The yearly Rotsler Award was created in 1998 by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, Inc., for long-time wonder-working with graphic art in amateur publications of the science fiction community. The current judges are John Hertz (since 2003), Sue Mason (since 2015), and Suzanne Tompkins (since 2021).

Bill Rotsler (1926-1997) knew everyone and did everything. He located the fossils, crystals, and stones for the Nebula Award trophies of the Science Fiction Writers Association (SFWA). He went house-hunting with Marilyn Monroe. He wrote SF. He sculpted with welded steel rods. He celebrated the West Coast Science Fantasy Conference (Westercon) as his birthday.

In the SF community, he was best known for graphic art. As a fan artist, his cartoons were deft, his serious drawing fine, his fluency downright breathtaking. He won five Hugo Awards, twenty years apart, in 1975 and 1979, 1996 (when he also won the Retro-Hugo for 1946) and 1997; a remarkable span.

By arrangement with the LASFS, the Rotsler Award is presented at Loscon. Its recipients receive an honorarium of US $300 and a plaque. Traditionally, there is an exhibit of the current recipient’s work in the Loscon Art Show. There is a website at http://www.scifiinc.org/rotsler-award/.

Rotsler Award Recipients By Year

Note: Bruce Pelz said that referring to Rotsler as Bill rather than William in the description of the Award is deliberate.