Third annual Airship Awards announced at Steamcon IV

The winners of the third annual Airship Awards were named Friday during an awards banquet at the Steamcon IV steampunk convention in Seattle.

The Airship Awards were first awarded in 2010 at Steamcon II and are given annually “to recognize the best and brightest in the steampunk community.”

Nominees for this year’s round of Airship Awards were solicited online from the world at large and were announced earlier this year. The winners were selected by a vote of the registered members of Steamcon IV. Airship Awards are currently awarded in five categories – Written, Visual, Aural, Community Contributor and Potpourri.

This year’s slate of winners included the following:

Written – “Ganymede” by Cherie Priest

Visual - Brian Kesinger

Aural - Marquis of Vaudeville

Community Contributor - Nick Bauman – League of S.T.E.A.M.

Potpourri - The Aether Brigade!

Nominees in the Written category can include “any written piece of work, including, but not limited to, novels, short stories, blogs, screen plays, etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included “Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention” by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, “Tales of the Airship Neverland” by John White and “The Wrath of Fate” by Robert Brown.

Nominees in the Visual category can include “any visual piece of work, including but not limited to 2D art, 3D art, digital art, fashion design, website design, making/modding, short film (by an individual).” The other nominees in this category this year included Ian Finch-Field - Skinz N Hydez, Laura Jones – Retroscope Fashion and Dr. Grymm.

Nominees in the Aural category can include “any aural piece of work, including but not limited to bands, songs, musicians, music videos, etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included Frenchy and the Punk, Rasputina and Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys.

Nominees in the Community Contributor category can include “an individual who is outspoken and supportive in the steampunk community, including but not limited to a Blogger, event organizer, convention runner, scholar, speaker etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included Steampunk Emma Goldman, Austin Sirkin and Doc Quincy E. Quartermain.

Nominees in the Potpourri category can include “anything not yet covered, including but not limited to game design/designer, acting troupes, short film (by a group), movie, television, etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included “The Mechanical Grave” – Director Jon Keyes, Anthony Pepe – Steampunk Frankenstein’s Makeup and Boston Metaphysical Society Webcomic by Madeleine Holly-Rosing with art by Emily Hu.

The second annual Airship Awards were presented at Steamcon III in October 2011 and what follows is a list of the winners and nominees of the 2011 Airship Awards.

Written:
• Winner: “Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel” by Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine
• “The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack” by Mark Hodder
• “Camera Obscura” by Lavie Tidhar
• “The Half Made World” by Felix Gilman.

Visual:
• Winner: Joe Benitez
• James Ng
• Myke Amend
• Adam Smith.

Aural:
• Winner: Vagabond Opera
• Professor Elemental
• Unwoman
• Steam Powered Giraffe

Community Contributor:
• Winner: Jordan Block, Sepiachord
• Ay-leen the Peacemaker – Beyond Victoriana
• Lia Keyes – The Steampunk Writers and Artists Guild
• Suzanne Lazear – Steamed

Potpourri:
• Winner: Rise of Æster RPG
• Clockwork Cabaret
• Unhallowed Metropolis RPG.

• It’s All Your Fault Award – K.W. Jeter, for coining the term “steampunk”

The innaugural Airship Awards were presented at Steamcon II on Nov. 19, 2010 and what follows is a list of the winners and nominees of the 2010 Airship Awards.

Written:
• Winner: "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" by Alan Moore
• "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest
• "Mainspring" by Jay Lake
• "Soulless" by Gail Carriger

Visual:
• Winner: Jake von Slatt
• Paul Guinan
• Richard Nagy
• Haruo Suekichi

Aural:
• Winner: Abney Park
• The Clockwork Dolls
• Extraordinary Contraptions
• The Men that Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing

Community Contributor:
• Winner: Captain Robert Brown of Abney Park
• GD Falksen
• Mike Perschon
• Jake Von Slatt

Potpourri:
• Winner: Girl Genius
• Deadlands Role Playing Game
• The League of STEAM
• The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

In the end, which of the written works mentioned above have you read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about the Airship Awards and Steamcon, visit Steamcon’s official Web site at www.steamcon.org.