Named after the mountain that the mythological Nine Muses called home, the Helicon Awards recognizes the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror for each calendar year.
The 2019 Helicon Awards covers works from 2018, serving as the inaugural year, and were announced on July 4, 2019 on the website of founding member Richard Paolinelli. The second annual awards were announced on April 2, 2020 and were also hosted on Paolinelli’s website.
A panel of up to nine judges serve a two-year term, and no judge may serve consecutive terms, and meets 3-4 times during the year to discuss eligible works in each category. At the end of year they record and report their final decision to the award administrator.
The identities of the judges are never released, nor or judges permitted to acknowledge that they are serving as, or have served as, judges. This is to prevent doxxing, harassment, and/or campaigning of the judges.
The judges consider works by authors that are considered to be superversive and represent the best of each category. The only three rules are as follows: (1) As both founder of The Helicon Society, the Helicon Awards and the administrator of the Helicon Awards, Richard Paolinelli is not eligible to receive a Helicon Award. Nor can he serve as a judge nor participate in any conversation with a judge regarding the awards; (2) No one may receive more than one Helicon Award per year unless the second award is one of the two special recognition awards (John W. Campbell Best New Author Award or Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award); and (3) membership in the Helicon Society is not required for an author’s work to be eligible for a Helicon Award.
As of 2021, The Helicon Awards will be announced every January 14th here on this website.
The Helicon Society 