81st World Science Fiction Convention

The 81st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held on 18–22 October 2023 in Chengdu, China.^[1][2] The choice of location was the subject of some controversy as it seemed that many of the votes cast for Chengdu at the 79th World Science Fiction Convention had the same handwriting and used the same mailing address. A hundred authors signed an open letter to the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) asking it to revoke the bid in protest of the ongoing persecution of Uyghurs in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang.^[3]

The Hugo Awards presented at the convention became the subject of further controversy in the months following the convention. Statistics about the voting, normally released the night of the awards, were withheld for three months. After the release, voters and nominated authors discovered that four works, including two highly favored to win, had instead been ruled ineligible. The WSFS official responsible would not explain why, even after having to apologize for insulting remarks made to those who questioned him about the decisions on social media. He and two other officials subsequently resigned. Critics speculated that either the awards committee was covering for a serious mistake in counting the ballots, or that it had yielded to political pressure from the Chinese Communist Party;^[3] later disclosures pointed to the latter.