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.
We, the Fleet by Alex T. Singer (Clarkesworld 5/25) is the winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction story, presented by the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction.
The second-place runner up was The Sack...
The longlists for the Singapore Literature Prize (SLP) have been announced. Titles and authors of genre interest in the Prose category include:
Prose
- The Mystical Mister Kay, Meihan Boey (Epigram) -
- The Waiting Room, Choo Yi...
The Bookseller has announced the shortlists for the second annual British Audio Awards, also called the Speakies, a prestigious new awards dedicated to celebrating excellence in audiobooks and audio drama, brought to you byThe BooksellerandThe Stage. Categories,...
Union Square & Co. has launched Singularity, a new line of paperback novellas led by Union Square editorial director Mika Kasuga. They plan to publish 10-12 titles each year of high-impact, one-sitting fiction.
Works of genre interest scheduled for Fall 2026 include Zero...
The six-title shortlist for the 2026 Booker Prize has been announced, with works and writers of genre interest including The End of Everything byM. John Harrison (Serpent's Tail) and The Disappearers by Marlon James (Riverhead).
Harrison, James,...
Longlists for the National Book Awards (NBA) have been announced. Categories, authors, and books of genre interest include:
Fiction
- Paradiso 17, Hannah Lillith Assadi (Knopf)
- Red Ants, Kimberly Blaeser (...
Montréal 2027, the 85th World Science Fiction Convention, has added Linda D. Addison and Cory Doctorow as guests of honor. Doctorow will be toastmaster for Montréal 2027.
Addison and Doctorow join previously announced guests of honor Chris Barkley, Jeph Jacques, Yves Meynard, and Jo...
The National Book Foundation hasannounced that it will present Salman Rushdie with the 2026 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (DCAL) at this year's National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18, 2026. Author Kiran Desai will present the award.
The DCAL Medal was...
MILESTONES
WENDY N. WAGNER is stepping down as editor-in-chief of Nightmare Magazine and senior editor of Lightspeed to focus on her own writing. Founding editor John Joseph Adams will resume the role at Nightmare starting...
The Sunburst Award Society hasannounced Helen Marshall, author of The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death (Titan) [amazon / bookshop], as the winner of this year's Sunburst Awardfor Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic.
Other shortlisted works...
The Indiana Authors Awards have announced the 2026 winners. The awards celebrate the best books by Indiana authors written in eight different categories and published during the previous two years. Works from the Genre category follow.
Genre
- WINNER: ...
The HWA (Horror Writers Association) has undergone several changes throughout August and early September. Many of these changes were announced via video message by the organization's president, Lisa Wood, as well as a September 6 text update on their Facebook page.
- Due to timing...
The August 30 LAcon V WSFS business meeting voted to censure and place bans of varying lengths on four officials for their actions related to the 2023 Worldcon : Dave McCarty, the 2023 Hugo administrator, Yao Chi, a 2023 Hugo co-administrator, Shi Chen, a 2023 Worldcon co-chair, and Ben Yalow,...
Dream Foundry, a non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts, hasannounced the winners for its 2026 contests.
Writing Contest
- N.A. Blair (First Place)
- Natalie Anai Nowo Lydick (Second...
Baen Books, an independent publisher of military science fiction and fantasy, has announced the creation of a new short story award, named in honor of the author David A. Drake. The reward is in addition to their currently sponsored awards, the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award and Jim Baen Memorial...
The shortlist for the2026 Prix Utopiales(honoring the best SF published in France) has been announced.
- Heureux comme jamais,Guillaume Chamanadjian (Aux forges de Vulcain)
- Spectres, Thomas Gunzig (Au diable Vauvert)
- ...
Wolf Moon, Antler Moon by A. C. Wise (Reactor 1/13/25) is the winner of the 2026 Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fictionfor stories that are irreplaceable, that inspire, enlighten, and entertain.
Other finalists were:
- Concerning the Multiplicity of Children...
The winners of the 2026 Dragon Awards were presented at Dragon Con, held September 3 – September 7, 2026 in Atlanta GA.
Best Science Fiction Novel
- WINNER: Operation Bounce House, Matt Dinniman (Ace)
- God's Junk...
Several awards for services to fandom were presented by the First Fandom Foundation during the opening ceremonies of LAcon V, the 84th Worldcon, held August 27, 2026.
First Fandom Hall of Fame Award
- Mike Glyer
- Craig Miller
- Bjo Trimble...
The winners for the 2025 Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were announced August 31, 2026 at LAcon V.
Long Form
- WINNER: Ten Incarnations of Rebellion, Vaishnavi Patel (Ballantine) amazon / bookshop
- Pagans...
Author and editor David Kopaska-Merkel, 69, died August 26, 2026.
David C. Kopaska-Merkel was born January 11, 1957 in Charlottesville VA. He attended William & Mary, earned a doctorate in geology, worked for the Geological Survey of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and wrote several articles...
The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) announced the shortlist for the 2026 Nommo Awards, given to works by African authors as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines, on August 27, 2026 at LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, in Anaheim CA.
Ilube...
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has named Nancy Kress the 43rd recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.
SFWA President Kate Ristau said,
When we choose a SFWA Grand Master, the discussion begins with the Past...
LAcon V has announced that Aussiecon 5 and the Brisbane in 2028 bid won the right to host the 2028 Worldcon. The 86th World Science Fiction Convention will be held July 27-31, 2028 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre in Brisbane, Australia.
Guests of honor announced so...
The winners of the Hugo Awards, the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, and the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book were announced on August 30, 2026 by LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention.
The winners are:
Best Novel
- ...
Fan and organizer Robin Johnson, 89, died July 6, 2026 in Ballarat, Australia of underlying causes after a fall.
Johnson was born March 9, 1937 and lived variously in Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, and Ballarat, as well as in England. He chaired the first Australian Worldcon in 1975 as well...
Finalists for the 2026 Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) Small Press Award for Short Fiction have been announced:
- Not a Fish , Andrew Dykstal (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 6/12/25)
- Half Life , Stephen Harper (Skull X Bones)
- The Last Mardi...
Wendy N. Wagner has announced that she will bestepping down as editor-in-chief of Nightmare Magazine to focus on writing, with the December 2026 issue being her last. Wagner wrote,
On the plus side,I'm simply returning the reins to our founder, John Joseph Adams. I am absolutely...
Applied African SF book is out now!
It is available to share and download at bit.ly/AppliedAfricanSF.
Produced in collaboration with Vector.
...
Applied African SF book is out now!
It is available to share and download at bit.ly/AppliedAfricanSF.
Produced in collaboration with Vector.
...The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has reported a theft at the offices of antiquarian bookseller L.W. Currey, Inc. in Elizabethtown NY. The theft was the third targeting L.W. Currey, including one in February 2026. New York State Police are investigating the case.
...
MILESTONES
KUZHALI MANICKAVEL is now represented by Michael Curry at Donald Maass Literary Agency.
KATH RICHARDS is now represented by Bethany Weaver at Weaver Literary Agency. Fangs with Benefits resold to Sam...
When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift (Arcadia) Amazon / Bookshop has won the 2026 annual Arthur C. Clarke Award. Swift receives £2,025 and an engraved bookend. Other finalists were:
- Dungeon Crawler Carl...
TheAssociazione World SF Italia announced the winners of the 2026 Premio Ernesto Vegetti, an Italian SF award.
Novel
- WINNER: Mai verrà la notte, Mariangela Cerrino (Tabula Fati)
- La grande insurrezione,...
SF/F fan and bookseller Dave Nee, 73, died August 6, 2026 of an apparent heart attack.
David Chin-Kuo Nee was born in 1953. He attended high school in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1974, he co-founded The Portable Bookstore with...
John Crowley, 83, died August 8, 2026.
John William Crowley was born December 1, 1942 in Presque Isle ME, where his father, a doctor and captain in the Army Air Corps, was stationed. The family moved several times until settling in Indiana in 1953. He earned an English degree from...
The winners of the 2026 Aurora Awards for works by Canadians were announced in an online awards ceremony on August 9, 2026, hosted by Elizabeth May Anderson and Mark Leslie Lefebvre.
Best Novel
- WINNER: The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine...
The winners for the 2026 Prix Rosny Aîné have been announced. The prize is awarded to SF novels and short stories written in French and published in print in 2025.
Best Novel
- WINNER: Sintonia, Audrey Pleynet (Belial)
- ...
Introduction by Yen Ooi and Stephen Oram
When we started thinking about the call for articles last year, we wanted to approach it in a Zoefuturistic manner – by giving space and creating opportunities for the issue(s) and articles to ‘become.’ As a new topic, we...
