Campbell Award To Be Renamed

At the World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin earlier this month, there was some controversy around the John W. Campbell Award prompted by remarks from this year's winner, Jeanette Ng.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine has announced that the award is to be renamed to The Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Though Campbell’s impact on the field is undeniable, we hope that the conversation going forward is nuanced. George Santayana’s proverbial phrase remains as true today as when it was coined: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We neither want to paper over the flaws of those who have come before us, nor reduce them to caricatures. But we have reached a point where the conversation around the award is in danger of focusing more on its namesake than the writers it was intended to recognize and elevate, and that is something nobody—even Campbell himself—would want.

I think this is a good thing. I like that the award's name refers back to the genesis of the genre without referring to one controversial person yet still has a tie to Campbell, who despite his faults, had a major influence on science fiction and fantasy.