| World Fantasy Special Award—Non-professional | |
| Awarded For: | The best non-professional work not covered by other World Fantasy Award categories |
| Presenter: | World Fantasy Convention |
| Year: | 1975 |
| Holder: | Michael Kelly (for Undertow Publications) |
| Holder Label: | Most recent winner |
| Website: | worldfantasy.org/awards/ |
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 as 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—Non-professional is given each year to individuals for their non-professional work in the preceding calendar year in fields related to fantasy that are not covered by other World Fantasy Award categories. These have included editors of magazines and novels, publishers, and authors of non-fiction works. Occasionally some publishing companies have been nominated along with individual editors and publishers. The nomination reasons have sometimes not been specified beyond "contributions to the genre". Individuals are also eligible for the Special Award—Professional category for their professional work. The World Fantasy Special Award—Non-professional has been awarded annually since 1975.
World Fantasy Award nominees and winners are decided by attendees and judges at the annual World Fantasy Convention. A ballot is posted in June for attendees of the current and previous two conferences to determine two of the finalists, and a panel of five judges adds three or more nominees before voting on the overall winner. The panel of judges is typically made up of fantasy authors and is chosen each year by the World Fantasy Awards Administration, which has the power to break ties. The final results are presented at the World Fantasy Convention at the end of October. Through 2015, winners were presented with a statuette of H. P. Lovecraft; more recent winners receive a statuette of a tree.
During the 49 nomination years, 266 individuals and 3 organizations have been nominated; 58 people and 2 organizations have won, including ties and co-nominees. The organizations that have been nominated are: The British Fantasy Society, with one winning nomination; The Friends of Arthur Machen, with one unsuccessful nomination; and Fedogan & Bremer, with one win out of three nominations. Stuart David Schiff has received the most awards at four wins out of six nominations, for his work at Whispers magazine and Whispers Press. R. B. Russell has won four times out of nine nominations, and Rosalie Parker four out of eight, for their work at Tartarus Press. Three other individuals have won twice: Paul C. Allen out of three nominations for Fantasy Newsletter, Richard Chizmar out of seven for Cemetery Dance and Cemetery Dance Publications, and W. Paul Ganley out of ten for Weirdbook and Weirdbook Press. Ganley's ten nominations are the most of anyone, followed by Stephen Jones with nine, winning once, for Fantasy Tales and other work, Scott H. Andrews with one win out of eight nominations for his work at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas with eight nominations and no wins for Uncanny Magazine.
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the work was performed. The table includes the stated reason the individual (or company) was nominated, which may not have been the only fantasy-related non-professional work they did during the previous calendar year. "N/A" in the reason column represents a nomination where no reason was given. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the individual's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist.
* Winners| Year | Winner or nominee | Reason(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Whispers | ||
| publishing | |||
| Nyctalops | |||
| 1976 | Carcosa, publisher | ||
| publishing/editing | |||
| publishing/editing | |||
| publishing/editing | |||
| publishing/editing | |||
| publishing/editing | |||
| 1977 | editing/publishing Whispers | ||
| editing/publishing Fantasy Crossroads | |||
| editing/publishing Chacal | |||
| publishing/editing Xenophile | |||
| publishing/editing Midnight Sun | |||
| editing/publishing Nyctalops | |||
| 1978 | publishing and editing | ||
| Weirdbook | |||
| Midnight Sun | |||
| Fantasy Tales | |||
| Nyctalops | |||
| Fantasy Crossroads | |||
| 1979 | |||
| Fantasy Newsletter | |||
| Shayol | |||
| Weirdbook | |||
| Whispers and Whispers Press | |||
| 1980 | Fantasy Newsletter | ||
| Shayol | |||
| Nyctalops | |||
| Whispers and Whispers Press | |||
| 1981 | Shayol | ||
| Triskell Press; Dragonfields | |||
| Weirdbook | |||
| Fantasy Tales; Airgedlamh | |||
| 1982 | Fantasy Newsletter | ||
| Weirdbook | |||
| Fantasy Tales | |||
| Trumpet | |||
| 1983 | Whispers and Whispers Press | ||
| Weirdbook | |||
| American Fantasy | |||
| Kadath | |||
| Fantasy Tales | |||
| 1984 | Fantasy Tales | ||
| Crypt of Cthulhu | |||
| criticism | |||
| Weirdbook | |||
| Fantasy Newsletter/Fantasy Review | |||
| 1985 | Whispers and Whispers Press | ||
| Scream/Press | |||
| Weirdbook and Weirdbook Press | |||
| Dark Harvest | |||
| 1986 | reviewing | ||
| Dark Harvest | |||
| Scream/Press | |||
| Weirdbook and Weirdbook Press | |||
| 1987 | Weirdbook and Weirdbook Press | ||
| Scream/Press | |||
| Fantasy Tales | |||
| 1988 | American Fantasy | ||
| Fantasy Tales | |||
| Dark Harvest | |||
| 1989 | Pulphouse | ||
| Dagon Press | |||
| Grue | |||
| Horrorstruck | |||
| 1990 | Grue | ||
| Charnel House | |||
| Cemetery Dance | |||
| 1991 | Cemetery Dance | ||
| Strange Plasma | |||
| Gauntlet | |||
| Necronomicon Press | |||
| 1992 | Weirdbook | ||
| Charnel House | |||
| Grue | |||
| Gauntlet | |||
| Eldritch Tales | |||
| 1993 | Roadkill Press | ||
| Wildside Press | |||
| Tal Publications | |||
| Horror's Head Press | |||
| Cemetery Dance | |||
| Charnel House | |||
| 1994 | Necronomicon Press | ||
| small press reviews | |||
| Horror's Head Press | |||
| Charnel House | |||
| Cemetery Dance Publications | |||
| 1995 | Broken Mirrors Press; Crank! | ||
| Wildside Press | |||
| Cemetery Dance Publications | |||
| Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle (Sirius Fiction) | |||
| Voices from Shadow (Shadow Publishing) | |||
| 1996 | Necronomicon Press | ||
| book publishing | |||
| Century | |||
| Edgewood Press | |||
| contributions to the genre | |||
| 1997 | Ash-Tree Press | ||
| book publishing | |||
| DarkEcho | |||
| 1998 | Fedogan & Bremer | book publishing | |
| Cemetery Dance and Cemetery Dance Publications | |||
| Tigereyes Press | |||
| Gauntlet and Gauntlet book publishing | |||
| 1999 | Cemetery Dance Publications | ||
| Tachyon Publications | |||
| Edgewood Press | |||
| Pumpkin Books | |||
| 2000 | N/A | ||
| Terminal Fright Press | |||
| Fedogan & Bremer | |||
| Haunted Library | |||
| Subterranean Press | |||
| Tartarus Press | |||
| 2001 | At the Foot of the Story Tree: An Inquiry into the Fiction of Peter Straub (Subterranean Press) | ||
| Tartarus Press | |||
| Ash-Tree Press | |||
| Fedogan & Bremer | |||
| Night Shade Books | |||
| PS Publishing | |||
| 2002 | Tartarus Press | ||
| PS Publishing | |||
| Sidecar Preservation Society | |||
| Horror Garage | |||
| Cocytus Press | |||
| 2003 | Night Shade Books | ||
| Small Beer Press | |||
| Prime Books | |||
| Old Earth Books | |||
| PS Publishing | |||
| 2004 | Tartarus Press | ||
| Wheatland Press | |||
| Earthling Publications | |||
| Tangent Online | |||
| SF Site | |||
| 2005 | Sarob Press | ||
| Ariel | |||
| All Hallows | |||
| Old Earth Books | |||
| 2006 | Telos Publishing | ||
| Faunus, Machenalia, and The Life of Arthur Machen (Telos Publishing) | |||
| SF Site | |||
| (MonkeyBrain Books) | |||
| 2007 | reviews and criticism in Locus and elsewhere | ||
| her work at Clarion West | |||
| Strange Horizons | |||
| Electric Velocipede | |||
| 2008 | Endicott Studios Website | ||
| Café Irreal | |||
| Electric Velocipede | |||
| Tartarus Press | |||
| Travellers in Darkness: The Souvenir Book of the World Horror Convention 2007 (World Horror Convention) | |||
| 2009 | Howard Waldrop collections from Old Earth Books | ||
| her work with The Mythopoeic Society | |||
| setting out to inspire and for serving as inspiration for works of poetry, fantasy, and SF over the last decade through her jewelry-making and her "artist's challenges". | |||
| Clarkesworld Magazine | |||
| Electric Velocipede | |||
| 2010 | Strange Horizons | ||
| Readercon | |||
| Clarkesworld Magazine | |||
| Electric Velocipede | |||
| Powers: Secret Histories (PS Publishing) | |||
| Tartarus Press | |||
| 2011 | Twelfth Planet Press | ||
| Brighton Shock | The Souvenir Book Of The World Horror Convention 2010 (PS Publishing) | ||
| Sybil's Garage and Senses Five Press | |||
| Bibliophile Stalker | |||
| 2012 | Tartarus Press | ||
| Bibliophile Stalker blog | |||
| Clarkesworld Magazine | |||
| Fantasy Magazine | |||
| Wormwood | |||
| 2013 | Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction, Volumes 1 & 2 (PS Publishing) | ||
| Aqueduct Press | |||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| Bibliophile Stalker blog | |||
| Centipede Press | |||
| Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (Centipede Press) | |||
| 2014 | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| Fantasy-Faction | |||
| Clarion West administration | |||
| 2015 | Tartarus Press | ||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| Born to Fear: Interviews with Thomas Ligotti (Subterranean Press) | |||
| Civilian Reader | |||
| Fairwood Press | |||
| 2016 | Black Gate | ||
| Tales After Tolkien Society | |||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| (Ninepin Press) | |||
| Letters to Tiptree (Twelfth Planet Press) | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| 2017 | fostering excellence in the genre through her role as Workshop Director, Clarion West | ||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| Fireside Fiction Company | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| 2018 | FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction | ||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| PodCastle | |||
| Tartarus Press | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| 2019 | Beneath Ceaseless Skies | ||
| Myth and Moor | |||
| Mythic Delirium | |||
| Shimmer | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| 2020 | Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research | ||
| Undertow Publications, The Year's Best Weird Fiction | |||
| Coode Street Podcast | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| Myth & Moor | |||
| 2021 | Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts | ||
| Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |||
| Undertow Publications | |||
| Fantasy Magazine | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| 2022 | Nightlight: A Horror Fiction Podcast | ||
| Strange Horizons | |||
| Hellebore | |||
| Undertow Publications | |||
| Fantasy Magazine | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| 2023 | Undertow Publications | ||
| Neon Hemlock Press | |||
| Uncanny Magazine | |||
| Editing The Deadlands |