Using Awards List As a RA Tool: World Fantasy Awards Edition [w/ a Locus Magazine SF Awards Database Reminder]

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool. 

Click here
for the
nominees

Late last week, the World Fantasy Awards announced their final ballot. The World Fantasy Awards are chosen by an appointed jury of experts [this year it includes librarian, and my friend, Misha Stone]. From their website for the 2022 nominees:

The World Fantasy Awards℠ are given each year for outstanding achievement in fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous annual convention as the central focus of the event. 

This award statement is very important, as are all award statements. Why? Because they explain how and by whom the awards are given. In the case of this specific award, the World Fantasy conference organizers have control over the awards for each year. The awards are tied to that year's event and attendees and a jury is appointed for just that year. 

[Speaking of check out the event in NOLA this year and their amazing list of special guests. I am sad that I cannot attend due to a family commitment.]

The fact that each year's World  Fantasy Awards is its own contained system within the website for that convention means that you cannot easily access  the backlist of titles though their site. BUT, never fear, Locus Magazine is here.

Locus Magazine keeps THE most comprehensive database of all SF/F/H awards allowing you to have access to current announcements of all industry awards and then clickable access to each individual award with its backlist archived access. 

So remember, the backlist of all awards nominees make for great suggestions and displays, but also the World Fantasy Award is also a great way to assess trends in the large umbrella that is "Fantasy."

If you use the database and go back a few years for this award, you see a creeping of dark fantasy coming in to dominate and then this year.....WHAM! look at all the straight up Horror. 

But even better than looking just at the World Fantasy Award backlist of nominees, you can also look at all of the speculative fiction awards to get a quick snapshot of the speculative fiction world with very little effort-- so you can stay in genre shape.

Don't forget to use the series note at the top of this post for more reasons why I think awards lists are your most versatile RA Tool.