Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award celebrates the best science fiction short story published the previous year.
(photo by Mark Zicree)
2022 Winner: Nalo Hopkinson, "Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story”
Nalo Hopkinson was born in Jamaica in 1960. She moved to Canada in 1977. She was the 1997 recipient of the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest for Brown Girl in the Ring. She has published six novels, numerous short stories, and has written comics in DC's "Sandman" universe. She has received the Ontario Arts Council Foundation Award, the John W. Campbell and Locus Awards, the World Fantasy Award, Canada's Aurora Award, the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Award. In 2020, Science Fiction Writers of America made Hopkinson its 37th Damon Knight Memorial "Grand Master," a lifetime achievement award in recognition of her writing, teaching, and mentorship. She currently lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she is a professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
2022 THEODORE STURGEON MEMORIAL AWARD WINNER
LAWRENCE, KS-- The J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF) is pleased to announce this year’s winner of the 2022 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Ceremony for best science fiction short story published in 2021. The winning piece, selected by a jury of prominent science fiction writers and scholars, is Nalo Hopkinson’s “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story.”
Jurors praised the work for its imaginative worldbuilding, subtle allusions to mythology, and the loveable character of Lickchop—the protagonist’s pet pig. One noted, “[It’s] nice to find a climate change story that moves forward towards a future rather than [only] looking back to the past.” Hopkinson’s tale is set in the Caribbean basin, in an era identified as post-Inundation: “Nobody was really sure what Florida town or city they were floating above; catastrophic flooding and the resulting seismic activity had changed shorelines too much” (2).
Nalo Hopkinson was born in Jamaica in 1960. She moved to Canada in 1977, and won the 1997 Warner Aspect First Novel Contest for Brown Girl in the Ring. Since the start of her career, she has published six novels, numerous short stories, and has written comics in DC's "Sandman" universe. She has received the Ontario Arts Council Foundation Award, the John W. Campbell and Locus Awards, the World Fantasy Award, Canada's Aurora Award, the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Award. In 2020, Science Fiction Writers of America made Hopkinson its 37th Damon Knight Memorial "Grand Master," a lifetime achievement award in recognition of her writing, teaching, and mentorship. She currently lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she is a professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
CSSF will present the trophy and monetary prize to Hopkinson at the Sturgeon Award Ceremony on Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hall Center for the Humanities (900 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS). The ceremony will feature a reading by Hopkinson, Q & A session, recognition of special guests, and a presentation by Spencer Libraries Curator Elspeth Healey on the Theodore Sturgeon papers in the KU archives. Those who are interested in attending virtually can register at https://www.crowdcast.io/e/sturgeonaward.
This year’s ceremony is part of the Gunn Center’s first annual Sturgeon Symposium, celebrating an international array of speculative literatures and communities. This event, beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, 9/29, and running all day Friday, 9/30, is free and open to the public. For the full program and registration link, visit https://sfcenter.ku.edu/sturgeon-symposium.
Sturgeon Award
“If the Martians Have Magic“, P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny 9-10/21)
“Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma”, R.S.A Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/21)
"The Album of Dr. Moreau", Daryl Gregory (Tordotcom)
“Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story”, Nalo Hopkinson (F&SF 11-12/21)
“Proof by Induction“, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5-6/21)
“The Metric“, David Moles (Asimov’s 5-6/21)
“Sarcophagus“, Ray Nayler (Clarkesworld 4/21)
“Bots of the Lost Ark“, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld 6/21)
The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
2021
- 1st "An Important Failure" by Rebecca Campbell. Clarkesworld, August 2020.
2020
- 1st "Waterlines" by Suzanne Palmer. Asimov's Science Fiction, July/August 2019.
2019
- 1st "When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis," by Annalee Newitz. Slate, Dec 2018.
- 2nd "On the Day You Spend Forever with Your Dog," by Adam Shannon. Apex, Dec 2018.
- 3rd "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth," Daryl Gregory. Tor.com, Sept 2018.
2018
- 1st "Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue," by Charlie Jane Anders. Boston Review: Global Dystopias, Oct 2017.
- 2nd "And Then There Were (N-One)," by Sarah Pinsker. Uncanny, March 2017.
- 3rd "A Series of Steaks," by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. Clarkesworld, Jan 2017.
2017
- 1st "The Future is Blue," by Catherynne M. Valente. Drowned Worlds, ed. Jonathan Strahan, Solaris Books, 2016.
- 2nd "Touring with the Alien," by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Clarkesworld, April 2016.
- 3rd "Things with Beards," by Sam J. Miller. Clarkesworld, June 2016.
2016
- 1st "The Game of Smash and Recovery," by Kelly Link. Strange Horizons, 17 Oct 2015.
- 2nd "The New Mother," by Eugene Fischer. Asimov's, Apr/May 2015.
- 3rd "Gypsy," by Carter Scholz. Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov/Dec 2015.
2015
- 1st "The Man Who Sold the Moon," by Cory Doctorow. Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future,
- eds. Ed Finn and Kathryn Cramer, Morrow, 2014.
- 2nd "Shatterdown," by Suzanne Palmer. Asimov's Jun 2014.
- 3rd ""We Are the Cloud," by Sam J. Miller. Lightspeed Sep 2014.
2014
- 1st "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind," by Sarah Pinsker. Strange Horizons, July 2013.
- 2nd "Mystic Falls," by Robert Reed. Clarkesworld, Nov 2013.
- 3rd "The Weight of the Sunrise," by Vylar Kaftan. Asimov's, Feb 2013.
2013
- 1st "The Grinnell Method," by Molly Gloss
- 2nd "Nahiku West," by Linda Nagata
- 3rd Eater-of-Bone, by Robert Reed
- A special Sturgeon Award for Distinguished Service was presented to Frederik Pohl this year.
2012
- 1st "The Choice," by Paul McAuley
- 2nd "Six Months Three Days," by Charlie Jane Anders
- 3rd "The Paper Menagerie," by Ken Liu
2011
- 1st "The Sultan of the Clouds," by Geoffrey A. Landis
- 2nd "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon," by Elizabeth Hand
- 3rd "The Things," by Peter Watts
2010
- 1st "Shambling Towards Hiroshima," by James Morrow
- 2nd (tie) "Things Undone," by John Barnes
- 2nd (tie) "This Wind Blowing, and This Tide," by Damien Broderick
- 2nd (tie) "As Women Fight," by Sara Genge
2009
- 1st "The Ray Gun: A Love Story," James Alan Gardner
- 2nd "Memory Dog," Kathleen Ann Goonan
- 3rd "The Tear," Ian McDonald
2008
- 1st (tie) "Tideline," Elizabeth Bear
- 1st (tie) "Finisterra," David R. Moles
- 2nd (tie) "Memorare," Gene Wolfe
- 2nd (tie) "The Master Miller's Tale," Ian R. MacLeod
2007
- 1st "The Cartesian Theater," Robert Charles Wilson
- 2nd "A Billion Eves," Robert Reed
- 3rd "Lord Weary's Empire," Michael Swanwick
2006
- 1st "The Calorie Man," Paolo Bacigalupi
- 2nd "The Little Goddess," Ian MacDonald
- 3rd "Magic for Beginners," Kelly Link
2005
- 1st "Sergeant Chip," Bradley Denton
- 2nd "Voluntary State," Christopher Rowe
- 3rd "Mere," Richard Reed
2004
- 1st "The Empress of Mars," Kage Baker
- 2nd "Bernardos House," James Patrick Kelly
- 3rd "It's All True," John Kessel
2003
"Over Yonder," Lucius Shepard
2002
"The Chief Designer," Andy Duncan
2001
"Tendeleo's Story," Ian McDonald
2000
"The Wedding Album," David Marusek
1999
"Story of Your Life," Ted Chiang
1998
"House of Dreams," Michael Flynn
1997
"The Flowers of Aulit Prison," Nancy Kress
1996
"Jigoku no Mokushiroku," John G. McDaid
1995
"Forgiveness Day," Ursula Le Guin
1994
"Fox Magic," Kij Johnson
1993
"This Year's Class Picture," Dan Simmons
1992
"Buffalo," John Kessel
1991
"Bears Discover Fire," Terry Bisson
1990
"The Edge of the World," Michael Swanwick
1989
"Schrodinger's Kitten," George Alec Effinger
1988
"Rachel in Love," Pat Murphy
1987
"Surviving," Judith Moffett
The award was established by James Gunn and by the children of science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon in 1987.
