On December 2 in Moscow, a press conference was held in the Presidential Hall of the RIA Novosti press center to mark the establishment of the International Literary Award in Science Fiction Future History.
The award was founded by the Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific, Educational, and Communication Initiatives “ATOM” under the aegis of the State Corporation “ROSATOM”.
“Next year, the country will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the nuclear industry. Over these years, it has grown from a few laboratories run by brilliant scientists into a world-class corporation developing solutions for energy and innovative technologies that improve people's quality of life.
All these amazing achievements were made by people worthy of science fiction novels – Igor Kurchatov, Yulii Khariton, Anatoly Alexandrov, and thousands of others. They were great physicists who built the nuclear shield of the Motherland, but they were also dreamers inspired by the works of Vladimir Obruchev, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Alexei Tolstoy, and Alexander Belyaev. And much of what they dreamed of is now a reality.
Today, global surveys show that 10% of people have no dreams at all, 75% dream of very mundane things, and only about 15% think about the future of the country, humanity, and the planet. We want to change this ratio and restore society’s respect for dreamers and visionaries. That is the main goal of the Future History Award,” said Andrey Timonov, Acting Director of the Communications Department at the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
Speaking about the award itself, Andrey Timonov emphasized that Future History is a short story competition, with submissions ranging from 20,000 to 80,000 characters.
Elena Mironenko, General Director of the Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific, Educational, and Communication Initiatives “ATOM”, spoke about future-oriented museum spaces and the breakthrough that is the “ATOM” museum at VDNH.
“The ‘ATOM’ Museum is one of the most modern and high-tech museums not only in Russia, but in the world. It tells the story of nuclear energy. It's important to note that the museum has become a space where people want to dream. Now, visitors come to this high-tech museum and declare their desire to dream. I believe the launch of this award is a very important step, and with the support of Rosatom, it will be successfully realized,” noted Elena Mironenko.
Chairman of the Future History jury, Andrey Gelasimov, stated that the jury's expectations for the texts will be high – readers of the future deserve quality literature.
“I’m not a science fiction writer myself, so I’ll focus on the literary aspects: character development, vivid imagery and personalities, and interesting conflicts. Scientists on our team will be responsible for the speculative elements. Today it’s essential to generate an energy of optimism. There’s so much fiction that presents a bleak image of the future. The world ends, everyone lives in bunkers. But none of us want our grandchildren to live underground. And yet, that’s exactly where much of the film and science fiction industry is leading us. That needs to change. And that’s the mission of our award – to offer an alternative,” Gelasimov said.
Physicist, mathematician and science communicator Alexey Semikhatov, emphasized that the future is, in a sense, already here and growing around us:
“But it is very hard to predict. Science fiction, among other things, helps us process and prepare for the unknown by offering scenarios of what might come. Science is about modeling. We study not so much the world itself, but a model of the world. The model lets us make predictions. And science fiction, in my view, is also a kind of modeling. That’s why we want different genres – so this modeling doesn't result in just a single version of the future. We shouldn’t spend our future staring into mobile phones. We need to see all the potential that can emerge.”
According to Semikhatov, curiosity is one of humanity’s most important traits – and it is key to our collective success. The drive to turn the unknown into the known, and then into something useful, is propelled in part by curiosity. Without it, our civilization wouldn’t have reached its current level.
“Today, science fiction awards are especially important. Their role is to structure the science fiction landscape and establish cultural hierarchies. Unfortunately, this year one of the most respected awards – the Strugatsky Brothers Prize – was discontinued. The mission of the new Future History award is just as vital and ambitious. It aims to bring the future back into focus for readers, writers, and the science fiction community by exploring a variety of possible scenarios. What makes this award unique is its broad scope: all submitted stories will be reviewed, and there will also be an international category for works in foreign languages,” emphasized Sergey Shikarev, executive secretary of the Award’s Organizing Committee, critic, science fiction researcher and co-founder of the “New Horizons” literary award.
Submissions open on January 15, 2025.
Only previously unpublished works will be accepted for the competition. They will be evaluated in three categories:
More information is available on the award website and on social media:
https://fhistory.ru/
https://t.me/fhistory_official
https://vk.com/fhistory_official
The award presentation will take place on December 5, 2024, at 18:00 in Moscow, at the Amphitheater Hall of Gostiny Dvor, 4 Ilyinka Street (Entrance 5).
The award was founded by the Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific, Educational, and Communication Initiatives “ATOM” under the aegis of the State Corporation “ROSATOM”.
“Next year, the country will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the nuclear industry. Over these years, it has grown from a few laboratories run by brilliant scientists into a world-class corporation developing solutions for energy and innovative technologies that improve people's quality of life.
All these amazing achievements were made by people worthy of science fiction novels – Igor Kurchatov, Yulii Khariton, Anatoly Alexandrov, and thousands of others. They were great physicists who built the nuclear shield of the Motherland, but they were also dreamers inspired by the works of Vladimir Obruchev, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Alexei Tolstoy, and Alexander Belyaev. And much of what they dreamed of is now a reality.
Today, global surveys show that 10% of people have no dreams at all, 75% dream of very mundane things, and only about 15% think about the future of the country, humanity, and the planet. We want to change this ratio and restore society’s respect for dreamers and visionaries. That is the main goal of the Future History Award,” said Andrey Timonov, Acting Director of the Communications Department at the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
Speaking about the award itself, Andrey Timonov emphasized that Future History is a short story competition, with submissions ranging from 20,000 to 80,000 characters.
Elena Mironenko, General Director of the Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific, Educational, and Communication Initiatives “ATOM”, spoke about future-oriented museum spaces and the breakthrough that is the “ATOM” museum at VDNH.
“The ‘ATOM’ Museum is one of the most modern and high-tech museums not only in Russia, but in the world. It tells the story of nuclear energy. It's important to note that the museum has become a space where people want to dream. Now, visitors come to this high-tech museum and declare their desire to dream. I believe the launch of this award is a very important step, and with the support of Rosatom, it will be successfully realized,” noted Elena Mironenko.
Chairman of the Future History jury, Andrey Gelasimov, stated that the jury's expectations for the texts will be high – readers of the future deserve quality literature.
“I’m not a science fiction writer myself, so I’ll focus on the literary aspects: character development, vivid imagery and personalities, and interesting conflicts. Scientists on our team will be responsible for the speculative elements. Today it’s essential to generate an energy of optimism. There’s so much fiction that presents a bleak image of the future. The world ends, everyone lives in bunkers. But none of us want our grandchildren to live underground. And yet, that’s exactly where much of the film and science fiction industry is leading us. That needs to change. And that’s the mission of our award – to offer an alternative,” Gelasimov said.
Physicist, mathematician and science communicator Alexey Semikhatov, emphasized that the future is, in a sense, already here and growing around us:
“But it is very hard to predict. Science fiction, among other things, helps us process and prepare for the unknown by offering scenarios of what might come. Science is about modeling. We study not so much the world itself, but a model of the world. The model lets us make predictions. And science fiction, in my view, is also a kind of modeling. That’s why we want different genres – so this modeling doesn't result in just a single version of the future. We shouldn’t spend our future staring into mobile phones. We need to see all the potential that can emerge.”
According to Semikhatov, curiosity is one of humanity’s most important traits – and it is key to our collective success. The drive to turn the unknown into the known, and then into something useful, is propelled in part by curiosity. Without it, our civilization wouldn’t have reached its current level.
“Today, science fiction awards are especially important. Their role is to structure the science fiction landscape and establish cultural hierarchies. Unfortunately, this year one of the most respected awards – the Strugatsky Brothers Prize – was discontinued. The mission of the new Future History award is just as vital and ambitious. It aims to bring the future back into focus for readers, writers, and the science fiction community by exploring a variety of possible scenarios. What makes this award unique is its broad scope: all submitted stories will be reviewed, and there will also be an international category for works in foreign languages,” emphasized Sergey Shikarev, executive secretary of the Award’s Organizing Committee, critic, science fiction researcher and co-founder of the “New Horizons” literary award.
Submissions open on January 15, 2025.
Only previously unpublished works will be accepted for the competition. They will be evaluated in three categories:
- Best Short Story
- Best Short Story for Children and Teenagers
- Best Short Story in a Foreign Language
More information is available on the award website and on social media:
https://fhistory.ru/
https://t.me/fhistory_official
https://vk.com/fhistory_official
The award presentation will take place on December 5, 2024, at 18:00 in Moscow, at the Amphitheater Hall of Gostiny Dvor, 4 Ilyinka Street (Entrance 5).