The author of the series of novels "A Song of Ice and Fire" and one of the creators of the TV series "Game of Thrones" George Martin was accused of racism. The reason for this was the writer's speeches at the Hugo Awards - Martin was the host of the evening.

The event honoring science fiction and fantasy authors took place online this year. At the same time, as the Daily Dot clarifies, the ceremony was recorded in advance.

Overseeing the broadcast, writer Natalie Lurs noticed on her personal blog that Martin mispronounced the names of some of the nominees - although they all had to provide the organizers with a transcription.

"The fact that Martin chose not to take advantage of this information is a disgusting manifestation of racism, since almost all the names he misrepresented belong to blacks and blacks," Lurs said.

However, Martin made mistakes both in the names of "colored" and "white" authors, and also mispronounced the title of one of the works presented.

The outrage of some viewers also caused that in his opening speeches, during the transitions from one award to the next, the writer repeatedly mentioned John Wood Campbell and Howard Lovecraft, who were awarded the Retro Hugo Award. It is awarded to eminent literary figures before the Hugo Prize existed.

Later on social networks, a number of users pointed out that Lovecraft had a reputation as a xenophobe and anti-Semite, and Campbell's reactionary and racist views were no secret to society.

It is noteworthy that earlier, within the framework of the Hugo Prize, there was a separate award for young authors, named after Campbell. In 2019, Hong Kong-born writer Janette Ing received it. During the solemn speech, she called the writer a fascist, adding that he set the direction of the genre, which meets the interests of white men, imperialists and colonialists.

Then the organizers changed the name of the award and deleted Campbell's name from it. In 2020, Janette Ing's speech was voted Best Science Fiction Work.

Rebecca F. Quang, who received the Young Authors award, was outraged at Martin's work as a moderator. In her solemn speech, she addressed a warning to the "colored" writers. According to Kuang, they will have to face inappropriate treatment, inappropriate comparisons and prejudices.

On August 1, Martin posted on his Twitter page a quote from the French philosopher Voltaire, “We are all filled with weaknesses and delusions. Let's forgive each other our shortcomings ”, which he accompanied with the signature“ Words for our time ”.

Words for our times ... pic.twitter.com/izSO5wBCfX

- George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) August 1, 2020

Many users have left negative comments under this post.

“I think you should apologize for your behavior at the Hugo Awards. It seems to me unprofessional to pronounce names incorrectly and not know in advance how they are pronounced correctly. In addition, it was extremely disrespectful to mention Campbell, especially given the renaming of the award and the critical speech of Jannett Ing last year, ”wrote one blogger.

According to some users, Martin was aware of the consequences of his performance. “At every convenient opportunity to mention the name of a racist over and over again in order to give back to the new generation who deservedly criticize him, this is not a mistake, but a conscious decision. Not wanting to pronounce the names of black people correctly in the pre-recorded segments is also a decision, ”reads another comment.

“The decision to mention Campbell a dozen times, and the new title of the award - Best New Science Fiction Writer Outstanding Achievement Award - was not neutral or subtle only when necessary,” wrote another user.

The organizers reached out to the audience on Twitter by releasing a statement about the ceremony as a whole: "We acknowledge that we made some mistakes at the Hugo Awards today and hurt the feelings of our community members."

The organizers apologized to those whose names sounded wrong. “We were given phonetic advice on the pronunciation of names, but we could not overcome the difficulties we faced. As the leadership (of the CoNZealand - RT convention ), we take full responsibility for what happened, ”they said.

In addition, the statement mentions that the organizers "have decided to provide all participants with a universal platform and not impose restrictions on speeches and presentations."

Recall that in June, the author of books about the Harry Potter universe, writer J.K. Rowling faced criticism in social networks. She was accused of transphobia over a tweet in which she equated menstruating people with women. The author was condemned by the actors who starred in films based on her books, and the fan communities on the network decided to reduce the publication of materials about the writer.

Fantastic triumph

The Hugo Prize is presented annually by the Science Fiction World Convention. Writers, editors and artists can win 17 nominations, as well as a separate Young Authors Prize (formerly Campbell's name) and the Best Teen Book Award.

  • Shot from the series "Good Omens"
  • © kinopoisk.ru

In 2020, Arcadia Martin (Anna Linden Weller) was awarded Hugo for Best Novel. She published the book A Memory Called Empire. The best novel was This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mokhtar and Max Gladstone. Best Short Novel named Emergency Skin by Nora K. Jamisin. The award for the best story was taken by the author of As the Last I May Know S.L. Huang. The best cycle is James Corey's Space.

Awards are given not only for literary works. Writer Nnedi Okorafor, artist Tana Ford, and colorist Jace Devlin received the LaGuardia Comic Prize for the popular publisher Dark Horse.

"Hugo" for the production in large form went to the series "Good Omens" based on the script by Neil Gaiman. A similar award for the small form was given to the ninth episode of the fourth season of the series "In A Better World".

In addition, awards were given to editors Ellen Dutlow and Nava Wolfe, artist John Picasio, amateur author Bogi Takach, artist Elise Mattesen. Awards went to the semi-professional Uncanny Magazine, the amateur The Book Smugglers, and the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast.