The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best 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. They were first given in 1975, at the first World Fantasy Convention, and have been awarded annually since. Over the years that the award has been given, the categories presented have changed; currently World Fantasy Awards are given in five written categories, one category for artists, and four special categories for individuals to honor their general work in the field of fantasy.
| World Fantasy Award | |
|---|---|
 Statuette used as award trophy since 2016 | |
| Awarded for | Best fantasy works of the previous year |
| Country | International |
| Presented by | World Fantasy Convention |
| First awarded | 1975 |
| Website | worldfantasy |
The awards have been described by book critics such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize",[1] and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and science fiction). World Fantasy Award nominees and winners are decided by attendees of the convention and a panel of judges, typically made up of fantasy authors. Winners receive a small trophy; through the 2015 awards it was a bust of H. P. Lovecraft designed by cartoonist Gahan Wilson. The bust was retired following that year amid complaints about Lovecraft's history of racism; a new statuette designed by Vincent Villafranca depicting a tree in front of a full moon was released in 2017. The 2021 awards were presented at the 47th World Fantasy Convention in Montreal, Canada, on November 7, 2021, and the 2022 awards were presented at the 48th World Fantasy Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana on November 6, 2022.