Literary award · United States · since 1978

Rhysling Award

Award for best science fiction, fantasy or horror poetry (1978-). Established 1978 in United States.

About Rhysling Award

The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. The award name was dubbed by Andrew Joron in reference to a character in a science fiction story: the blind poet Rhysling, in Robert A. Heinlein's short story "The Green Hills of Earth". The award is given in two categories: "Best Long Poem", for works of 50 or more lines, and "Best Short Poem", for works of 49 or fewer lines. The nominees for each year's Rhysling Awards are chosen by the members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA). Each member may nominate one work for each of the categories. Until 2022, all nominated works were compiled into an anthology called The Rhysling Anthology, and members of the Association would then vote on the final winners.

From the Wikipedia article “Rhysling Award”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2017Theodora Goss—
2014Amal El-Mohtar—
2011Amal El-Mohtar—
2009Amal El-Mohtar—
2004Theodora Goss—
1995Dan Raphael—
1990David Memmott—
1982Ursula K. Le GuinThe Well of Baln
—Neil Gaiman—
—Lucius Shepard—
—Alan Lightman—
—Joe Haldeman—
—Gene Wolfe—
—Bruce Boston—
—Catherynne M. Valente—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Rhysling Award for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data