Nebula Award for Best Short Story
The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for science fiction or fantasy short stories. 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 longer works in the categories of novel, novella, and novelette. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a short story must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. The Nebula Award for Best Short Story has been awarded annually since 1966. 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.
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 55 nomination years, 224 authors have had works nominated; 42 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 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
Year | Author | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref. |
1966 | * | "" | Galaxy Science Fiction | |
1966 | "Eyes Do More Than See" | ' | ||
1966 | "Founding Father" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1966 | "Souvenir" | Playboy | ||
1966 | "Game" | ' | ||
1966 | "Lord Moon" | ' | ||
1966 | "Uncollected Works" | ' | ||
1966 | "" | ' | ||
1966 | "" | ' | ||
1966 | "Computers Don't Argue" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1966 | "Come to Venus Melancholy" | ' | ||
1966 | "Of One Mind" | If | ||
1966 | "Inside Man" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1966 | "Calling Dr. Clockwork" | Amazing Stories | ||
1966 | "Better Than Ever" | ' | ||
1966 | "In Our Block" | If | ||
1966 | "Slow Tuesday Night" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1966 | "Cyclops" | Worlds of Tomorrow | ||
1966 | "" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1966 | "" | ' | ||
1966 | "" | ' | ||
1966 | "Though a Sparrow Fall" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1966 | "Becalmed in Hell" | ' | ||
1966 | "Wrong-Way Street" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1966 | "" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1966 | "" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1966 | "" | If | ||
1966 | "Keep Them Happy" | ' | ||
1966 | "Balanced Ecology" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1966 | "Over the River and Through the Woods" | Amazing Stories | ||
1966 | "" | ' | ||
1966 | "Devil Car" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1967 | * | "" | ' | |
1967 | "Man In His Time" | Who Can Replace a Man? | ||
1967 | "Light of Other Days" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1968 | * | "" | Dangerous Visions | |
1968 | "Earthwoman" | ' | ||
1968 | "Driftglass" | If | ||
1968 | "Answering Service" | If | ||
1968 | "" | ' | ||
1968 | "Baby, You Were Great" | ' | ||
1969 | * | "" | ' | |
1969 | "Kyrie" | ' | ||
1969 | "" | ' | ||
1969 | "Sword Game" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1969 | "Masks" | Playboy | ||
1969 | "Idiot's Mate" | Amazing Stories | ||
1970 | * | "Passengers" | ' | |
1970 | "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin" | ' | ||
1970 | "Not Long Before the End" | ' | ||
1970 | "" | ' | ||
1970 | "" | Galaxy Science Fiction | ||
1971 | + | |||
1971 | "" | ' | ||
1971 | "By the Falls" | If | ||
1971 | "Entire and Perfect Chrysolite" | ' | ||
1971 | "In the Queue" | ' | ||
1971 | "" | ' | ||
1971 | "" | ' | ||
1971 | "" | ' | ||
1972 | * | "Good News from the Vatican" | ' | |
1972 | "Horse of Air" | ' | ||
1972 | "" | Protostars | ||
1972 | "Heathen God" | ' | ||
1973 | * | "When It Changed" | Again, Dangerous Visions | |
1973 | "On the Downhill Side" | ' | ||
1973 | "Shaffery Among the Immortals" | ' | ||
1973 | "When We Went to See the End of the World" | ' | ||
1973 | "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" | ' | ||
1973 | "Against the Lafayette Escadrille" | Again, Dangerous Visions | ||
1974 | * | "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" | ' | |
1974 | "Shark" | ' | ||
1974 | "With Morning Comes Mistfall" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1974 | "Wings" | ' | ||
1974 | "" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1974 | "How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1975 | * | "" | Galaxy Science Fiction | |
1975 | "After King Kong Fell" | Omega | ||
1975 | "" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1976 | * | "Catch That Zeppelin!" | ' | |
1976 | "Doing Lennon" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1976 | "White Creatures" | ' | ||
1976 | "Utopia of a Tired Man" | ' | ||
1976 | "" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1976 | "Attachment" | Amazing Stories | ||
1976 | "Shatterday" | Gallery | ||
1976 | "Find the Lady" | ' | ||
1976 | "White Wolf Calling" | ' | ||
1976 | "Sail the Tide of Mourning" | ' | ||
1976 | "Child of All Ages" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1976 | "Growing Up in Edge City" | Epoch | ||
1976 | "Time Deer" | If | ||
1977 | * | "" | ' | |
1977 | "Tricentennial" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1977 | "Breath's a Ware That Will Not Keep" | Dystopian Visions | ||
1977 | "Back to the Stone Age" | Lone Star Universe | ||
1977 | "Stone Circle" | Amazing Stories | ||
1977 | "Mary Margaret Road-Grader" | ' | ||
1978 | * | "Jeffty Is Five" | ' | |
1978 | "Tin Woodman" | Amazing Stories | ||
1978 | "Tin Woodman" | Amazing Stories | ||
1978 | "" | Penthouse | ||
1978 | "Camera Obscura" | Cosmos | ||
1978 | "Air Raid" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1979 | * | "Stone" | ' | |
1979 | "Cassandra" | ' | ||
1979 | "" | ' | ||
1980 | * | "giANTS" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
1980 | "Vernalfest Morning" | Chrysalis 3 | ||
1980 | "Unaccompanied Sonata" | Omni | ||
1980 | "Red as Blood" | ' | ||
1980 | "" | Omni | ||
1980 | "" | ' | ||
1981 | * | "Grotto of the Dancing Deer" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | |
1981 | "Secrets of the Heart" | ' | ||
1981 | "Window" | ' | ||
1981 | "War Beneath the Tree" | Omni | ||
1981 | "" | ' | ||
1982 | * | "" | ' | |
1982 | "Going Under" | Omni | ||
1982 | "Disciples" | Penthouse | ||
1982 | "Johnny Mnemonic" | Omni | ||
1982 | "" | ' | ||
1982 | "Venice Drowned" | ' | ||
1982 | "Zeke" | Twilight Zone | ||
1982 | "" | ' | ||
1983 | * | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1983 | "Petra" | Omni | ||
1983 | "High Steel" | ' | ||
1983 | "High Steel" | ' | ||
1983 | "Corridors" | ' | ||
1983 | "" | Perpetual Light | ||
1983 | "God's Hooks!" | ' | ||
1984 | * | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1984 | "Her Furry Face" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1984 | "Cryptic" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1984 | "Ghost Town" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1984 | "" | Analog Science Fact & Fiction | ||
1984 | "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" | Amazing Stories | ||
1985 | * | "Morning Child" | Omni | |
1985 | "" | ' | ||
1985 | "Salvador" | ' | ||
1985 | "Sunken Gardens" | Omni | ||
1985 | "" | ' | ||
1985 | "" | Light Years and Dark | ||
1986 | * | "Out of All Them Bright Stars" | ' | |
1986 | "Paper Dragons" | Imaginary Lands | ||
1986 | "Snow" | Omni | ||
1986 | "" | Omni | ||
1986 | "" | Omni | ||
1986 | "" | Omni | ||
1986 | "More Than the Sum of His Parts" | Playboy | ||
1986 | "Flying Saucer Rock & Roll" | Omni | ||
1986 | "Heirs of the Perisphere" | Playboy | ||
1986 | "Hong's Bluff" | Omni | ||
1987 | * | "Tangents" | Omni | |
1987 | "Robot Dreams" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1987 | "Pretty Boy Crossover" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1987 | "Rat" | ' | ||
1987 | "" | ' | ||
1987 | "" | Omni | ||
1988 | * | "Forever Yours, Anna" | Omni | |
1988 | "Angel" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1988 | "Kid Charlemagne" | Amazing Stories | ||
1988 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1988 | "Cassandra's Photographs" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1988 | "Temple to a Minor Goddess" | Amazing Stories | ||
1988 | "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1989 | * | "" | Full Spectrum | |
1989 | "Voices of the Kill" | Full Spectrum | ||
1989 | "Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1989 | "" | Full Spectrum | ||
1989 | "Dead Men on TV" | Full Spectrum | ||
1989 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1990 | * | "Ripples in the Dirac Sea" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1990 | "" | Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine | ||
1990 | "" | ' | ||
1990 | "Lost Boys" | ' | ||
1990 | "Boobs" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1990 | "Dori Bangs" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1991 | * | "Bears Discover Fire" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1991 | "" | Omni | ||
1991 | "Lieserl" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1991 | "Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates" | Alien Sex | ||
1991 | "Before I Wake" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1991 | "Story Child" | Aboriginal SF | ||
1992 | * | "Ma Qui" | ' | |
1992 | "They're Made Out of Meat" | Omni | ||
1992 | "" | ' | ||
1992 | "Buffalo" | ' | ||
1992 | "Dog's Life" | Amazing Stories | ||
1992 | "The Button, and What You Know" | Amazing Stories | ||
1993 | * | "Even the Queen" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1993 | "Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats" | Omni | ||
1993 | "Lennon Spex" | Amazing Stories | ||
1993 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1993 | "Vinland the Dream" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1993 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1994 | * | "Graves" | ' | |
1994 | "" | Omni | ||
1994 | "All Vows" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1994 | "Alfred" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1994 | "" | ' | ||
1994 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1995 | * | "" | Science Fiction Age | |
1995 | "Inspiration" | ' | ||
1995 | "None So Blind" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1995 | "Understanding Entropy" | Science Fiction Age | ||
1995 | "Virtual Love" | ' | ||
1995 | "I Know What You're Thinking" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1996 | * | "Death and the Librarian" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
1996 | "Alien Jane" | Century | ||
1996 | "Grass Dancer" | Excalibur | ||
1996 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1996 | "" | Science Fiction Age | ||
1996 | "" | ' | ||
1996 | "Short Timer" | ' | ||
1997 | * | "" | ' | |
1997 | "In the Pound, Near Breaktime" | Tomorrow Speculative Fiction | ||
1997 | "" | ' | ||
1997 | "Five Fucks" | ' | ||
1997 | "These Shoes Strangers Have Died Of" | Enchanted Forests | ||
1997 | "In the Shade of the Slowboat Man" | ' | ||
1998 | * | "Sister Emily's Lightship" | Starlight 1 | |
1998 | "" | Alternate Tyrants | ||
1998 | "" | Crank! | ||
1998 | "Itsy Bitsy Spider" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1998 | "" | Starlight 1 | ||
1998 | "Burning Bright" | Aboriginal SF | ||
1999 | * | "Thirteen Ways to Water" | Black Cats and Broken Mirrors | |
1999 | "When the Bow Breaks" | ' | ||
1999 | "Standing Room Only" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1999 | "Fortune and Misfortune" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1999 | "Winter Fire" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
1999 | "Tall One" | ' | ||
2000 | * | "" | Amazing Stories | |
2000 | "Flower Kiss" | Realms of Fantasy | ||
2000 | "" | North American Review | ||
2000 | "Basil the Dog" | ' | ||
2000 | "Radiant Doors" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2000 | "Ancient Engines" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2001 | * | "Macs" | ' | |
2001 | "" | ' | ||
2001 | "Flying Over Water" | Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet | ||
2001 | "" | Black Heart, Ivory Bones | ||
2001 | "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2001 | "You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child To Break Your Heart and Mine" | Silver Birch, Blood Moon | ||
2002 | * | "" | Sci Fiction | |
2002 | "Kaddish for the Last Survivor" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2002 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2002 | "Mom and Dad at the Home Front" | Realms of Fantasy | ||
2002 | "Wound the Wind" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2003 | * | "Creature" | ' | |
2003 | "Creation" | ' | ||
2003 | "Cut" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2003 | "Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City" | Artemis | ||
2003 | "Little Gods" | Strange Horizons | ||
2003 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2004 | * | "What I Didn't See" | Sci Fiction | |
2004 | "Knapsack Poems" | ' | ||
2004 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2004 | "Good-Bye to All That" | McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales | ||
2004 | "Grandma" | ' | ||
2004 | "Lambing Season" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2004 | "" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2005 | * | "Coming to Terms" | Stable Strategies and Others | |
2005 | "" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2005 | "Travels with My Cats" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2005 | "Embracing-The-New" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2005 | "In the Late December" | Strange Horizons | ||
2005 | "Aloha" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact | ||
2006 | * | "I Live With You" | ' | |
2006 | "Born Again" | ' | ||
2006 | "" | ' | ||
2006 | "My Mother, Dancing" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2006 | "Singing My Sister Down" | Black Juice | ||
2006 | "Still Life with Boobs" | Talebones | ||
2006 | "There's a Hole in the City" | Sci Fiction | ||
2007 | * | "Echo" | ' | |
2007 | "Helen Remembers the Stork Club" | ' | ||
2007 | "" | ' | ||
2007 | "Henry James, This One's for You" | Subterranean Magazine | ||
2007 | "" | Children of Magic | ||
2007 | "Pip and the Fairies" | Strange Horizons | ||
2008 | * | "Always" | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
2008 | "Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse" | Eclipse 1 | ||
2008 | "Titanium Mike Saves the Day" | ' | ||
2008 | "" | Salt of the Air | ||
2008 | "Captive Girl" | Helix SF | ||
2008 | "Pride" | Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge | ||
2009 | * | "Trophy Wives" | Fellowship Fantastic | |
2009 | "" | Helix SF | ||
2009 | "" | ' | ||
2009 | "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2009 | "" | ' | ||
2009 | "Don't Stop" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2009 | "Mars: A Traveler's Guide" | ' | ||
2010 | * | "Spar" | Clarkesworld Magazine | |
2010 | "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" | Clockwork Phoenix 2 | ||
2010 | "I Remember the Future" | I Remember the Future | ||
2010 | "Non-Zero Probabilities" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2010 | "Going Deep" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2010 | "Bridesicle" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2011 | * | "" | Realms of Fantasy | |
2011 | * | "Ponies" | Tor.com | |
2011 | "Arvies" | Lightspeed | ||
2011 | "I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno" | Lightspeed | ||
2011 | "" | Apex Magazine | ||
2011 | "Ghosts of New York" | Dark Faith | ||
2011 | "Conditional Love" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2012 | * | "" | ' | |
2012 | "Her Husband's Hands" | Lightspeed | ||
2012 | "Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son" | Lightspeed | ||
2012 | "Movement" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2012 | "Shipbirth" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2012 | "" | New Haven Review | ||
2012 | "" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2013 | * | "Immersion" | Clarkesworld Magazine | |
2013 | "Robot" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2013 | "Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2013 | "Nanny's Day" | Asimov's Science Fiction | ||
2013 | "Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream" | Lightspeed | ||
2013 | "" | Lightspeed | ||
2013 | "Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain" | Near + Far | ||
2014 | * | "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love" | Apex Magazine | |
2014 | "" | Lightspeed | ||
2014 | "Selkie Stories Are for Losers" | Strange Horizons | ||
2014 | "Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer" | Clockwork Phoenix 4 | ||
2014 | "Alive, Alive Oh" | Lightspeed | ||
2015 | * | "Jackalope Wives" | Apex Magazine | |
2015 | "" | Beneath Ceaseless Skies | ||
2015 | "When It Ends, He Catches Her" | Daily Science Fiction | ||
2015 | "" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2015 | "" | Qualia Nous | ||
2015 | "" | ' | ||
2015 | "" | ' | ||
2016 | * | "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" | Nightmare Magazine | |
2016 | "Cat Pictures Please" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2016 | "Damage" | Tor.com | ||
2016 | "Madeleine" | Lightspeed | ||
2016 | "Today I Am Paul" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2016 | "When Your Child Strays from God" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2017 | * | "Seasons of Glass and Iron" | ||
2017 | "Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2017 | "Sabbath Wine" | Clockwork Phoenix 5 | ||
2017 | "Things With Beards" | Clarkesworld Magazine | ||
2017 | "This Is Not a Wardrobe Door" | Fireside Magazine | ||
2017 | Tor.com | |||
2017 | "Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station / Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0" | Lightspeed | ||
2018 | * | "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" | Apex Magazine | |
2018 | "Fandom for Robots" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2018 | "Utopia, LOL?" | Strange Horizons | ||
2018 | "Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand" | Uncanny Magazine | ||
2018 | Tor.com | |||
2018 | "Carnival Nine" | Beneath Ceaseless Skies | ||
2019 | * | Fireside Magazine | ||
2019 | Uncanny Magazine | |||
2019 | Lightspeed | |||
2019 | "Going Dark" | Backblast Area Clear | ||
2019 | "Interview for the End of the World" | Bridge Across the Stars | ||
2019 | Apex Magazine | |||
2020 | * | "Give the Family My Love" | Clarkesworld Magazine | |
2020 | Uncanny Magazine | |||
2020 | "And Now His Lordship Is Laughing" | Strange Horizons | ||
2020 | "Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island" | Nightmare Magazine | ||
2020 | Uncanny Magazine | |||
2020 | "How the Trick Is Done" | Uncanny Magazine |