Ursa Major Awards press release

The winners of the first annual Ursa Major Awards (formally the Anthropomorphic Literature & Arts of the Year Awards), for the Best in anthropomorphic/"funny animal" literature and art first published during the calendar year 2001, were announced at a presentation ceremony on Friday, April 26 at ConFurence 2002, the 14th annual International Anthropomorphic Convention held at the Hilton Burbank Airport and Convention Center in Burbank, California on April 26 - 28, 2002.

The Ursa Major Awards are Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom's equivalents of s-f fandom's Hugo Awards, mystery fandom's Anthony Awards, horror fandom's Bram Stoker Awards, and so forth. The Ursa Majors are administered and presented by The ConFurence Group, a membership organization dedicated to promoting anthropomorphic fandom-related events.
Nominations for the awards are open to the public, but voting on the final ballot is limited to members of the annual ConFurence convention. The physical award consists of an illustrated trophy certificate or plaque,
designed each year by one of the ConFurence's Artist Guests-of-Honor.

Eligibility in nine categories is for works featuring intelligent &/or talking animals first published during the calendar year 2002. This can include new compilations of older works, such as a new collection of previously-published separate works. The winners are chosen by popular vote among the ConFurence's membership from five finalists in each category.

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture: "Shrek" (DreamWorks SKG, released May 16, 2001)

Best Anthropomorphic Television Series: "Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat" (CineGroupe, in association with Children's Television Workshop and IF/X Productions for PBS syndication; 20 episodes, first broadcast September 3 to September 28, 2001)

Best Anthropomorphic Novel: "Casual Rex", by Eric Garcia (Villiard Books, March 2001)

Best Anthropomorphic Short Story: "Beneath the Crystal Sea", by Brock Hoagland (in Hoagland's collection of original stories "Tales of Perissa"; London, United Publications, July 2001)

Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work: "The Sound & the Furry: The Complete Hoka Stories", by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson (Science Fiction Book Club, April 2001; the first complete collection of the "Hoka" stories originally published from the 1950s through the 1980s)

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip: "Usagi Yojimbo", by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse, monthly comic book; 2001 issues include vol. III #45, January, through #53, December)

Best Anthropomorphic Fanzine: "Yarf!" (Published by Jeff Ferris & others; irregular; 2001 issues include #61, January, and #62, December)

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration: the front cover by XianJaguar (Brenda DiAntonis) of "Fur Visions" #20, April 2001, published by Karl Maurer.

Best Anthropomorphic Game: "Conker's Bad Fur Day" (Developed & published by Rareware; released March 5, 2001)

For further information, contact
The ConFurence Group,
P. O. Box
84721, San Diego, California 92138-4721;
http://confurence.net
or AwardsCommittee Chairman Fred Patten at fredpatten[AT]earthlink[DOT]net