Wellington fan art illustrator nominated for sci-fi award
She might be forging a career as a fan artist, but Wellington illustrator Laya Mutton-Rogers has more than a few fans of her own.
The 24-year-old has been nominated at this year’s Hugo Awards, known internationally as the most coveted awards within the science fiction and fantasy genres, honouring the best in literature and media.
Named as one of the six nominees in the Best Fan Artist category, MuttonRogers, who works under the title Laya Rose, said it was ‘‘awesome’’ to be recognised internationally for her fan art, which is often based on books that aren’t well known by mainstream audiences.
The Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist category is awarded to fantasy or science fiction artists whose work appeared in low-priced or free publications like fanzines.
Mutton-Rogers said fan art was ‘‘super rewarding’’ but the subjects she illustrated tended to have a much smaller audience than the fan art of more popular books with fandoms, or fan-based subcultures.
‘‘So it’s really cool to get this big recognition after years of building up my work,’’ she said.
Mutton-Rogers said being in the mix for an international award like this could open some bigger, more commercial, doors for her career.
‘‘It’s a massive opportunity to get my work out there in the wider sci-fi and fantasy community,’’ she said.
‘‘A lot of my work is designing and illustrating book covers, which I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so I’d love to get to design more [because of this recognition].’’
She is not the only Kiwi nominated for a Hugo.
Best-selling author Tamsyn Muir, who grew up in New Zealand, is nominated for Best Novel with her book Harrow The Ninth, the second book in The Locked Tomb trilogy. Muir, who lives in the UK, has been praised for her work, with her previous novel, Gideon the Ninth, awarded the 2020 Locus Award for Best First Novel.
New Plymouth-based Cassie Hart is also being recognised, nominated in the Best Related Work category as part of the team behind the CoNZealand Fringe, described as a complementary programming series to the annual science fiction convention Worldcon, which was accessible online.
Presented by the World Science Fiction Society, the 2021 Hugo Awards will be held at the 79th WorldCon ‘‘Discon III’’ in Washington DC in the US on December 19.