The
World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the
World Fantasy Convention for the best
fantasy fiction and
art published in English during the preceding calendar year. The awards have been described by sources such as
The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most renowned
speculative fiction awards, along with the
Hugo and
Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and
science fiction). The
World Fantasy Special Award—Professional is given each year to individuals for their professional work in the preceding calendar year in fields related to fantasy that is not covered by other World Fantasy Award categories. These have included editors of magazines and novels, publishers, and authors of non-fiction works. Occasionally, especially in the first few years of the award, some publishing companies were nominated along with individual editors and publishers. The nomination reasons were not specified in the first year of the award, and have sometimes not been specified beyond "contributions to the genre". Individuals are also eligible for the
Special Award—Non-professional category for their non-professional work. The World Fantasy Special Award—Professional has been awarded annually since 1975.