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by Corrine Kumar

Read by Liz J. Bradley

Until this summer, I thought I had my writing process down to a science—my perfect desk setup, music playlist, iced coffee, phone away and on Do Not Disturb. However, when I sat down to work on a novel I’d taken a break from, I found myself stuck, hit by writer’s block. When none of my usual tools and strategies worked, I decided to ditch my perfectly curated setup and try something new. I hopped on my treadmill and started dictating my novel into my phone instead. And, remarkably, this was just what I needed. At the time, I thought of this as a last-ditch strategy to overcome writer’s block. Now, however, writing while walking has become a core part of my writing practice and has had a tremendous impact on my writing craft and process.

Increased Creativity

When I’m in the brainstorming phase of a project, I get my best ideas while walking. If I get stuck on a scene, chapter, or section of my manuscript, everything always seems clearer when I get back to my desk after a run. While I’ve observed this anecdotally, a 2014 Stanford University study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition has shown similar findings in the lab. In their study, “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking,” researchers Opezzo and Schwartz found that participants who walked on treadmills, walked outdoors, or were pushed in wheelchairs scored higher on Guilford’s Alternate Uses Test (which assesses creative and divergent thinking) afterwards. These results—though not found in relation to writing specifically—suggest that writing while walking might help us come up with creative solutions to narrative problems and figure out what comes next.

Increased Immersion

While I initially thought adding the extra component of walking to my process would break my immersion in the story, I have found the opposite. Walking actually helps me visualize my settings, improve my dialogue, and get into my characters’ heads. Since I’m not staring at the words on my screen, I can better picture the settings my characters are in and see them in my mind with greater detail. Because I’m saying my characters’ thoughts and dialogue out loud, I get a better feel for their personalities, word choice, sentence structure, and emotions.

Turning Off Your Internal Editor

The “internal editor” is something that plagues many of us throughout our writing careers. It keeps us staring at the blank page, deleting sentences as we write them, and tweaking the same paragraph for an hour. However, when I’m dictating and walking on my treadmill, I find this voice is strangely quiet. This is, in part, because I don’t look at the words while I’m dictating, and thus, my internal editor can’t analyze and pick my sentences apart. The combination of walking, generating ideas, and dictating keeps my brain occupied enough that it can’t find a way to edit as I go.

Increasing Physical Activity

Physical activity has so many benefits for our physical and mental health. Numerous studies have shown that exercise leads to enhanced cardiovascular health, sleep, bone strength, creativity, self-esteem, balance, memory, cognitive flexibility, attention, problem-solving, and overall sense of well-being. Improvement in all these areas not only results in better overall health, but it can have a positive impact on our writing as well. However, in our busy schedules, trying to fit in both writing and physical activity amongst everything else can be challenging. By dictating while walking, we can combine these two activities and better integrate them into our daily lives.

Feeling the Flow

Reaching a creative flow state is something I crave as a writer. Those writing sessions where hours pass without me realizing it, words flood the page, and it feels as though the story is writing itself. I’ve tried many tricks over the years to reach this flow state—the right writing setup, great music, a unique writing ritual—but none of these methods have worked as well for me as writing in motion. While I don’t get to the flow state every time I use the treadmill, I find I reach it more frequently.

Decreased Distractions

Though having your phone in your hand to dictate might sound like the perfect recipe for distraction, I’ve found the opposite in practice. Because I’m so focused on generating ideas, walking, and dictating, my mind is too busy to wander. Too busy to watch another cute koala reel on Instagram, see what friends are up to on Facebook, or refresh my e-mail. Because my mind is occupied and I can only have one program open on my screen at a time, I’m less likely to fall down a research rabbit hole mid-writing session. When I get to a point in the scene where I need more information, I’m forced to dictate a placeholder rather than spend an hour researching how a character might repair an internal combustion engine.

Increased Inspiration

While most of my writing is done on a treadmill, I do also take my craft outdoors. When I write outside, whether I’m in an exciting, new location or in my neighborhood, I find infinite ideas for my settings. For example, seeing the variety of colors in the fall leaves on my usual route sparked an idea for a world where the magic system changes with the seasons. Outdoors, I’m also naturally forced to experience the world with more of my senses—to pay attention to more than just what I see. Hearing hawks calling to each other, feeling the oppressive heat of the humid 90-plus-degree summer, and smelling the blooming wildflowers remind me to use a variety of sensory details in my scenes.

Getting Started

As with all new strategies, writing while walking does have a learning curve. Speaking the words aloud can feel strange and awkward, getting used to your software’s quirks can be frustrating, and editing mis-dictated words afterwards takes time. However, with practice and patience (and a little time devoted to setting up), this method increases my enjoyment of writing, improves my productivity, and feels just as natural as typing at my desk. As you’re getting started, walking at slow speeds, using all safety features of your treadmill such as handrails and safety keys, setting your phone on the treadmill’s console, and walking in outdoor areas you are familiar with can all be ways to ease into this new method. 

Whether you use this strategy as a core part of your process, as a weekend treat, or as a way to just mix things up to get over writer’s block, writing while walking can be an incredible addition to your creative practice.

Explore more articles from Writing by Other Means

Corrine Kumar is a science fiction and fantasy writer with a love of martial arts, cooking, and learning languages. Her greatest writing influences are Brandon Sanderson, Fonda Lee, Pierce Brown, and Christopher Ruocchio. She is an alumnus of the Futurescapes Writers’ Workshop, and her articles “Active Reading to Step Up Your Writing,” “It’s All About Momentum: Writing Effectively and Productively Amidst a Busy Life,” and “Characterization and Worldbuilding Through Fight Scenes” were previously published by The SFWA Blog. Corrine can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky.

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Rosemary Edghill (June 1956–07 April 2026), also writing as, eluki bes shahar and James Mallory, was a prolific novelist, short story writer, comic writer, and essayist. She is known for her genre-spanning work, writing both alone and collaboratively. Mad Maudlin, her third Bedlam’s Bard collaboration, was a 2002 Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA) selection as one of the best Horror and Fantasy novels of the year.

Starting as a comic book and then a regency romance writer, Edghill debuted in science fiction and fantasy writer with the space opera Hellflower series, and continued to write across genres and media, collaborating with several of the bestselling women authors of the day. Dozens of her short stories were published, and dozens of collaborations of varying length, along with her own novels, including the Bast series, and the Twelve Treasures. Edghill continued writing and collaborating through the mid 2010s.

Edghill loved collaborative writing as a way to explore both another writer’s mind and the multitude of interpretations different people find in the same phrasing of language. She enjoyed her experiences at conventions, meeting and talking with other writers, and especially loved her English Toy Spaniels.

Rosemary Edghill lived 69 years.

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Ian Watson (20 April 1943–13 April 2026) was an innovative and highly prolific novelist, poet, and short story writer. Watson’s 1973 novel The Embedding won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and was also a Nebula Award Finalist, along with the 1985 novelette “Slow Birds.” Watson was also a Hugo Award Finalist for “Slow Birds” and “The Very Slow Time Machine.” Watson’s 1975 novel The Jonah Kit won the BSFA Award, and in 2024, Watson was named European Science Fiction Grandmaster by the European Science Fiction Society.

Watson served as the SFWA Overseas Regional Director in the early 2000s, and he was the long-time European Editor for the SFWA Bulletin, where he also handled the regional shipping of copies. Born in England and settling in Spain, Watson was often a featured guest at European book and science-fiction conventions and events.

Focused on thought, perception, and transcendence, with a detailed eye to control of information in pursuit of power, Watson wrote, explored, and taught over the course of six decades. Watson wrote over 200 short stories, including 11 short story collections, alongside dozens of novels. While best known for his science fiction, Watson enjoyed innovation across genres, including satire, erotica, thriller, and horror. His works were translated into a large variety of European languages, and the translation of The Embedding, L’Enchâssement, won the Prix Apollo in 1975.

Watson, along with Michael Bishop, achieved the first noted transatlantic science-fiction novel collaboration, Under Heaven’s Bridge, via mailed, typewritten manuscripts. In 1990, Watson was the first novelist for the Warhammer 40,000 wargame setting, and he is a credited writer, in a collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, for the Steven Spielberg’s 2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

Ian Watson lived 82 years.

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Joseph Lee Green (14 January 1931–20 February 2026) was a prolific science-fiction writer. A charter member of SFWA in 1965, he was the Nebula Conference Toastmaster in 1970, and served as co-Director of the South/Central Region from 1976 to 1978.

A missile base construction worker and later communications writer for the US Space Program, Green also wrote prolific fiction on topics of extraterrestrial life and technology, including genetic modification. Green also wrote for non-fiction articles for Analog Science Fiction and Fact between 1967 and 1972. Around 80 of his short stories were published over the course of nearly 60 years, along with eight novels. His earlier novels include 1971’s Gold the Man (published in the US as The Mind Behind the Eye), and he returned to novels in the late 2010s, including with a supernatural murder series. Green’s novelette “The Decision Makers” was nominated for a Nebula Award in 1965.

Author Robert Silverberg remembers:

“I met Joe Green at the 1961 Worldcon in Seattle. My career was well established by then, but Joe was just starting to think about doing some writing, and asked me a lot of questions about the commercial aspects of writing for a living.  I helped him as much as I could, and was pleased to see his name turning up on the contents pages of the s-f magazines not long afterward. A good many stories and some novels followed over the years, an impressive body of skillfully done work. Wisely, though, he looked upon writing as a sideline – very few of us have been able to make a go of it as a full-time proposition — and as his primary activity he put in 37 years as an engineer with NASA, serving to turn science-fiction into reality. When such writers as Robert A, Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and Gordon Dickson came to the Kennedy Space Center to see the launch of moon rockets, Joe, who lived nearby, was their genial host.  I enjoyed a friendship with him of more than sixty years and his passing leaves yet another big absence for me.”

Joseph Green lived 95 years. 

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Lee Martindale (1949–10 March 2026) was a multi-genre fantasy writer, editor, anthologist, essayist, advocate, Named Bard, ordained minister, and friend to many.

Martindale served for two three-year terms on the SFWA Board of Directors, where she authored and was a fierce advocate for SFWA’s Accessibility Guidelines. She served on the Grievance Committee as a liaison to membership, and also as the SFWA Ombudsman. She received the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award in 2019.

Martindale was a passionate writer her whole life, yet it wasn’t until her forties when she first sold a published short story, “YearBride,” the first of around three dozen short stories published over the next quarter of a century. Martindale’s writing danced through speculative realms, centered in fantastical sword and sorcery—and never stayed its hand from exploring love, marriage, and sex. Determined to defy harmful standards for women in sword and sorcery, she was proud of stories such as 1998’s “Neighborhood Watch,” which introduced a “fat, feisty, and toothsome heroine into SF&F.” Martindale also wrote essays on her experiences and advocacy work, in her own Rump Parliament Magazine, her The Bard’s Fire blog, and in the 2012 article “The Good Guest Primer” for the SFWA Bulletin, edited by Jean Rabe.

Martindale’s anthologies and collections were of particular and groundbreaking importance to women in genre. Her 2000 anthology, Such A Pretty Face: Tales of Power and Abundance, centered fat protagonists, enabling a new welcome to many women to see themselves in the stories they loved. And her 2011 anthology, The Ladies of Trade Town, featured sex workers as protagonists in speculative stories. The continued notability of these collections speaks to Martindale’s insight and impact. She published a collection of her essays in 2008, and one of her short stories in 2014, under her own imprint, HarpHaven Publishing.

Lee was a member of the “SFWA Musketeers,” a self-proclaimed troupe of SFF women authors, all members of SFWA, almost all of whom were skilled fencers. Rumor speaks of some men as auxiliaries. Lee fenced from her “battle chariot” (motorized wheelchair), delighting doubters and the familiar alike with her victories (and losses) during convention demos.

Former SFWA President Cat Rambo says, “Lee was sharp and funny and unafraid. She spoke her mind and I am so sad never to be able to talk with her again in this life.”

Writer and Musketeer Elizabeth Moon recalls, “I knew Lee Martindale for years both in SFWA, and outside it; as a personal friend who, with her husband George, enlivened many a Thanksgiving feast and birthday party at our place. Lee enjoyed visiting with my horses and they enjoyed her, until Rags was a Bad Bad Pony and bit her once. She was a lively, interesting, fun guest to have around the big table. And as most of you know, a fierce advocate for many causes. I’m sure whatever post-life location her soul ended up is enjoying her now. I certainly did.”

Writer and Musketeer Melanie Fletcher notes, “If you looked up ‘force of nature’ in the dictionary, you’d see Lee’s picture. She was a brilliant writer and editor, a fierce champion and activist, and the most loyal friend anyone could ask for. She was also my treasured sword sister as one of the SFWA Musketeers. One of the most ‘Lee’ moments I can remember was when she received an angry letter from someone she’d turned down for an anthology threatening physical violence. Her reply: ‘I have two things to say to you: ‘Smith & Wesson’ and ‘Come ahead, sucker.’’ The next letter she received from the individual (yes, he wrote back) was exquisitely polite.”

Writer and Queen of the Musketeers (not a fencer, as it was not considered wise to hand her sharp, pointy things) Esther Friesner remembers, “I don’t know when we first met but I’m so glad that we did. She was talented, no-nonsense, gifted and able to speak frankly without using ‘honesty’ as a shield for speaking cruelly. She knew how to choose her battles and was never one to retreat from what needed to be done or what needed to be said. She was always fun to hang out with. As the Musketeer’s Queen I took to calling her ‘ma barde,’ and bard she was. It’s very hard accepting that ma barde has gone ahead. It is a comfort to know that even so, her music and her voice remain.”

Lee Martindale lived 76 years.

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Jeffrey A. Carver (25 August 1949–06 February 2026) was a prolific and beloved novelist, short story writer, essayist, teacher, and creator of science fiction worlds, such as The Chaos Chronicles and the Star Rigger Universe. Carver wrote over a dozen novels and two short fiction collections. His novel Eternity’s End was a finalist for the Nebula Award in 2001. Carver received the Helicon Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

In service to SFWA, Carver first took on the role of Nebula Awards Committee Chair and then as SFWA Awards Rules Committee Chair for more than 25 years, starting in July 1998.

Carver directly and unabashedly loved science fiction. His childhood wonder at the expanse of space led him to find that same inspiration in writing, in literature as exploration. Carver wrote of possibilities, hoping readers would take that insight and question the world around them, of what possibilities it could hold. Carver took his passion also to teaching, with the educational series Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing.

Author Robert J. Sawyer reflects:

“Jeff Carver was an absolute gentleman. Although at that point, we’d only ever met online, when he heard I was coming to his home state to do a signing, he invited my wife and me to stay overnight at his home. He was also one of the few authors willing to share hard numbers with others; he believed the more we all collectively knew, the better off everyone would be. We were friends for thirty years, and I will miss him for the rest of my life.”

Jeffrey A. Carver lived 76 years.

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LAcon V has announced that online voting for the 2026 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer are now open.

WSFS members can access the Hugo Awards Voter Packet and cast their ballot by logging in to the LAcon V online balloting portal. The deadline is August 8, 2026, 12:00 p.m. PDT, and votes can be resubmitted at any …Read More

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Finalists for the 2025 Analog Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Award and the 2025 Asimov's Readers' Awards have been announced.

The Analog AnLab Awards finalists are:

Novella

• Aleyara's Flight , Christopher L. Bennett (11-12/25)
• Apartment Wars , Vera Brook (1-2/25)
• Murder on the Eris Express , Beth Goder (3-4/25)
• The Return of Tom Dillon , Harry Lang (3-4/25)
• Under the Moons of Venus , Jay Werkheiser …Read More

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Horror author Thomas Tessier, 78, died March 26, 2026.

Thomas Edward Tessier was born May 10, 1947 in Waterbury CT. He studied at University College Dublin in Ireland and lived in the UK for many years before eventually returning to Connecticut.

Tessier's first genre novel was The Fates (1978), an SF horror, and he also wrote The Nightwalker (1979); Shockwaves (1982); World Fantasy Award nominee Phantom (1982); Finishing Touches (1986); …Read More

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The Pulitzer Prize Winners have been announced.Angel Down by Daniel Kraus (Atria) won in the Fiction category. Other finalists of genre interest include Auditionby Katie Kitamura (Riverhead) andStag Dance: A Quartetby Torrey Peters (Random House). In addition, Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) won in the Memoir or Autobiography category.

The Pulitzer jury said ofAngel Down: A breathless novel of World War …Read More

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Transworld has announced the launch 3AM Books, Penguin Random House's first dedicated horror imprint. The imprint will reflect the full range and ambition of horror today, bringing together established voices, bold new talent and a growing community of readers, according to The Bookseller.

Imprint leadership will include publishing director Rachel Winterbottom, editorial director Simon Taylor, editor Nicole Witmer, assistant editor Anna Carvanova, marketing executive Molly Openshaw, press officer Nina Lewis, …Read More

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Author and publisher Michael P. Spradlin, 65, died April 12, 2026.

Michael P. Spradlin was born and raised in Michigan. He worked at the Hearst Corporation for Avon Books and William Morrow, and later at HarperCollins. He wrote the Spy Goddess books, including Live and Let Shop (2005) and To Hawaii, with Love (2006); the Killer Species books, including Menace from the Deep (2013), Feeding Frenzy (2013), Out for Blood …Read More

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The five judges for the Philip K. Dick Award for works of science fiction published as paperback originals in the US during the year 2026 have been announced:

• Deji Bryce Olukotun, 1701 Anacapa St Unit 23, Santa Barbara CA 93101-1064; mobi files to starship@nigeriansinspace.com
• Adam Rakunas, 1431 26th Ave, Seattle WA 98122-3101; epub files to rak@giro.com
• Rebekah Sheldon, 817 S High St,Bloomington IN 47401-6160; pdf files to rsheldon@iu.edu
• Andrew …Read More

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We are pleased to announce that award-winning authors Sarah Gailey & Maggie Tokuda-Hall will be joining us as Emcees at the Locus Awards Weekend on May 29-31, 2026, in Oakland, California!We're delighted to welcome them both!

From their website: Sarah Gailey is a Hugo Award and British Fantasy Award winning, bestselling author of speculative fiction, short stories, and essays. They have been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and …Read More

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SF/F author eluki bes shahar, 69, died April 7, 2026 of sepsis.

Bes shahar was born in June 1956. She also wrote under the names Rosemary Edghill and James Mallory. Her debut novel, Speak Daggers to Her (1994), was the first in the Bast series, followed by Book of Moons (1995), The Bowl of Night (1996), omnibus Bell, Book, and Murder (1998), several short fiction pieces, and collection Failure of …Read More

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The shortlist for the 2026 Branford Boase Award for children's books has been announced. Titles and authors of genre interest includeGloam by Jack Mackay (Viking Books for Young Readers US; Rock the Boat UK) [amazon / bookshop] and Augmented by Kenechi Udogu (Faber & Faber Children's) [amazon / bookshop].

The Boase award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. The author and editor of …Read More

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Winners of the Tolkien Society Awards 2026 were announced on April 27, 2026. The awards recognize excellence in the fields of Tolkien scholarship and fandom, highlighting our long-standing charitable objective to 'seek to educate the public in, and promote research into, the life and works of' J.R.R. Tolkien. The society's trustees choose the shortlist, with winners chosen by the membership.

Best Book

• WINNER:The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien's …Read More

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We are so pleased to have the talented Alyssa Winans as Featured Local Artist at the Locus Awards Weekendon May 30, 2026 in Berkeley, California! Her work is vibrant and inventive, and we can't wait to see it at the event. Winans joins a lineup of amazing local creators, as well as Guests of Honor Nnedi Okorafor, Tananarive Due, and Stephen Graham Jones, for an unforgettable celebration.

ALYSSA WINANS …Read More

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Clarion West (CW) has announced a collaborative partnership with artist-led nonprofit Common AREA Maintenance (CAM) in Seattle to advance development and long-term usage of the El Rey Building - a previously abandoned 30,000 square foot building in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. The ADA-accessible building will be the new site of the Clarion West Six-Week Workshop and will support multiple artists and writers year-round.

CAM purchased the building for $20 in …Read More

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by Michael Capobianco

Read by Robert Greenberger

Giving democratically chosen awards for writing isn’t easy. When the authors themselves are designing the process, there is additional pressure to make the process “fair.” It was even tougher before the Internet, when nominations and updates had to be mailed. In what was then called Science Fiction Writers of America, a small group of dedicated volunteers carried most of that burden. They were the Nebula Awards Report (NAR) Editors. 

Creation of the Nebula Awards was suggested by SFWA’s first Secretary-Treasurer, Lloyd Biggle, Jr., as a way to collect the contents of an annual award anthology that would help fund the nascent organization as well as promote the best science fiction. Founder and then-SFWA President Damon Knight ran with the idea, and the Nebula Awards were born. Modeling them from various sources, including the decade-old Hugo Awards, the awards would be voted on by the Active and Associate Members of SFWA. The first vote would be for works published in 1965 and there would be a Nebula Awards Banquet in Spring 1966.  From the very beginning, the process involved the publication of nominees submitted by members. The first set of Nebula rules was published in the September 1965SFWA Bulletin and included:

“6. All SFWA members in good standing, whether active or associate, may nominate and vote on stories and novels. Stories and novels may also be nominated, but not voted on, by the editors and publishers who originally published them. Such nominations will be accepted from one representative of each publishing firm.”

“7. Nominations will be published, and ballots distributed to members, in the November 1965 issue of the Bulletin. If three or fewer nominations are received for any story or novel, the names of those making the nominations will be listed in the Bulletin.”

A 1965 nomination ballot for short story, “novelet,” and novella was mailed with the November 1965 SFWA Bulletin. Nominations for novel would continue until December 30. These ballots were to be returned to a law firm for unbiased counting. Time was tight. Final votes would happen in February 1966 and the Nebula Awards Banquet was scheduled for March 11. (Read more about the inaugural ceremony in “A Brief History of SFWA: The First Nebula Awards” by Michael Capobianco.)  

Page 1 of Nebula Awards Report Volume 3, Number 5, Copyright (c) 1975 SFWA.

The January issue contained the first recommendations for 1966 along with a request from President Damon Knight:

“Members are asked to drop the Bulletin a postcard whenever they read an outstanding science fiction story or novel. If this procedure is confirmed when we vote on it in March, it will become part of the SFWA Awards nominating system; even if not, I think it will be a valuable service to members.”

Knight primed the pump with the first nominations for 1966, for “Apology to Inky” by Robert M. Green, Jr. (F&SF) and “An Ornament to His Profession” by Charles L. Harness (Analog). 

The winners for 1965 were announced in the April 1966 issue (which included coverage and photos from the New York and Los Angeles Nebula Banquets) and, importantly, the first list of new Nebula nominations for the year 1966. It included nine recommendations from four members: six by James H. Schmitz, two by James Blish, and one each by Greg Benford and John Brunner. The June 1966 issue contained six recommendations; August’s had 20 nominations, several with more than one nominator; September’s had 11 and November’s 11. At this time, SFWA had approximately 200 members.

For whatever reason, the Final Ballot for 1966 was underpopulated, with only three candidates each for novel, novella, and short story. Knight’s two recommendations made the final ballot but didn’t win. James H. Schmitz’s nominee for best novel, The Last Castle by Jack Vance, made the ballot and won. (For more on the Nebulas’ physical look, read “Planets and Plastic: A History of the SFWA Trophies and Awards” by Michael Armstrong.)

From this distance, if the process was supposed to let members know of worthy prospects, it looks pretty shaky. No listings for the 1967 Nebulas were published until the August 1967 Bulletin, which included a more formal listing of nominees by category and had 20 entries. October had 30, and December another 18. Nominating was catching on. In 1968, the rules were revised and regularized, with, significantly, the addition of Rule 4.(c):  

“Any title receiving a total of three (3) or more nominations will be considered to qualify for placement on the Ballot in its appropriate category. Any title with fewer than three (3) nominations will be disqualified.”

Now a single recommendation wasn’t enough, and so recommendation counting became a group pastime.

Page 2 of Nebula Awards Report Volume 3, Number 5, Copyright (c) 1975 SFWA.

The last full list of Nebula recommendations in the SFWA Bulletin appeared in issue 41/42 in July 1972. It was accompanied by a note saying that Vonda N. McIntyre was now assisting Hal Clement in preparing the list. 

Then the crystal ball grows hazy. SFWA has a complete run of Bulletins, but it’s missing some issues of its other publications from this time. The next time we encounter the NAR is the September 1974 issue of the SFWA Forum. Vonda N. McIntyre is the editor and nominations go to her. She has created a distinctive heading and the contents are well-organized. This basic format (see photos) will persist right to the end of the NAR in 2008. 

This stand-alone NAR is among the most ephemeral of SFWA’s publications. None of the original paper copies have survived in SFWA’s archives. Frank Catalano, who edited the NAR in the early ’80s, tells what it was like to edit and mail it.

“What I remember the most was the physical challenge of actually getting the report out the door. I will qualify this by stating my memory of the details of the process, 40+ years ago, may be flawed. But I recollect that Nebula recommendations would come in on postcard, mostly, some by letter. They’d be tallied and organized, and then printed on multiple sheets of letter-sized paper, folded in half, stapled, labelled, stamped and mailed. Among those who’d show up for these mailing parties at my apartment were Vonda N. McIntyre and, I think, Greg Bear. (…) What I remember the most was just the camaraderie and conversation. The need to get it right. And all of the damp sponges required to attach the stamps.”

Seven SFWA volunteers have been given the Kevin. O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award because of their work on the NAR: Chuq Von Rospach (NAR Editor 1989–1996), Brook and Julia West (NAR Editors 1989–2008), and Vonda N. McIntyre (NAR Editor 1972–1976). Other members who have taken a turn: C. L. Grant, George W. Proctor, Frank Catalano, Elizabeth Waters, Orson Scott Card, and Mark Van Name.

So, why did the NAR end? Rule changes made the Nebula more and more cumbersome to administer, and the awards were no longer tied to a specific year. Former SFWA President and current SFWA Operations Manager Russell Davis offers this summary: “The Nebula Award rules when I took office in 2008 were extraordinarily convoluted.” In 2009, the nomination process  changed to the simpler one still in place in 2026.

Explore more articles from THE HISTORY FILES

Michael Capobianco is co-author, with William Barton, of the SF books Iris, Alpha Centauri, Fellow Traveler, and White Light. He has published two solo science fiction novels, Burster and Purlieu as well as short fiction. Capobianco was President of SFWA from 1996 to 1998 and again in 2007–2008. He currently serves as SFWA’s Authors Coalition Commissioner, Chair of SFWA’s Contracts Committee, Co-chair of SFWA’s Legal Affairs and Estates-Legacy Committees, and is a member of SFWA’s History Committee.

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