped 1954, before becoming a regular event in 1955, Retro Hugos are essentially for the periods prior to 1952. Dublin 2019 focused on works that could have been eligible at the 1944 Worldcon (which was not held, due to World War II), for works published in 1943.

Earlier that day, in a panel titled “Retro Hugo discussion,” science fiction grand master Robert Silverberg, Hugo and Nebula-winning writer and Hugo historian Jo Walton, Norwegian professor Heidi Lyshol, and Finnish writer Jukka Särjuhärvi discussed the year’s nominees. Särjuhärvi, describing himself as the “only Millennial” on the panel, noted that he had trouble with several of the nominees because either the writers themselves or their works were racist, or glorified war, or both. Silverberg, noting that the world was at war at the time, and that Särjuhärvi’s native Finland was engaged in a titanic struggle with the Soviet Union, argued that the works should be considered as if you were a reader in that time period, and not impose current social and cultural mores on the writers or their works. Lyshol and Särjuhärvi both said they weren’t sure if that was possible. Walton made the observation that, if we were to judge them as readers of the time, a great many of the works would never have been considered, either because they were unknown to the fans of the time (Hesse’s Das Glasperlenspiel, for example), or would not have been considered science fiction (de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince).

For my part, I agreed with everyone: I can’t imagine anyone in 1944 nominating, much less voting, for Das Glasperienspiel, which was published, in German, in Switzerland, while the Allies were fighting Germany. The Little Prince was all but unknown to science fiction fans during the war; the book’s success (it has sold at least 140 million copies) came almost entirely after the war was over, and after de Saint-Exupéry’s death in July 1944. As for racism and warmongering, there is not much that can be said of van Vogt’s The Weapon Makers except: it is both racist, and glorifies weapons and warmaking.

1944 Retrospective Hugo Awards Finalists

For obvious reasons, none of the individuals nominated for a Hugo attended. Awards were accepted by occasional family members, agents for literary estates, or in most cases a convention volunteer on behalf of the winner. Winner noted in bold, with a rocketship.🚀

Best Novel

🚀 Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Unknown Worlds, April 1943)
Earth’s Last Citadel, by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner (Argosy, April 1943)
Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (Astounding Science-Fiction, May-July 1943)
Das Glasperlenspiel [The Glass Bead Game], by Hermann Hesse (Fretz & Wasmuth)
Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis (John Lane, The Bodley Head)
The Weapon Makers, by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science-Fiction, February-April 1943)

Comment: I happen to be a fan of Conjure Wife. I read it shortly after I was married, and my new spouse would give me a knowing smile every time I asked about it, which was alarming in the context of the novel.

Best Novella

“Attitude,” by Hal Clement (Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1943)
“Clash by Night,” by Lawrence O’Donnell (Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore) (Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1943)
“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” by H.P. Lovecraft, (Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Arkham House)
🚀 The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock)
The Magic Bed-Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons, by Mary Norton (Hyperion Press)
“We Print the Truth,” by Anthony Boucher (Astounding Science-Fiction, December 1943)

Comment: there is not a chance that the Lovecraft novella would have been nominated in 1944; Lovecraft was not a science fiction writer, and Arkham House was an obscure publisher. The Magic Bed-Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons was not well known at the time and is today best known through the movie adaptation, Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The Little Prince would not have been nominated, either, but winning the Retro Hugo was very well received by the 2019 convention attendees.

Best Novelette

“Citadel of Lost Ships,” by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, March 1943)
“The Halfling,” by Leigh Brackett (Astonishing Stories, February 1943)
🚀 “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore & Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1943)
“The Proud Robot,” by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943)
“Symbiotica,” by Eric Frank Russell (Astounding Science-Fiction, October 1943)
“Thieves’ House,” by Fritz Leiber, Jr (Unknown Worlds, February 1943)

Comment: as “Lewis Padgett” had a novelette in almost every issue of Astounding, it is no surprise that a “Padgett” story won. The title is from a line in “Jabberwocky,” a poem included in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass.

Best Short Story

“Death Sentence,” by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1943)
“Doorway into Time,” by C.L. Moore (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, September 1943)
“Exile,” by Edmond Hamilton (Super Science Stories, May 1943)
🚀 “King of the Gray Spaces” (“R is for Rocket”), by Ray Bradbury (Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1943)
“Q.U.R.,” by H.H. Holmes (Anthony Boucher) (Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1943)
“Yours Truly – Jack the Ripper,” by Robert Bloch (Weird Tales, July 1943)

Comment: Silverberg noted in the panel that this may not have been the best Ray Bradbury story written this year, or the best short story written this year, but it was a Bradbury story, and he predicted it would win.

Best Graphic Story

Buck Rogers: Martians Invade Jupiter, by Philip Nowlan and Dick Calkins (National Newspaper Service)
Flash Gordon: Fiery Desert of Mongo, by Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)
Garth, by Steve Dowling (Daily Mirror)
Plastic Man #1: The Game of Death, by Jack Cole (Vital Publications)
Le Secret de la Licorne [The Secret of the Unicorn], by Hergé (Le Soir)
🚀 Wonder Woman #5: Battle for Womanhood, written by William Moulton Marsden, art by Harry G. Peter (DC Comics)

Comment: it was generally agreed that the 2017 movie Wonder Woman was the biggest reason the 1943 comic won the Retro Hugo.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Batman, written by Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker and Harry L. Fraser, directed by Lambert Hillyer (Columbia Pictures)
Cabin in the Sky, written by Joseph Schrank, directed by Vincente Minnelli and Busby Berkeley (uncredited) (MGM)
A Guy Named Joe, written by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Dalton Trumbo, directed by Victor Fleming (MGM)
🚀 Heaven Can Wait, written by Samson Raphaelson, directed by Ernst Lubitsch (20th Century Fox)
Münchhausen, written by Erich Kästner and Rudolph Erich Raspe, directed by Josef von Báky (UFA)
Phantom of the Opera, written by Eric Taylor, Samuel Hoffenstein and Hans Jacoby, directed by Arthur Lubin (Universal Pictures)

Comment: Haven’t seen a one of these films.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

The Ape Man, written by Barney A. Sarecky, directed by William Beaudine (Banner Productions)
🚀 Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, written by Curt Siodmak, directed by Roy William Neill (Universal Pictures)
Der Fuehrer’s Face, story by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer, directed by Jack Kinney (Disney)
I Walked With a Zombie, written by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, directed by Jacques Tourneur (RKO Radio Pictures)
The Seventh Victim, written by Charles O’Neal and DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Mark Robson (RKO Radio Pictures)
Super-Rabbit, written by Tedd Pierce, directed by Charles M. Jones (Warner Bros)

Comment: Haven’t seen a one of these, either.

Best Professional Editor, Short Form

🚀 John W. Campbell
Oscar J. Friend
Mary Gnaedinger
Dorothy McIlwraith
Raymond A. Palmer
Donald A. Wollheim

Comment: Silverberg predicted Campbell would win simply because he was “the only editor” at the time.

Best Professional Artist

Hannes Bok
Margaret Brundage
🚀 Virgil Finlay
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
J. Allen St. John
William Timmins

Comment: Finlay’s Retro Hugo is due in no small part to the many art books based on his work.

Best Fanzine

Futurian War Digest, editor J. Michael Rosenblum
Guteto, editor Morojo (Myrtle R. Douglas)
The Phantagraph, editor Donald A. Wollheim
Voice of the Imagi-Nation, editors Jack Erman (Forrest J Ackerman) & Morojo (Myrtle Douglas)
YHOS, editor Art Widner
🚀 Le Zombie, editor Wilson “Bob” Tucker

Comment: Jo Walton noted that many of these fanzines are available online at The Fanac Fan History Project, http://www.fanac.org

Best Fan Writer

🚀 Forrest J. Ackerman
Morojo (Myrtle Douglas)
Jack Speer
Wilson “Bob” Tucker
Art Widner
Donald A. Wollheim

Comment: Ackerman is probably the most famous science fiction and fantasy fan in history. During his life, he collected roughly 300,000 books, magazines, flyers, brochures, buttons, and other science fiction and fantasy paraphernalia.

Speaking of paraphernalia, here is a collection of science fiction and fantasy objects collected at Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon.