Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award celebrates the best science fiction short story published the previous year.
(photo by Mark Zicree)
2026 Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award
We are opening nominations for the 2026 Sturgeon Award.
Eligible Works:
Science fiction short stories originally published in English during 2025, in a magazine, anthology, website, or other format. (Must be longer than flash-length, 10,000 words upper limit.) The qualification of science fantasy stories will be determined by the jury on a case-by-case basis. Horror set in science fictional settings is fine, so long as the SF elements are essential to the story. If you have any eligibility questions, let me know and I'll look into it. To keep things fair, please do not nominate something written by you or someone close to you.
If you are a reader/reviewer/critic:
If you are interested in participating, please submit via email (sfcenter@ku.edu) your list of up to ten (10) nominations for what you consider to be the top science-fiction short works of the year, ranked from 1 to 10, with 1 being your top pick. If possible, please include publication information and date of publication. If published online, please include a link. Include in the header: 2026 STURGEON NOMINATIONS LIST.
If you are an editor:
Please submit via email (sfcenter@ku.edu) a list of the three (3) best science fiction stories from your year's editorial work. You do not need to rank these. Please include publication information and date of publication. If published online, please include a link. Include in the header: 2026 STURGEON EDITORIAL NOMINATIONS.
If you are both:
Please feel free to nominate from both positions.
If you read widely outside your own magazine and wish to nominate other works, you can do so separately from this list: up to ten stories, as with readers and reviewers.
Deadline
We will accept nominations through March 25, 2026.
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.
