First awarded 1966 Category of Nebula Awards | Instituted 1966 | |
Awarded for The best science fiction or fantasy story of less than 7,500 words published in the prior calendar year Official website sfwa.org/nebula-awards/ Presented by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Currently held by Alyssa Wong ("Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers") People also search for Nebula Award for Best Novella Winners & Nominees Sabbath WineBarbara Krasnoff, Sabbath Wine, Nominee, A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers: A TorCom OriginalAlyssa Wong, A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers: A TorCom Original, Nominee, This Is Not a Wardrobe DoorA Merc Rustad, This Is Not a Wardrobe Door, Nominee, Seasons of Glass and IronAmal El-Mohtar, Seasons of Glass and Iron, Nominee, Things With BeardsSam J Miller, Things With Beards, Nominee, Our Talons Can Crush GalaxiesBrooke Bolander, Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies, Nominee, Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station│Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0Caroline M Yoachim, Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station│Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0, Nominee, Hungry Daughters of Starving MothersAlyssa Wong, Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers, Winner, When Your Child Strays From GodSam J Miller, When Your Child Strays From God, Nominee, Damage: A TorCom OriginalDavid D Levine, Damage: A TorCom Original, Nominee, Today I Am PaulMartin L Shoemaker, Today I Am Paul, Nominee, MadeleineAmal El-Mohtar, Madeleine, Nominee, Cat Pictures PleaseNaomi Kritzer, Cat Pictures Please, Nominee, Jackalope WivesUrsula Vernon, Jackalope Wives, Winner, The Breath of WarAliette de Bodard, The Breath of War, Nominee, The Fisher QueenAlyssa Wong, The Fisher Queen, Nominee, When It Ends - He Catches HerEugie Foster, When It Ends - He Catches Her, Nominee, The Meeker and the All-Seeing EyeMatthew Kressel, The Meeker and the All-Seeing Eye, Nominee, The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani FamilyUsman T Malik, The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family, Nominee, A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes WideSarah Pinsker, A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide, Nominee, If You Were a Dinosaur - My LoveRachel Swirsky, If You Were a Dinosaur - My Love, Winner, Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg LatimerKenneth Schneyer, Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer, Nominee, Alive - Alive OhSylvia Spruck Wrigley, Alive - Alive Oh, Nominee, The Sounds of Old EarthMatthew Kressel, The Sounds of Old Earth, Nominee, Selkie Stories Are for LosersSofia Samatar, Selkie Stories Are for Losers, Nominee, ImmersionAliette de Bodard, Immersion, Winner, Nanny's DayLeah Cypess, Nanny's Day, Nominee, Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet PorcelainCat Rambo, Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain, Nominee, The Bookmaking Habits of Select SpeciesKen Liu, The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species, Nominee, RobotHelena Bell, Robot, Nominee, Fragmentation - or Ten Thousand GoodbyesTom Crosshill, Fragmentation - or Ten Thousand Goodbyes, Nominee, Give Her Honey When You Hear Her ScreamMaria Dahvana Headley, Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream, Nominee | ||
Nebula award for best short story
The Nebula Awards are given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for the best science fiction or fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year. The award has been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards. The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy short stories published in English or translated into English and released in the United States or on the internet during the previous calendar year. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short story if it is less than 7,500 words; awards are also given out for pieces of longer lengths in the novel, novella, and novelette categories. The Nebula Award for Best Short Story has been awarded annually since 1966.
Contents
Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of the SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be a member. Works are nominated each year between November 15 and February 15 by published authors who are members of the organization, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Members may then vote on the ballot throughout March, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. Beginning with the 2009 awards, the rules were changed to the current format. Prior to then, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then reach the final ballot in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary ballot for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create a final ballot, to which the SFWA organizing panel was also allowed to add an additional work.
During the 52 nomination years, 211 authors have had works nominated; 38 of these have won, including co-authors. One of these authors, Lisa Tuttle, refused her award, and in 1971 no winner was chosen as "no award" received the highest number of votes. Harlan Ellison has won three times out of eight nominations, both the highest number of wins and the highest number of nominations of any author. Ten authors have won twice, with Karen Joy Fowler at seven and Gardner Dozois at six having the next highest nomination count after Ellison. Michael Swanwick has the most nominations for short story without winning at six, and Howard Waldrop and Gene Wolfe are next with five each. No other author has been nominated more than four times.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the short story was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature". Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist. Entries with a gray background and a plus sign (+) mark a year when "no award" was selected as the winner.
* Winners and joint winners + No winner selected