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On February 2, 2026, Neil Gaiman released a blog post denying the accusations of sexual misconduct made against him, the first public statement in almost a year from the author regarding the allegations, according to Variety.

As covered earlier by Locus, in August and September 2024, five women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaiman. In January 2025, New York magazine published a cover story on the allegations, …Read More

On January 24, 2026, DreamHaven Books owner Greg Ketter visited the site of the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis MN and protested at an intersection guarded by ICE. ICE threw several canisters of tear gas into the crowd. According to a Facebook post written by Ketter,

I had no gas mask and I don't know what made me stay but I did. And I was screaming even louder.

I …Read More

The 2025 Aurealis Awards shortlist, recognizing the best in Australian speculative fiction, has been announced.

Best Science Fiction Novel

• Letters to Our Robot Son, Cadance Bell (Ultimo)
• Arborescence, Rhett Davis (Fleet UK)
• Volatile Memory, Seth Haddon (Tordotcom)
• Dark Sands, J.S. Harman (self-published)
• Wastelands, Samira Lloyd (Arianhrod)
• All We Have, Tony Shillitoe (Millswood)

Best Science Fiction Novella

• Quiet Like Fire, Cameron Cooper (Stories Rule)
• Photo in the …Read More

The five-title shortlist for the annual Tähtivaeltaja Award has been announced, honoring the best science fiction published in Finland. The award is sponsored by Helsingin Science Fiction Seura (Helsinki Science Fiction Society). The nominees are:

• Königsbergin kyky rakastaa [La capacidad de amar del señor Königsberg], Juan Jacinto Muñoz-Rengel, tr. Satu Ekman (Moebius)
• Kesuura, Marisha Rasi-Koskinen (Schildts & Söderströms)
• Joutsenlaulu, Johanna Sinisalo (Otava)
• Gliff, Ali Smith, tr. Kristiina Drews (Kosmos)
…Read More

We saw some fabulous books come out last year and are so pleased to let you know about them! Our recommendations are compiled annually by the Locus reviewers, editors, and columnists; outside reviewers; and other professionals and well-known critics of genre fiction and non-fiction. This year we looked at over 1,000 titles between short and long fiction.

Note: we know there will be books …Read More

Locus is thrilled to announce two of the field's talented and award-winning authors, Tananarive Due and Stephen Graham Jones, will be headlining the 2026 Locus Awards as Guests of Honor this May. Novelists Due (The Reformatory, a NYT Notable Book) and Jones (The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, NYT Bestseller) will grace the stage in Berkeley, California, on May 30, 2026, as we celebrate the science fiction, fantasy, and horror …Read More

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) has announced the preliminary ballot for the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards.

Superior Achievement in a Novel

• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, Kylie Lee Baker (Mira; Hodder & Stoughton as Bat Eater)
• Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, Clay McLeod Chapman(Quirk)
• Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix(Berkley)
• King Sorrow, Joe Hill(William Morrow)
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga)
• Angel Down, …Read More

The American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of the Youth Media Awards at a press conference held on January 26, 2026 in Chicago IL and virtually.

The Alex Awards for the ten best adult books that appeal to teen audiences went to multiple works and authors of genre interest, including:

• Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, Bob the Drag Queen (Gallery)
• The Favorites, Layne Fargo (Random House)
• The Whyte …Read More

John Mecklin, editor-in-chief of theBulletin of the Atomic Scientists, has announced the winners of theBulletin's first short fiction contest, Write Before Midnight. Judge Kim Stanley Robinson declared a seven-way tie between:

• The Hard Problem , Beston Barnett
• Countdown , Alex Dabertin
• What the People Want , Patrick Hutson
• A Modest Briefing , Robert Levinson
• Good Boy , Kerri Brady Long
• On Behalf of …Read More

The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced the finalists for the 2025 NBCC awards for books published in English (including translations) in the United States. Authors and titles of genre interest include:

Criticism

• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar El Akkad (Knopf)
• Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue, Yoko Tawada, tr. Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda (New Directions)

Fiction

• On the Calculation of Volume (Book …Read More

Tor Publishing Group has announced a new imprint, Wildthorn Books. The imprint will focus on commercial stories that are irresistible, genre-blending and genre-bending. Categories and genres published under the imprint will include commercial and upmarket women's fiction, suspense, paranormal mystery, magical realism, speculative non-fiction, and historical fantasy.

Wildthorn Books launches globally with Tor UK. Devi Pillai will be the president and publisher; Monique Patterson, who joined in 2023 with …Read More

Nominees have been announced for the 2026 Splatterpunk Awards, honoring superior achievement in the literary sub-genres of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror fiction in 2025.

Best Novel

• Janitors vs. The Living Dead, Michelle Garza & Melissa Lason (Death's Head)
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga)
• At Dark, I Become Loathsome, Eric LaRocca (Blackstone)
• The Home, Judith Sonnet (Madness Heart)
• Music to Sacrifice Virgins To, Kristopher Triana (Bad Dream)
…Read More

Winners for the 2024 Analog Analytical Laboratory (AnLab) Award and the 2024 Asimov's Readers' Awards have been announced.

The Analog AnLab Awards winners are:

Best Novella

• WINNER: Uncle Roy's Computer Repairs and Robot Parts , Martin L. Shoemaker (5-6/24)
• 2nd Place: Minnie and Earl Have a Kitten , Adam-Troy Castro (9-10/24)
• 3rd Place: Ganny Goes to War , David Gerrold (3-4/24)
• 4th Place: The Last Days of Good People …Read More

KIT MAYQUIST is now represented by Arley Sorg of kt literary.

FIONA ERSKINE is now represented by John Jarrold Literary Agency.

TERRI TE TAU has been appointed as a Creative New Zealand Emerging Māori Writer in Residence for 2026 at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML).

R.R. SCHAEFFER's A Fable for Hollow Creatures, first in a dark fantasy series about a monster hunter who partners …Read More

Must Read Magazines has announced in a press release that it has revised the boilerplate language in writers' contracts for Analog,Asimov's, andF&SF. They say that the new changes target concerns raised by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA).

In July 2025, SFWA announced that the organization had suggested several contract language changes to Must Read, following concerns about Analog's contract terms and its delisting from website The Submission …Read More

Former literary agent Patrick Delahunt, 72, died December 23, 2025.

Patrick Flanagan Delahunt was born March 23, 1953 in Milwaukee WI. He entered publishing and was the original agent for multiple SF and fantasy authors, including Karen Joy Fowler and Kim Stanley Robinson. He is survived by his siblings, cousins, and other family and friends. …Read More

The A.C. Bose Grant for South Asian Speculative Literature is open to applications through January 31, 2026. The grant provides $1,500 to a South Asian or Desi diaspora writer developing speculative fiction , with preference given to work that is accessible to older children and teens.

The grant is co-sponsored by the Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) and DesiLit. Winners will be selected by a jury on the basis of …Read More

The 2026 Philip K. Dick Award nominees have been announced:

• Sunward, William Alexander (Saga)
• Outlaw Planet, M.R. Carey (Orbit UK; Orbit US)
• Casual, Koji A. Dae (Tenebrous)
• The Immeasurable Heaven, Caspar Geon (Solaris UK)
• Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Thomas Ha (Undertow)
• Scales, Christopher Hinz (Angry Robot UK)
• City of All Seasons, Oliver K. Langmead & Aliya Whiteley (Titan)

The award is presented annually to a distinguished work …Read More

Ark Press editor-in-chief Tony Daniel has announced the $10,000 inaugural Ark Press Prize winner is Ghostlands by Andrew Fox. Honorable mentions included Shrine by Graham Bradley, Centennial by Robert E. Hampson, and Independence '76 by Matt Harlow.

The theme of the first year of the prize, which asked authors to submit novel-length manuscripts, was America 2076 . Fox is awarded a publishing contract and a $10,000 advance. Ghostlands is planned …Read More

The Must Read Books Team has shared that Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov's, has been hospitalized after suffering a brain aneurysm. Asimov's senior managing editor Emily Hockaday will act as interim editor as Williams recovers.

In their statement, Must Read Books shared words from several close friends and authors, and they encourage friends and fans to send notes or positive stories for Williams and her family via a Google Form. …Read More