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September 6, 2019 05:10 pm PDT

University of Kansas's Campbell Conference changes its name to the Gunn Center Conference

When Jeanette Ng used her Campbell Awards speech at this year's Worldcon Hugo Awards ceremony to denounce the hugely influential science fiction editor John W Campbell for being a fascist, it kicked off a long-overdue reckoning within science fiction over the abusers, creeps, grifters, and out-and-out fascists (including Campbell) whose sins and transgressions had been systematically swept under the rug for decades.

Within weeks, Dell Magazines, sponsors of the Campbell Award, announced they were renaming the award for Astounding, the magazine Campbell edited (now published under the weirdly retro name Analog).

Now, the Campbell Conference at the University of Kansas at Lawrence -- who give out the other Campbell award -- have announced that both the conference and the award will be renamed. The center is conference over immediately, and will be called the Gunn Center Conference, for its founder, the sf writer, critic and scholar James Gunn. The award will be renamed shortly, though the new name hasn't been announced.

I believe I'm the only winner of both Campbells. I endorse this decision wholeheartedly.

As you might expect, Scalzi has some smart things to say about the announcement and what it means for Campbell's legacy:

Campbells current reassessment doesnt mean he stops being a part of the history of science fiction, or an influence on the field. Ive noted before I write science fiction in a fashion that is essentially Campbellian in broad subject matter and tone, and its done pretty well for me, and I suspect will continue to for a while to come.

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Original Link: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/EtaqmeIJEus/overdue-reassessment.html

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