Awards & Funding

The Center currently oversees the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award offered annually for the best published science fiction short story of the previous year. We are also in the process of developing student award opportunities.

Thanks to the generosity of the Gunn family, the Center is also occasionally able to offer the Christopher Gunn Graduate Assistantship in Science Fiction, named in memory of James Gunn's eldest son.

Each spring, as a part of the English Department's Awards competitions, CSSF sponsors The Gunn Center Award for Speculative Fiction. In honor of Professor Gunn’s legacy and ideals, this competition is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, honoring the best science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction story written in a KU English class.

We look forward to announcing archival research opportunity awards as well--stay tuned for details!