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 48th Williamson Lectureship, held April 10–12, 2025 in Portales NM, celebrated “Worlds Beyond” – including Latinx and Indigenous Futurism – in academic papers, student artist interpretations of genre books, and a student–led carnival.
Held to honor SF pioneer Jack Williamson...
Kama-kon, the 63rd Japan Science Fiction Convention, has announced the finalists for the 2025 Seiun Awards (the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo Awards), honoring the best original and translated works published last year in Japan.
Best Translated Novel
- ...
Sam Tegtmeyer has been chosen as the 2025 Le Guin Feminist Science Fiction Fellow.
The $3,000 fellowship, sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA), is awarded to support “travel for the purpose of research on, and work with,...
MILESTONES
ZIN E. ROCKLYN is now represented by Arley Sorg of kt literary.
AWARDSHARUKI MURAKAMI was named Cultural Personality of the Year in the 19th Sheikh Zayed Book Awards, presented by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Lan...
Finalists have been announced for the 2025 Premios Kelvin 505 Awards, presented by the Celsius 232 festival and honoring the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels published in Spain.
Mejor Novela Original (Best Original Novel)
- Epifanía...
Welcome to the May edition of the SFWA Market Report.
Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one category of fiction. This...
The Bookseller has announced the winners of the 2025 British Book Awards. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
Fiction
- WINNER: James, Percival Everett (Mantle)
- Long Island, Colm Tóibín (...
The winners of the 2025 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, honoring the best SF/F work published in France in 2024, have been announced.
French Novel
- WINNER: L’Ost céleste, Olivier Paquet (L’Atalante)
- Les Nuits...
Winners for the 2025 PEN America Literary Awards have been announced. Winners of genre interest include Verdigris by Michele Mari, translated by Brian Robert Moore (And Other Stories) in the $3,000 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation category, and Mia...
The DAG Foundation has announced the five finalists for its inaugural DAG Prize for Literature, which annually awards $20,000 to “an emerging prose writer whose work expands the possibilities for American writing.” Writers who have published one prose work in the US and who have not...
The shortlist for the annual Arthur C. Clarke Award, celebrating the best science fiction novel published in the UK, has been announced.
- Private Rites, Julia Armfield (Fourth Estate)
- The Ministry of Time, Kaliane...
Author and editor Chris Barkley is suing former Hugo Awards administrator Dave McCarty in small claims court. Barkley explained in a statement on his GoFundMe page:
On February 5th, 2025, I traveled from Cincinnati, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois to formally file a lawsuit in Cook County...
Peter Morwood, 68, died on May 9, 2025 in Ireland. Morwood was a prolific fantasy author, and married to writer (and frequent co-author) Diane Duane for nearly 40 years; she survives him.
UK author Morwood was born Robert Peter Smith on October 20, 1956, changing his name as an adult to...
The 46th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) took place March 19-22, 2025 at the Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel Lakeside, with the theme of ‘‘Night Terrors.’’ Academics, writers, publishers, editors, artists, students, independent scholars, and more participated...
Agent Eric Smith, formerly of P.S. Literary, has launched a new agency, Neighborhood Literary. Rebecca Podos joins as senior agent, coming from Rees Literary, and Donovan Levin joins as associate agent. “We’re a boutique literary agency headquartered in Philadelphia that focuses on adult...
Finalists have been announced for the 2025 Prix Imaginales, honoring the best works of fantasy published in France.
French Novel
- Roman de ronce et d’épine, Lucie Baratte (Typhon)
- Kosigan, un printemps de sang,...
The Prado Museum has announced Mathias Énard and Helen Oyeyemi as the writers selected to participate in the “Writing the Prado” residency program. The program is a joint initiative by the Prado and the Loewe Foundation that “invites internationally renowned writers to engage...
This post is updated from an earlier story.
Seattle Worldcon 2025 has been rocked by controversy in recent days.
Hugo Awards Administrator Nicholas Whyte released the following statement on May 5, 2025:
Effective immediately, Cassidy (WSFS DH), Nicholas Whyte (Hugo...
Frank Herbert (1920-1986) has been named the recipient of the third Infinity Award.
The award was created by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to “posthumously honor acclaimed creators who passed away before they could be considered for a Damon Knight...
The Short Mystery Fiction Society has announced the winners of the 2025 Derringer Awards. Winners of genre interest include Mike McHone for “Kargin the Necromancer” (Mystery Tribune 12/15/24) in the Flash Fiction category, Josh Pachter for “The Wind Phone” (Ellery Queen...
Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom); Walking Practice by Dolki Min, translated by Victoria Caudle (HarperVia); In Universes by Emet North (Harper; Hutchinson Heinemann UK); and “Kiss of Life” by P.C. Verrone (Fiyah Winter ’24) are...
Several authors and works of genre interest are among the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) 2025 Edgar Awards winners.
Best Young Adult
- 49 Miles Alone, Natalie D. Richards (Sourcebooks Fire)
Best Juvenile
...
James by Percival Everett (Knopf) won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in the Fiction category.
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel (Viking), Mice 1961 by Stacey Levine (Verse Chorus), and The Unicorn Woman by Gayl Jones (Beacon...
Krushna Dande is the recipient of the 2025 A.C. Bose Grant for South Asian Speculative Literature, presented by the Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) and DesiLit.
The $1,000 grant is given annually to “a South Asian / South Asian diaspora writer developing...
The 2024 Aurealis Awards winners, recognizing the best in Australian speculative fiction, have been announced.
Best Science Fiction Novel
- WINNER: Temporal Boom, J.M. Voss (Shawline)
- Transported, Kate...
Employees of Abrams books are seeking to join UAW Local 2110, which also represents the HarperCollins union. The prospective union would include workers in publicity, marketing, design, managing editorial, sales, distribution, IT, finance, and the mail room. A spokesperson said, “In forming a...
Congratulations to all of the Locus Awards top ten finalists!
The Locus Awards winners will be announced June 21, 2025, during the in-person Locus Awards Ceremony, held in the historic Nile Hall at Preservation Park in downtown Oakland, California. Join MC...
Four sessions of the Rainforest Writers Village retreat were held over four weeks, from February 19 through March 17, 2025 in Quinault WA.
Photographer: Patrick Swenson
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with...
Artist George Barr, 88, died April 19, 2025 in Livermore CA. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for best fan artist five times, winning in 1968, and was twice a nominee for best professional artist.
Geoge Edward Barr was born January 13, 1937 in Tucson AZ. While he did little in...
The fantastic New York Times bestselling author and ex-archaeologist Gail Carriger will be joining us at the Locus Awards Weekend on June 21, 2025, in Oakland, California as our Master of Ceremonies! We’re ecstatic to welcome Carriger to the stage for an evening of magic and laughs. Carriger...
The five judges for the Philip K. Dick Award for works of science fiction published as paperback originals in the US during the year 2025 have been announced:
- Jim Aikin, 1308 Hillcrest Avebue, Livermore CA 94550-4925; epub files to midiguru23@sbcglobal.net
- Kim Antieau, 945...
The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) has announced the nominees for the 28th Danuta Gleed Literary Award. The award recognizes “the best first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author published in 2024 in the English language.” Nominees of genre interest include ...
The 2024 Australasian Shadows Awards (previously known as the Australia Shadows Awards) shortlist has 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 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced Erin Roberts as Toastmaster for the 2025 SFWA Nebula Conference and Awards, to be held June 5-9, 2025 at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown in Kansas City MO.
SFWA also posted an update on the election results for...
Nominees have been announced for the 2025 Splatterpunk Awards, honoring “superior achievement in the literary sub-genres of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror fiction” in 2024.
Best Novel
- Benjamin, Aron Beauregard & Shane...
The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the longlists for the 2025 Dagger Awards. Titles and authors of genre interest include:
Gold Dagger
- Book of Secrets, Anna Mazzola (Orion)
- Deadly Animals,...
Mikołaj Kowalewski has won the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) to travel from Europe to North America to attend Worldcon 2025: Building Yesterday’s Future–For Everyone, defeating Zi Graves in the second round of voting.
There were 138 votes in the first round, 8 of which were submitted...
Winners of the Tolkien Society Awards 2025 were announced on April 27, 2025. 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...
The Bookseller has announced the launch of the New Adult Book Prize, an award to celebrate “one of the fastest growing areas of fiction publishing that is powered by one of the most enthusiastic cohort of readers”.
The award will accept any English language new adult fiction...
The 18-book longlist for the 2025 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year has been announced. Works and authors of genre interest include:
- The Cracked Mirror, Chris Brookmyre (Sphere)
- The Mercy Chair, M.W. Craven (Constable...
The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour has announced its eight-title shortlist for short fiction:
- “All Storms a Labyrinth”, Phoebe Yemi Ara
- “Hantu”, Kat Bador
- “Silted...
The Los Angeles Times has announced the winners of their 45th annual Book Prizes.
Works of genre interest include The Book of Love by Kelly Link (Random House) in the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction category, The Puzzle Box by Danielle...
We are pleased to announce that award-winning and bestselling author Kemi Ashing-Giwa will be joining us as a Featured Local Author at the Locus Awards Weekend on June 21, 2025, in Oakland, California. Ashing-Giwa will join fellow local artist Stephanie Law and a lineup of amazing guests for an...
Prolific artist and creator Stephanie Law will be joining us as a Featured Local Artist at the Locus Awards Weekend on June 21, 2025, in Oakland, California. We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome her and her stunning art to the events! Law joins fellow local Kemi Ashing-Giwa and a lineup of...
The shortlist for the 2025 Branford Boase Award for children’s books has been announced.
The 6-title shortlist features titles of genre interest, including:
- Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm, Ash Bond (Piccadilly)
- All the Hidden...
The winners of the 2025 Sir Julius Vogel Awards have been announced by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand (SFFANZ).
Best Novel
- WINNER: Echoes of Earthshine, Mel Harding-Shaw (Coruscate)
- A...
