Dragon Awards nominations open
The 2026 Dragon Awards have opened nominations across 11 categories, inviting community submissions for this year’s slate (file770.com). The organizers set a nomination deadline of July 12, 2026, for fans to register picks in each category (file770.com).
Nominations for the 2026 Dragon Awards are now open, with fans able to submit picks across 11 categories before the July 12, 2026 deadline. (awards.dragoncon.org) (file770.com) The awards are run by Dragon Con, the Atlanta pop-culture convention scheduled for September 3-7, 2026, and the program says anyone can nominate or vote without buying a membership or attending the convention. (dragoncon.org) (awards.dragoncon.org) The current Dragon Awards site says the field has been set at 11 categories since a 2023 consolidation, covering fiction, comics, games, and filmed entertainment. The nomination form says voters must register, confirm an email address, and can leave categories blank if they do not want to nominate in all of them. (awards.dragoncon.org) (applyto.dragoncon.org) Dragon Con describes the awards as a fan-voted system built around open online participation rather than convention membership. The process page says organizers send nomination-period updates about popular choices, then move to a finalist ballot in early August. (awards.dragoncon.org) (applyto.dragoncon.org) That structure has made the Dragon Awards a distinct lane in science fiction and fantasy awards, where some major prizes require paid memberships or attendance to take part. The Science Fiction Awards Database says the Dragon Awards began in 2016 and were framed as an explicitly fan-based alternative after a year when several Hugo Award categories ended in “No Award.” (sfadb.com) The rules page says each person gets one vote, nominations in a category cannot be changed once submitted, and finalists are contacted in late July or early August. The candidate frequently asked questions page says voting on the final ballot begins in early August each year. (applyto.dragoncon.org) (awards.dragoncon.org) Dragon Con’s 2025 press material called last year’s prizes the 10th annual Dragon Awards, with winners including Matt Dinniman for *The Inevitable Ruin* in best science fiction novel. That makes the 2026 cycle the awards program’s 11th year as Dragon Con marks its 40th anniversary. (dropthespotlight.com) (dragoncon.org) For now, the immediate date is July 12: that is when this year’s nomination window closes, before Dragon Con shifts the process to finalist voting ahead of Labor Day weekend in Atlanta. (file770.com) (applyto.dragoncon.org)
