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 2025 Shirley Jackson Awards nominees for outstanding achievement in horror, psychological suspense, and dark fantasy fiction have been announced.
Novel
- Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, Kylie Lee Baker (Hanover Square)
- ...
Hum by Helen Phillips (Marysue Rucci) [amazon / bookshop] has been announced as the winner of the second annual Climate Fiction Prize. Founded by Leo Barasi, Rose Goddard, and Imran Khan, and supported by Climate Spring, the prize seeks to celebrate the most inspiring novels...
Lalana Dararutana, 49, died May 18, 2026. She had cervical cancer.
Dararutana was born September 15, 1976 in Syracuse NY. In her childhood she was a caregiver to her younger sister and brother. She began publishing books in her thirties after attending a writing conference in 2009. As an...
The British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the shortlists for the 2026 British Fantasy Awards:
Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)
- A Song of Legends Lost, M.H. Ayinde (Orbit)
- The Outcast Mage,...
The Afterlives of Greek Drama in Science Fiction Theatre: A Review on the Occasion of the 10-Year Anniversary of TALOS V
By Yichun Zhang
You are not just watching the fifth Talos Science Fiction Theatre Festival—...
Bouchercon has announced the nominees for the 2026 Anthony Awards, honoring the best in crime fiction. Authors and works of genre interest include:
Best Hardcover Novel
- King of Ashes, S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
- All This Could Be...
Shahriar Shaams is the recipient of the 2026 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 speculative fiction...
The winners of the 2026 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, honoring the best SF/F work published in France in 2025, were announced on May 18, 2026.
French Novel
- WINNER: Aatea, Anouck Faure (Argyll)
- Festin de larmes...
Science fiction editor, publisher, critic, and translator Tom Clegg, 68, died suddenly May 5, 2026. He was known in the SFF community for his deep affection for science fiction, and he became an important channel for translated works in France through his work at Bragelonne SF.
Thomas...
MILESTONES
JON COURTENAY GRIMWOOD is now represented by John Jarrold Literary Agency.
LYNNE M. THOMAS and MICHAEL DAMIAN THOMAS were amicably divorced on April 2. Uncanny Magazine is now entirely under the ownership of...
Speculative poet and critic Donald Sidney-Fryer, 91, died May 2, 2026 in Chatham MA. He was in palliative care for bone cancer.
Sidney-Fryer was born September 8, 1934. He published well over 100 works of speculative poetry, starting as early as 1968 with Connaissance Fatale and...
Winners of the 2026 Steve Miller Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) Annual Poetry Contest have been announced.
- 1st Place: Terracotta Warrior , Y.M. Pang
- 2nd Place: Starlight Bathing , Vivian McInerny
- 3rd Place: The Planet that Learned our Fear , Ayesha...
The winners have been announced for the 2026 Kurd Laßwitz Preis. The prize is awarded to German-language SF works published in the previous year.
BestGerman SFNovel
- WINNER: Lyneham, Nils Westerboer (Klett-Cotta)
- We...
The Bookseller has announced the winners of the 2026 British Book Awards, including the Book of the Year Winners. Winning titles and authors of genre interest, and other finalists of interest in those categories, include:
Author of the Year
- WINNER: A...
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...
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...
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...
Interview with Tristan Evarts
Tristan Evarts is the editor of Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, and since 2019 he has overseen the publication of optimistic prose, poetry, non-fiction, and art. The...
Interview with Tristan Evarts
Tristan Evarts is the editor of Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, and since 2019 he has overseen the publication of optimistic prose, poetry, non-fiction, and art. The...
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...
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 ...
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 (...
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...
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...
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...
By Suzie Gray
As digital spaces increasingly mediate the way in which we interact with ourselves and each other, I argue that this dynamic flow of human becoming within digital spaces crystallises as events or spectacles....
By Suzie Gray
As digital spaces increasingly mediate the way in which we interact with ourselves and each other, I argue that this dynamic flow of human becoming within digital spaces crystallises as events or spectacles....
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 (...
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...
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...
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-...
John H. Guidry, 81, died March 9, 2026.
John Henry Guidry was born December 15, 1944 in New Orleans LA and attended William Carey College. He created the Edgar Rice Burroughs Amateur Press Association and co-published Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder (2001). In 1988, he was the...
The Los Angeles Times has announced the winners of their 46th annual Book Prizes.
Winners of genre interest, and other titles and authors of genre interest in those categories, include:
Science Fiction/Fantasy
- WINNER:Luminous...
The preliminary ballot for the 2026 Ditmar Awards for Australian SF has been announced.
Best Novel
- Veil, Jeff Clulow (Third Eye) amazon / bookshop
- Honeyeater, Kathleen Jennings (Tordotcom) amazon / bookshop ...
The 2026 Aurora Awards ballot for works by Canadians has been announced. The Aurora Awards are nominated by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. The top five nominated works were selected, with additional works included when there was a tie for fifth place.
...
The Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS) has announced the five finalists for the Best Novel category of the Prometheus Awards, honoring thematically pro-liberty works published in 2025.
- Storm-Dragon, Dave Freer (Raconteur) amazon / bookshop
- War By...
UK-based publisher Bloomsbury has announced plans to streamline its structure for future growth, after doubling its sales in four years, more than doubling its profits in 2023-2024, and increasing headcount from 738 to 1,238 in five years. The plans include cutting about 55 roles in the US and...
