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Voting for the 2014 Ursa Major Awards now open

Posted by on Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 17:28 — Edited by GreenReaper as of Sat 2 May 2015 - 19:01
Your rating: None Average: 4.6 (5 votes)

Ursa Major Awards banner by EosFoxxVoting for the 2014 Ursa Major Awards, for the Best Anthropomorphic Literature and Art of the 2014 calendar year in eleven categories, is now open. The voting is open from March 15 to April 15. The awards will be announced at a presentation ceremony at Morphicon 2015, in Columbus, Ohio on April 30 through May 3.

The eleven categories are: Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture, Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short or Series, Best Anthropomorphic Novel, Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction, Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work, Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story, Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip, Best Anthropomorphic Magazine, Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration, Best Anthropomorphic Game and Best Anthropomorphic Website.

Voting is open to all! To vote, go to the Ursa Major Awards website and click on "Voting for 2014" at the left. You will receive instructions on how to register to vote. You do not have to vote in every category. Please vote in only those categories in which you feel knowledgeable.

This final ballot has been compiled from those works receiving the most nominations that were eligible. Unfortunately, one work that received enough nominations to have appeared on the final ballot was ruled ineligible because it was published in late 2013. Please check the dates of publication next year to make sure that your nominations are only for works published during the calendar year (January through December) in question.

Complete list of nominations available after the break.
Update (3 May): The winners have been announced.

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture

Live-action or animated feature-length movies.

Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short or Series

TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos.

Best Anthropomorphic Novel

Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.

Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction

Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry and other short written works.

  • "A Real Stand-Up Guy", by Daniel and Mary E. Lowd (in Allasso Vol. 3: Storge, April 23)
  • "The Best Puppy Ever", by Mary E. Lowd (in AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, May 5)
  • "The Carousel of Spirits", by Mary E. Lowd (in Sorcerous Signals, February-April)
  • "The Wharf Cat's Mermaid", by Mary E. Lowd (in ROAR 5, July)
  • "When a Cat Loves a Dog", by Mary E. Lowd (in Five Fortunes, FurPlanet Productions, January 16)

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work

Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and convention program books.

Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story

Includes comic books and serialized online stories.

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip

For newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.

  • Carry On, Kathryn Garrison (January 1 to December 31)
  • Doc Rat, by Jenner (Internet, January 1 to December 31)
  • Freefall, by Mark Stanley (Internet, January 2 to December 30)
  • Housepets!, by Rick Griffin (Internet, January 2 to December 30)
  • Savestate, by Tim Weeks (Internet, February 5 to December 31)

Best Anthropomorphic Magazine

Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.

  • Allasso, Volume 3: Storge edited by Brian Cook. (Pink Fox Productions, April 23)
  • Dogpatch Press, by Patch Packrat (Internet, April 11)
  • Flayrah, edited by Laurence “GreenReaper” Parry (Internet magazine; January 1 to December 31)
  • In-Fur-Nation, edited by Rod O’Riley (Internet magazine; January 1 to December 31)
  • Fursday, edited by Stuart Otterson (Internet magazine; October 3 to December 31)

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration

Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee table portfolios.

  • ABlueDeer, cover for Chakat in the Alley by James Jordan, Create Space, July 17
  • Rukis, wraparound cover for Off the Beaten Path by Rukis (FurPlanet Productions, July 4)
  • SabretoothedErmine, cover for Midwest FurFest 2014 convention book, December 4
  • Terrie Smith, wraparound cover of Five Fortunes, edited by Fred Patten (FurPlanet Productions, January 16)
  • WhiteMantis, "I Won't Die Here", Furaffinity, May 8

Best Anthropomorphic Game

Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.

Best Anthropomorphic Website

Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works; galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.

  • Equestria Daily (My Little Pony specialty site; January 1 to December 31)
  • Fur Affinity (furry art specialty site; January 1 to December 31)
  • Furry Writer's Guild (writer support; January 2 to December 26)
  • Inkbunny (furry art specialty site; January 1 to December 31)
  • WikiFur (general furry information/history; January 1 to December 31)
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Comments

crossaffliction — Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 17:34
#1
Your rating: None Average: 1 (2 votes)

Some thoughts:

1. I am so frikkin' glad Big Hero 6 wasn't nominated.

2. Would've rather seen Rio 2 and The Penguins of Madagascar then, ironically, two movies that made my top ten year end list, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The LEGO Movie. Just not furry enough.

3.Going to go out on a limb here, but I think Mary E. Lowd is the favorite to win Best Short Fiction.

4. Hey, next year, maybe wait until after nomination day to slag the awards, [a][s] (also, and I can't stress this enough, but category fraud; it works).

Sonious — Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 20:48
#2
Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

I don't recall [a][s] slagging the awards. If you're talking about http://adjectivespecies.com/2015/02/16/the-value-of-the-ursa-major-awards/ , I don't think that's any worse than you or I have said about them in certain circumstances.

Namely when Avatar beat Mr. Fox, or the Vampire expansion of Skyrim beat Dust: An Elysian Tail.

crossaffliction — Mon 16 Mar 2015 - 14:41
#3
Your rating: None Average: 1 (2 votes)

That's about as close to "mean" as J.M. gets (though I am exaggerating for humorous effect).

I really don't think it cost them a nomination, though; Furry Writer's Guild had a good year last year, and the other four are pretty much fixtures. [a][s] got the squeeze.

Sonious — Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 21:13
#4
Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Memo to self: Don't reply and then try to make a new comment. The new comment will reply to the comment you just replied to...

Patch Packrat — Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 22:47
#5
Your rating: None Average: 3 (2 votes)

No nomination for Finsterworld, the fantastic feature film with fursuiters that was an oscar contender, because nobody could see it :(

I recently got approval from the director for it to headline a furry film fest. Now if there were only a few people who wanted to organize a film fest...

Sonious — Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 21:12
#6
Your rating: None Average: 5 (2 votes)

Interestingly when Five Nights at Freddy's came out I thought it had a chance of actually beating Pokemon this year. Then they came out with a second one... which will essentially divide up the vote so that Pokemon may conquer. I'd say to those voting for Freddy, you need to focus your attention on the main title. Don't vote for Five Nights 2 unless you want it to lose.

I am under no delusions of Freedom Planet standing a chance, though it's my favorite of the bunch. I can at least feel comfort that it won't be beaten by a vampire DLC.

It is clear, in the case of short stories, that one avid fanbase can run the gambit on nominations. Depending on the numbers behind it that means that it'll be either impossible for anyone else to get nominated, or all it'll take is some other short story writer to come around and focus fire their way into the Ursa Majors. Essentially all they'll have to say is "Hey, want to see someone else other than Mary E. Loyd nominated?"

That being said my work "The Curators" was published in the Furry future this year. Just so you know.

Though I'm sure you could find a better work in the Anthology to focus your nominations on.

(Lunar Cavity wins the 2015 Ursa Short stories)

See?

Ryffnah — Sun 15 Mar 2015 - 21:59
#7
Your rating: None Average: 5 (3 votes)

Correction: Renee Carter Hall is the author of Huntress in the Best Novel category. Not me.

Also, if anyone would like to read the nominated short stories, I'm making them all available for free while voting is open: http://marylowd.com/uma2015.html

crossaffliction — Mon 16 Mar 2015 - 14:43
#8
Your rating: None Average: 4 (3 votes)

Well, congratulations on your domination of the category!

Also, Green Reaper usually links to the individual stories (and artworks), but I put the list together this year, and I'm lazier. So, thanks for the links.

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About the author

Fred Patten — read stories — contact (login required)

a retired former librarian from North Hollywood, California, interested in general anthropomorphics