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British Fantasy Award Shortlists

The votes are in, the jurors have been empanelled, and we are delighted to announce the shortlists for this year’s British Fantasy Awards! Many congratulations to all!

The Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel

Jurors: Elias Eells, Elloise Hopkins, S.D. Howarth, Nadya Mercik, Roseanna Pendlebury

  • The Bone Orchard – Sara A. Mueller (Tor)
  • Cast Long Shadows – Cat Hellisen (Luna Press Publishing)
  • Glitterati – Oliver K. Langmead (Titan)
  • The Oleander Sword – Tasha Suri (Orbit)
  • Path of War – David Green (Eerie River Publishing)
  • The Spear Cuts Through Water – Simon Jimenez (Del Rey)

The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel

Jurors: Ben Appleby-Dean, Theresa Derwin, Rhian Drinkwater, Rebecca Gault, Sasha Sienna

  • Full Immersion – Gemma Amor (Angry Robot)
  • The Hollows – Daniel Church (Angry Robot)
  • Just Like Home – Sarah Gailey (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • Miracle Growth – Tim Mendees (Eerie River Publishing)
  • Sundial – Catriona Ward (Viper)

Best Novella

Jurors: Rick Danforth, Elizabeth Elliot, Jessica Hyslop, E. Saxey, Miranda Seitz-McLeese

  • And Then I Woke Up – Malcolm Devlin (Tordotcom)
  • The Entropy of Loss – Stewart Hotston (NewCon Press)
  • Interference – Terry Grimwood (Elsewhen Press)
  • Ogres – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Solaris)
  • Pomegranates – Priya Sharma (PS Publishing)
  • The Queen of the High Fields – Rhiannon A. Grist (Luna Press Publishing)

Best Short Fiction

Jurors: Laura Bennett, Andrew Freudenberg, Jessica Levai, Peter McLean

  • The Call of El Tunche – Shona Kinsella (in Weird Horror Anthology, Flame Tree Press)
  • A Moment of Zugzwang – Neil Williamson (in ParSec #4)
  • Morta – James Bennett (in The Book of Queer Saints, Medusa Publishing Haus)
  • The Tails That Make You – Eliza Chan (in Fantasy Magazine #82)

Best Collection

Jurors: Brian Kinsella, Ann Landmann, Chris McNallen-Jones, India Nye, Derek Schofield

  • Behind a Broken Smile – Penny Jones (Black Shuck Books)
  • Breakable Things – Cassandra Khaw (Undertow Publications)
  • Candescent Blooms – Andrew Hook (Salt Publishing)
  • Under the Moon – E.M. Faulds (Ghost Moth Press)

Best Magazine/Periodical

Jurors: Jonathan Laidlow, Hesper Leveret, Lauren McMenemy, Eleanor Pender, Nathaniel Spain

  • Ginger Nuts of Horror
  • Interzone
  • Shoreline of Infinity
  • Strange Horizons

Best Audio Work

Jurors: Rosemarie Cawkwell, Arden Fitzroy, Morgan Greensmith, Amy Portsmouth

  • Breaking the Glass Slipper
  • The Painkiller Podcast (Bitter Pill Theatre)
  • Podcastle (Escape Artists)
  • Pseudopod (Escape Artists)
  • The Secret of St. Kilda (Michael Ireland & Naomi Clarke)
  • The Stranger Times (C.K. McDonnell)

Best Independent Press

Jurors: Rowena Andrews, Andy Angel, Robin CM Duncan, Alex Norriss, Sara Omer

  • Black Shuck Books
  • Flame Tree Press
  • Luna Press Publishing
  • NewCon Press

Best Artist

Jurors: Cat Anderson, Mehzeb Chowdhury, David Green, Adam McDowall, Paul Yates

  • Chris Baker (Fangorn)
  • Ben Baldwin
  • Jenni Coutts
  • Vince Haig
  • Dan Hillier

Best Anthology

Jurors: Chris Butler, Robin CM Duncan, Ian Hunter, Mira Manga, Abbi Shaw

  • Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, ed. Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Zelda Knight (Tordotcom) with stories by Dilman Dila, WC Dunlap, Steven Barnes, Joshua Omenga, Russell Nichols, Nuzo Onoh, Franka Zeph, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Wole Talabi, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Alex Jennings, Mirette Bahgat, Timi Odueso, Maurice Broaddus, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Tobias S. Buckell, Somto Ihezue Onyedikachi,  Tananarive Due, Ytasha L. Womack, Oyedotun Damilola, Alexis Brooks de Vita, Tobi Ogundiran, Moustapha Mbacké Diop, Akua Lezli Hope, Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Ada Nnadi, Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, Chinelo Onwualu, Danian Darrell Jerry, and Dare Segun Falowo
  • The Book of Queer Saints, ed. Mae Murray (Medusa Publishing Haus) with stories by Eric LaRocca, Hailey Piper, Joe Koch, Briar Ripley Page, Nikki R. Leigh, Joshua R. Pangborn, Eric Raglin, Belle Tolls, Perry Ruhland, James Bennett, LC von Hessen, K.S. Walker, and George Daniel Lea.
  • Great British Horror 7: Major Arcana, ed. Steve J. Shaw (Black Shuck Books), with stories by Ida Keogh, Anna Taborska, Dan Coxon, Jonathon Sims, Lynda E Rucker, Gary Budden, Carly Holmes, Malcolm Devlin, Alison Moore, Steven J Dines, and Conrad Williams
  • Isolation: The Horror Anthology, ed. Dan Coxon (Titan) with stories by Paul Tremblay, Joe R. Lansdale, Ken Liu, M.R. Carey, Jonathan Maberry, Tim Lebbon, Lisa Tuttle, Michael Marshall Smith, Ramsey Campbell, Nina Allan, Laird Barron, Angela Slatter, Mark Morris, Alison Littlewood, Brian Evenson, Lynda Rucker, Owl Goingback, Gwendolyn Kiste, Marian Womack and Chikodili Emelumadu.
  • Sky Breaker: Tales of the Wanderer – Lee C. Conley, H.L. Tinsley, J.E. Hannaford, David Green, Derek Power, C. Marry Hultman, Damien Larkin and C.F. Welburn (Nordic Press)
  • Someone in Time, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris) with stories by Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Jeffrey Ford, Nina Allan, Elizabeth Hand, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Rowan Coleman, Margo Lanagan, Sameem Siddiqui, Theodora Goss, Carrie Vaughn, and Ellen Klages.

Best Non-fiction

Jurors: Cerys Gardner, Susan Maxwell, Kevin McVeigh, TJ Moules, Aparna Sivasankar

  • An Earnest Blackness – Eugen Bacon (Anti-Oedipus Press)
  • Fantasy: How it Works – Brian Attebery (OUP)
  • The Full Lid – Alasdair Stuart, ed. Marguerite Kenner
  • My Life in Horror, Vol. 2 – Kit Power
  • Outlander and the Real Jacobites – Shona Kinsella (Pen & Sword History)
  • Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes – Rob Wilkins (Doubleday)

The Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer

Jurors: Liz Delton, Michael Dodd, Fabienne Schwizer, Arturo Serrano, Stephen Theaker

  • Sunyi Dean, for The Book Eaters (Tor)
  • Hiron Ennes, for Leech (Tor)
  • Somto Ihezue, for a collection of short stories: Whole; Like Stars Daring to Shine; A Girl is Blood, Spirit and Fire; The Carving of War
  • Shauna Lawless, for The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (Head of Zeus)
  • Elijah Kinch Spector, for Kalyna the Soothsayer (Erewhon Books)
  • Susan York, for Starless and Bible Black (Midnight Street Press)

3 responses to “British Fantasy Award Shortlists”

  1. Lisa Behan avatar
    Lisa Behan

    Well done to all shortlisted especially Sky Breaker: Tales of the Wanderer – Lee C. Conley, H.L. Tinsley, J.E. Hannaford, David Green, Derek Power, C. Marry Hultman, Damien Larkin and C.F. Welburn (Nordic Press) 🥳

  2. Nick Eden avatar
    Nick Eden

    Have Graphic Novel and Film/TV been dropped? Can’t see them here, but can’t see anything explicitly stating that on the site.

    Also, the bfsawards@britishfantasysociety.org email address given on the nominations page (where I asked first) is bouncing.

    1. ShonaK avatar
      ShonaK

      Yes, both of those categories were removed at last year’s AGM. Thank you for letting us know about the email address, we’ll look into that.