Literary award · since 1975
World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction
American literary award, part of the World Fantasy Awards. Established 1975.
About World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction
The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as The Guardian as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo and Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and science fiction). The World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction is given each year for fantasy short stories published in English. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as short fiction if it is 10,000 words or less in length; awards are also given out for longer pieces in the Novel and Long Fiction categories.
From the Wikipedia article “World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recent winners
| Year | Winner | Winning work |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Nghi Vo | Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood |
| 2023 | Tananarive Due | Incident at Bear Creek Lodge |
| 2022 | Lauren Ring | (emet) |
| 2021 | Celeste Rita Baker | Glass Bottle Dancer |
| 2020 | Maria Dahvana Headley | Read After Burning |
| 2019 | Emma Törzs | Like a River Loves the Sky |
| 2019 | Mel Kassel | Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake |
| 2018 | Natalia Theodoridou | The Birding: A Fairy Tale |
From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.
Eligibility and entering
Check the official rules of the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction 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
- Structured data from Wikidata Q3405406 (CC0).
- Summary text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).