Speculative Literature News
News from the Speculative Literature writing community, including items from Locus Magazine, SFWA, etc. Please contact us if you would like to suggest a news source.
The American Library Association (ALA) has announced the shortlists for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence for the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year with three fiction and three non-fiction titles.
Titles of genre...
TimeMagazine has released a list of 100 Must-Read Books of 2025. Works and authors of genre interest include:
- The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), Rabih Alameddine (Grove)
- Book of Lives,...
On October 1, 2025 Simon & Schuster announced the launch of Scarlett Press, a New Adult imprint dedicated to commercial, fast-paced, romance-forward books in all genres, geared to readers 18 and above, and its inaugural list of titles scheduled for Spring 2026, all of which are of genre...
Barnes & Noble has announced the finalists for its 2025 Book of the Year. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
- Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
- King of Ashes, S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
- Katabasis...
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has named N.K. Jemisin the 42nd recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
SFWA President Kate Ristau said,
Jemisin is a celebrated speculative fiction author with multiple Hugo,...
MILESTONES
VAISHNAVI PATEL is now represented by Jordan Hill of New Leaf Literary & Media. Patel sold contemporary fantasy We Dance Upon Demons, following a burnt-out reproductive health care worker, to Sareena Kamath at Saga Press via...
For its 30th anniversary, Tachyon Publications hosted a celebratory party and reading, held Sunday, October 5, 2025 at the San Francisco Public Library in San Francisco CA. After light refreshments in the lobby, the Koret Auditorium opened at 3:00 p.m. for an SF in SF reading by Tachyon authors...
The StokerCon Governing Committee has announced the details of StokerCon 2026, or StokerCon 10. The convention will be held June 4-7, 2026 at The Westin Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh PA. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite. In-person admission is $300 and virtual is $75.
The six Guests of...
Writer and organizer Celeste Rita Baker, 67, died October 30, 2025.
Baker was a Virgin Islander born July 29, 1958. She moved between St. Thomas and the US several times. She published short stories in The Caribbean Writer, khōréō, Lightspeed, F&SF...
The winners of the 2025 Prix Utopiales and the 2025 Prix Utopiales Jeunesse have been announced. The prizes recognize work in the fantastic genres published or translated into French.
Prix Utopiales (Adult Literature)
- WINNER: La dernière tentation de...
We Live Here Now by C.D. Rose (Melville House) is the winner of The Goldsmiths Prize, created in 2013 by Goldsmiths College at the University of London.
Other shortlisted authors and titles of genre interest include Helm, Sarah Hall (Faber) and ...
The 2025 Galaxy Science Fiction Convention, recently branded as Galaxycon, took place in Chengdu from October 18-21, 2025, drawing China's SF community and an international presence for three days of events centered around the 40th annual Galaxy Awards. Galaxycon was held on the newly developed...
National Book Tokens have announced the winners of the 2025 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards. The awards aim to reflect the truly diverse tastes of real booklovers and the bookshops they love to visit across the UK and Ireland. Winners of genre interest follow.
Young Adult Fiction...
The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour is open to submissions from unpublished writers of color based in the UK until March 1, 2026.
The winner will receive £4,500, one runner-up £2,500, and up to six shortlisted authors will each receive £850. All...
The British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the winners of the 2025 British Fantasy Awards:
Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)
- WINNER: Masquerade, O.O. Sangoyomi (Forge)
- Long Live Evil,...
The World Fantasy Awards winners for works published in 2024 were presented during the 2025 World Fantasy Convention, held October 30 - November 2, 2025 in Brighton, UK.
The Life Achievement Awards, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy...
by Philip A. Suggars
There’s a moment in the Wachowski’s seminal 1999 movie the Matrix where Keanu Reeves’s elegantly blank Neo sees the same black cat walk past a doorway twice. In the movie, such moments are signals that the nefarious Agents are about to emerge into Neo’s simulated...
The shortlist for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025 has been announced. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
- Universality, Natasha Brown (Faber & Faber)
- Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
- ...
John Clute, co-founder of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, has announced the release of a Substack site associated with the online database, which will host both short free-access posts and longer posts for subscribers. Posts on the site will include essays, news updates,...
The Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the winners for the 2025 CCBC Book Awards, celebrating outstanding literary achievement with seven children's book awards. Awards of genre interest include:
Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy
...
Updated 11/3/25: Colette H. Fozard and The Development Center for Chengdu Worldcon, Inc. announced on November 2 that they will begin to reach out to 2023 Hugo Award winners to gather information to deliver trophies.
Updated 10/28/25: Fozard and DCFCW have shared...
Vector editors are supporting a workshop on applied SF at the University of Lagos as part of a larger collaboration with the African Speculative Fiction Society and Aké...
Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, received 1,962 valid ballots, down from 3,436 at Glasgow 2024. 1,338 nominating votes were cast electronically (another two sent by surface mail arrived too late to count); that's down from 1,720 in 2024.
The procedure for...
By James Henstock
Cultivated (lab-grown) meat has emerged from science fiction into a genuine commercial product. The promise of sustainable, animal-free meat has captured the interest of governments concerned with national food security in a time of rapid and unpredictable climate...
The Huntington has acquired the personal library and papers of Kim Stanley Robinson, including drafts of novels, annotated works, photographs, and more. All told, The Huntington describes the collection as 50 linear feet of papers, photographs, and manuscripts as well as thousands of digital...
Shadowpaw Press has announced that it intends to continue publishing On Spec in annual anthologies, following the announcement of the magazine’s closing.
The current plan is to Kickstart an On Spec 2026 anthology early in 2026, with the goal of opening to submissions after that and...
Artist Drew Struzan, 78, died October 13, 2025. He had Alzheimer’s disease.
Struzan was born March 18, 1947 in Oregon City OR. He attended the ArtCenter College of Design, graduated, and traveled to Los Angeles CA to illustrate...
The Bookseller has announced Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan (Doubleday) as the winner of the inaugural New Adult Book Prize. The prize is “the first award of its kind to recognise and affirm new adult fiction as an established space for books,” and the list “...
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced the inaugural online Quasar Conference, taking place November 15 and 16, 2025: A “weekend of panels, workshops, seminars, office hours, and special presentations dedicated to professional...
Clarion West‘s nine-month online Novel Writing Workshop is open for applications for its 2026 year. Karen Lord will be the instructor. The workshop will include class sessions, office hours, one-on-one meetings, and guest lectures.
The workshop will be held virtually from March 9 to...
The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust has announced Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom) as the winner of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, awarding a $25,000 cash prize “to the author of a book that reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula...
The winner of the 2024 Endeavour Award has been announced. The award recognizes “a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year.”
- WINNER: Relics of Ruin, Erin M. Evans...
The winners of the 2025 Galaxy Awards for Chinese science fiction were presented at the Galaxy Awards in Chengdu, China on September 19, 2025. Thank you to SFW for providing the winners list.
Best Novel
- ...
Dragon Con was held at multiple hotels and AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta GA from August 28 – September 1, 2025.
The Dragon Awards ceremony was held Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (see page six for the winners.) Primarily a fan-focused event with massive attendance, Dragon Con offered sev...
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced the results of the election for its open officers’ positions. Lisa (L. Marie) Wood was re-elected Vice President. Marc Abbot was re-elected for the role of Treasurer. Sèphera Girón was newly elected to the Board of Trustees, along with re-...
The 2025 National Translation Awards Shortlist, honoring “literary translators who have made an outstanding contribution to literature in English,” have been announced.
Shortlisted titles and authors of genre interest include The Book Censor’s Library by...
The winner, finalists, and honorable mentions for the 2025 Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction have been announced on social media.
The winner is “The Smogline” by Zohaib Bilal. Finalists are “Threadbare Soul” by Amna Ahmad and “The Calligrapher of the...
MILESTONES
After a recent lung transplant procedure, 76-year-old SF author JEFFREY A. CARVER suffered multiple strokes and is in a coma.
SARAH PINSKER is now represented by Kate McKean at Morhaim Literary Agency.
AWARDS...The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association has announced the winners of its annual prize for poetry. Poems were judged in three categories, listed below.
Dwarf Form (10 or fewer lines):
- WINNER: “Down in the Valley”, Kate Boyes ...
The Ignyte Awards Committee has announced the winners of the 2025 Ignyte Awards, which “seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts...
2025 marked the first time that the World Science Fiction Society Business Meeting was held online. The four meetings held throughout July using the virtual meeting platform, along with the in-person Site Selection Business Meeting held during the main Worldcon dates, considered 48 total items...
Canadian SF magazine On Spec is closing after 35 years. December’s issue #134 will be the last. Managing editor Diane Walton explained in an editorial to issue #133:
Earlier this year, I announced that I’d be retiring and leaving On Spec at the end of December, and my final...
Winners for the 2025 Geffen Awards for best science fiction and fantasy published in Hebrew were announced by the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy at Icon, held October 8-10, 2025 in Tel Aviv Israel.
Best Translated Fantasy Book
- ...
ConCurrent was a one-day event created by Mia Tsai in response to Worldcon Seattle’s use of ChatGPT in panelist vetting: “We firmly believe there is no place for genAI when it has been used to steal from artists and has a devastating impact upon the environment.”
The event was free to...
BizarroCon has announced the final ballot for the 2025 Wonderland Book Awards for Excellence in Bizarro Fiction.
Best Novel
- Kennel, Garrett Cook (Madness Heart)
- Apeship, Carlton Mellick III (Eraserhead)
- ...
The winners of the 2024 Australasian Shadows Awards (previously known as the Australia Shadows Awards) have been announced. The award is given by the Australasian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) for “the finest in horror and dark fiction published by an Australasian within the calendar year...
The nominees and honorable mentions have been announced for the Frank R. Paul Awards, which honor “outstanding work in book and magazine cover art.”
Best Book Cover
- Stephen Andrade for I Want That Twink Obliterated! by Robert...
The shortlist for the 2025 Giller Prize, which honors “the best Canadian novel, graphic novel or short story collection published in English,” has been announced. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
- We Love You, Bunny, Mona Awad (Scribner...
The winners of the 2025 Ditmar Awards for Australian SF have been announced.
Best Novel
- WINNER: The Underhistory, Kaaron Warren (Serpent’s Tail)
- Blood Covenant, Alan Baxter (Cemetery Dance) ...
Finalists for the National Book Awards (NBA) have been announced. Categories, authors, and books of genre interest include:
Fiction
- The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), Rabih Alameddine (Grove)
- ...
