Dwarf Stars Award
The Dwarf Stars Award is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction Poetry Association to the author of the best horror, fantasy, or science fiction poem of ten lines or fewer published in the previous year. The award was established in 2006 as a counterpoint to the Rhysling Award, which is given by the same organization to horror, fantasy, or science fiction poems of any length. Poems are submitted to the association by the poets, from which approximately 30 are chosen by an editor to be published in an anthology each fall. Members of the association then vote on the published poems, and first through third-place winners are announced. The 2006 anthology was edited by Deborah P. Kolodji, and subsequent anthologies have been edited by an array of editors, including Kolodji, Stephen M. Wilson, Joshua Gage, Geoffrey A. Landis, Linda D. Addison, Sandra J. Lindow, John Amen, Jeannine Hall Gailey, and Lesley Wheeler.[1][2][3]
Dwarf Stars Award | |
---|---|
Awarded for | The best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of ten lines or fewer published in English in the prior calendar year |
Presented by | Science Fiction Poetry Association |
First awarded | 2006 |
Currently held by | Sofía Rhei ("embalmed") |
Website | www |
During the 14 nomination years, 45 poems by 32 poets have been selected as third place or better, including one three-way tie for second place in 2016 and one two-way tie for third place in 2018, of which 14 poets have won outright. Jane Yolen has been noted four times, a first and a third place and two second-place results; Deborah P. Kolodji, Julie Bloss Kelsey and LeRoy Gorman have each received a first and a second place; Greg Beatty a first and a third place; Sonya Taaffe has received two second-place results; Sandi Leibowitz has received a second and a third-place result; and Ann K. Schwader and Sandra J. Lindow have each received two third-place results.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the date in which the award was given, rather than when the poem was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in poetry". Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award, while those with a gray background and a plus sign (+) took second place, and those with a white background took third.
Year | Author | Poem | Publication | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Ruth Berman* | "Knowledge Of" | Kerem | [4] |
Peg Duthie+ | "The Stepsister" | The Magazine of Speculative Poetry | [4] | |
Greg Beatty | "Prayer Causes Stars" | Abyss & Apex | [4] | |
2007 | Jane Yolen* | "Last Unicorn" | Asimov's Science Fiction | [5] |
Jane Yolen+ | "Troll Under Bridge" | Asimov's Science Fiction | [5] | |
Sandra J. Lindow | "Dwarves" | The Magazine of Speculative Poetry | [5] | |
2008 | Greg Beatty* | "Place Mat by Moebius" | Asimov's Science Fiction | [6] |
Sonya Taaffe+ | "Muse" | Strange Horizons | [6] | |
Ann K. Schwader | "Dancing to Van Gogh" | Mythic Delirium | [6] | |
2009 | Geoffrey A. Landis* | "Fireflies" | Asimov's Science Fiction | [7] |
Elizabeth Barrette+ | "the leaf whisperer" | Doorways Magazine | [7] | |
Jane Yolen | "Goodbye Billy Goat Gruff" | Asimov's Science Fiction | [7] | |
2010 | Howard V. Hendrix* | "Bumbershoot" | Abyss & Apex | [8] |
Deborah P. Kolodji+ | "The Selkie's Children" | Goblin Fruit | [8] | |
Stephen Wilson | "The Men All Pause" | Poet's Espresso | [8] | |
2011 | Julie Bloss Kelsey* | "Comet" | microcosms | [9] |
Sonya Taaffe+ | "Tapping the Vine" | Goblin Fruit | [9] | |
Ann K. Schwader | "Returning" | Star*Line | [9] | |
2012 | Marge Simon* | "Blue Rose Buddha" | The Mad Hattery | [10] |
Greer Woodward+ | "Closure" | Illumen | [10] | |
G. O. Clark | "Snowflake galaxies" | microcosms | [10] | |
2013 | Deborah P. Kolodji* | "Basho After Cinderella (iii)" | Rattle | [11] |
Mary Turzillo+ | "The Hidden" | Lovers & Killers | [11] | |
N. E. Taylor | "Sarcophagus" | inkscrawl | [11] | |
2014 | Mat Joiner* | "And Deeper than Did Ever Plummet Sound" | Strange Horizons | [12] |
Mari Ness+ | "The Loss" | Strange Horizons | [12] | |
David Livingstone Clink | "Hourglass" | Prism International | [12] | |
2015 | Greg Schwartz* | "abandoned nursing home" | Tales of the Talisman | [2] |
Jane Yolen+ | "Princess: A Life" | Mythic Delirium | [2] | |
Robert Borski | "The Square Root of Doppelgängers" | Star*Line | [2] | |
2016 | Stacy Balkun* | "We Begin This Way" | Gingerbread House | [3] |
Julie Bloss Kelsey+ | "at the barre" | Rattle | [3] | |
F. J. Bergmann+ | "The Doorman" | Grievous Angel | [3] | |
Sandi Leibowitz+ | "Weathering" | Silver Blade | [3] | |
John C. Mannone | "Alice was chasing white rabbits out of a black hole" | Abbreviate Journal | [3] | |
2017 | LeRoy Gorman* | "aster than the speed of lightf" | Scifaikuest | [13] |
Holly Day+ | "Lover" | Homestead Review | [13] | |
Sandi Leibowitz | "Loss" | Through the Gate | [13] | |
2018 | Kath Abela Wilson* | "The Green" | Carrying the Branch: Poets in Search of Peace | [14] |
David C. Kopaska-Merkel+ | "If She Knew She Was a Ghost" | Polu Texni | [14] | |
Deborah L. Davitt | "Lo Shu’s Magic Square" | Snakeskin | [14] | |
Holly Lyn Walrath | "Lace at the Throat" | 2017 SFPA poetry contest | [14] | |
2019 | Sofía Rhei* | "embalmed" | Multiverse: An International Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry | [15] |
LeRoy Gorman+ | "where to hide an alien in plain sight" | Scryptic | [15] | |
Sandra J. Lindow | "Negative Space" | Sky Island Journal | [15] |
References
- "The Dwarf Stars Awards". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The 2015 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2015-09-26.
- "The 2016 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 2006 Dwarf Stars Awards". Locus. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 2007 Dwarf Stars Awards". Locus. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 2008 Dwarf Stars Awards". Locus. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 2009 Dwarf Stars Awards". Locus. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 2010 Dwarf Stars Awards". Locus. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The 2011 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
- "The 2012 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Archived from the original on 2013-01-30. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
- "The 2013 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
- "The 2014 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
- "The 2017 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
- "The 2018 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
- "The 2019 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award". Science Fiction Poetry Association. Retrieved 2019-10-19.