Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award celebrates the best science fiction short story published the previous year.
(photo by Mark Zicree)
2025 Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award Winner
LAWRENCE, KS – 1 October 2025
for immediate release
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 2025 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best science fiction short story published in 2024. The winning piece, selected by a jury of prominent science fiction writers and scholars, is Conrad Loyer’s “The Carcosa Pattern,” published by FiyahMagazine. This year’s second-place runner up for the award was F.E. Choe’s “Swarm X1048 - Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, '6',” and the third-place runner up was TJ Klune’s “Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!.”
Jurors (Elizabeth Bear, Kelly Link, Sarah Pinsker, Noël Sturgeon, Taryne Taylor) praised the story’s worldbuilding and creepy, satisfying flow. They were impressed the by the deftly handled narrative shifts, and, in particular, Loyer’s use of dreams and psychology to blend genres.
Conrad Loyer is a writer from Los Angeles, currently pursuing his MFA from the University of Alabama. He’s been previously published in Westwind and Berkeley Fiction Review, and is a recipient of the Yoshiko Uchida Prose Prize (2021). He lives with two humans, one cat, and probably some assorted bugs who haven’t introduced themselves.
CSSF will present the trophy and monetary prize to Loyer at the Sturgeon Award Ceremony on Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 4:30 pm in the Hall Center for the Humanities (900 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS). The ceremony will feature a reception, opening remarks, presentation of the Award, a reading by Loyer, and a Q & A session.
This year’s ceremony is part of the Gunn Center’s fourth annual Sturgeon Symposium, celebrating an international array of speculative literatures and communities. This year’s theme is "Expanding Speculative Horizons," and will feature Guest of Honor Darcie Little Badger. The Symposium begins virtually on Thursday, October 9 at 9:00 am and runs through Friday, October 10, with virtual and in-person sessions. For the full program and registration link, visit https://sfcenter.ku.edu/2025-sturgeon-symposium
Sturgeon Award
2025
1st "The Carcosa Pattern" by Conrad Loyer, Fiyah, October 2024.
2nd “Swarm X1048 - Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, '6'” by F.E. Choe, Clarkesworld, March 2024
3rd “Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!” by TJ Klune, Reactor, June 2014
2024
1st “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R.S.A. Garcia. Uncanny Magazine, July 2023.
2nd "Patsy Cline Sings Sweet Dreams to the Universe" by Beston Barnett. Strange Horizons, November 2023.
3rd “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Krizer. Uncanny Magazine, November 2023.
2023
1st “Rabbit Test” by Samantha Mills. Uncanny Magazine, November 2022.
2nd "Banbang Luksa" by Nicasio Andres Reed. Reckoning Press.
3rd "Slow Communication" by Dominique Dickey. Fantasy Magazine, February 2022.
2022
1st “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story” by Nalo Hopkinson. F&SF, November 2021.
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
“Rachel Is At a Protest,” Esther Alter, Deadlands, July 2024
“To Eat Your Own Head,” Nkone Chaka, Asimov's Jan/Feb 2024
“Swarm X1048 - Ethological Field Report: Canis Lupus Familiaris, '6',” F.E. Choe,
Clarkesworld, March 2024
“Judas Iscariot Didn't Kill Himself: A Story in Fragments,” James S.A. Corey, The Last
Dangerous Visions, Oct 2024
“Hello! Hello! Hello!,” Fiona Jones, Clarkesworld, March 2024
“Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole,” Isabel J. Kim, Clarkesworld, Feb 2024
“Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!,” TJ Klune, Reactor, June 2014
“Evan: A Remainder,” Jordan Kurella, Reactor, Jan 2024
“The Carcosa Pattern,” Conrad Loyer, Fiyah, Oct 2024
“We Will Teach You How to Read,” Caroline M. Yoachim, Lightspeed, May 2024
"The Year Without Sunshine," Naomi Kritzer, Uncanny Magazine, Nov 2023
“The Rainbow Ghosts” Violet Allen, Luminescent Machinations: Queer Tales of Monumental Invention, Nov 2023
“Patsy Cline Sings Sweet Dreams to the Universe,” Beston Barnett, Strange Horizons, Nov 2023
“An Infestation of Blue,” Wendy N. Wagner, Analog, Nov 2023
“Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200,” RSA Garcia, Uncanny Magazine, July 2023
“The Unpastured Sea,” Gregory Feely, Asimov’s, Sept 2023
“The State Street Robot Factory,” Claire Humphrey, Apex Magazine, March 2023
“Notes From a Pyre,” Amal Singh, The Deadlands, March 2023
“What It Means to Be a Car,” James Patrick Kelly, Reactor (formerly TOR.com), July 2023
- "Rabbit Test" by Samantha Mills in Uncanny Magazine, Nov. 2022
- "In the Beginning of Me, I Was a Bird" by Maria Dong in Lightspeed Magazine, Jan. 2022
- "Slow Communication" by Dominique Dickey in Fantasy Magazine, Feb. 2022
- "If We Make It Through This Alive" by A.T. Greenblatt in Slate/ Future Tense Fiction, Jan 2022
- "Babang Luksa" by Nicasio Andres Reed in Reckoning Press, Feb. 2022.
- "Ten Steps for Effective Mold Removal" by Derrick Boden in Apex Magazine, Sept. 2022
- "The City and the Thing Beneath It" by Innocent Chizaram Ilo in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan/Feb. 2022
- "A Hole in the Light" by Annalee Newitz in Sunday Morning Transport, Oct. 2022
- "Toronto Isn't Real and Other Metropolitan Anomalies” by A.D. Sui in Augur Magazine, Dec. 2022
- "Bonsai Starships" by Yoon Ha Lee in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Feb. 2022
“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)
The award was established by James Gunn and by the children of science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon in 1987.
Since 2022, the Sturgeon Award has been officially awarded at the annual Sturgeon Symposium. More info here.
