The
World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the
World Fantasy Convention for the best
fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as
The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most prestigious
speculative fiction awards, along with the
Hugo and
Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and
science fiction). The
World Fantasy Award for Best Collection is given each year for collections of fantasy stories by a single author published in English. A collection can have any number of editors, and works in the collection may have been previously published; awards are also given out for
anthologies of works by multiple authors in the
anthology category. The World Fantasy Award for Best Collection has been awarded annually since 1975, though from 1977 through 1987 anthologies were admissible as nominees. Anthologies were split into a separate category beginning in 1988; during the 10 years they were admissible they won the award 7 times and were 38 of the 56 nominations.