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

YearWinnerWinning work
2024Nghi VoSilk and Cotton and Linen and Blood
2023Tananarive DueIncident at Bear Creek Lodge
2022Lauren Ring(emet)
2021Celeste Rita BakerGlass Bottle Dancer
2020Maria Dahvana HeadleyRead After Burning
2019Emma TörzsLike a River Loves the Sky
2019Mel KasselTen Deals with the Indigo Snake
2018Natalia TheodoridouThe 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

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