Ignyte Awards


The Ignyte Awards are an annual literary award for the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror works and achievements of the previous year. Established in 2020 by writers L. D. Lewis and Suzan Palumbo as an off-shoot of FIYAH Literary Magazine, the awards aim to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the speculative fiction genre, and are presented in 15 categories spanning fiction, non-fiction and community service. Trophies are awarded to winners at FIYAHCON, an annual speculative fiction convention focused on black, indigenous and people-of-color perspectives in the genre.
The Ignyte Awards are part-juried and part-public vote: finalists are selected by the convention committee, and winners are then determined in an online ballot.
In 2025, the Ignyte Awards were themselves awarded a Special Locus Award, the citation being for "Celebrating Excellence in Genre".

Categories

CategoryDescription
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Novel – AdultAwarded for works over 40,000 words for an adult audience, written by up to 2 authors
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Novel – Young AdultAwarded for works over 40,000 words for a young adult audience, written by up to 2 authors
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Middle GradeAwarded for longform works for the middle grade market
Ignyte Award for Outstanding NovellaAwarded for works between 17,500 - 39,999 words
Ignyte Award for Outstanding NoveletteAwarded for works between 7,500 - 17.499 words
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Short StoryAwarded for works between 2,000 - 7,499 words
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Speculative PoetryAwarded for single poems which are speculative in genre
Ignyte Award – Critics AwardAwarded for critical analysis of speculative fiction works, at either a professional or fan level
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Fiction PodcastAwarded for podcasts which produce, host, or perform original fiction as at least 75% of their annual output
Ignyte Award for Outstanding ArtistRecognizes a single artist for their professional output. An artist's entire portfolio may be considered, but must have at least 1 commissioned piece in the nominated year
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Comics TeamAwarded to teams, including writers, artists, and letters, which work to produce an eligible comic volume
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Anthology/Collected WorksAwarded for either an anthology or a collection
Ignyte Award for Outstanding Creative NonfictionAwarded for essays or nonfiction academic works related to the field of speculative fiction
Ember AwardRecognizes individuals for their extended bodies of work which have not historically been recognized by awards entities
Ignyte Award — Community AwardAwarded to an individual, team, or organization whose focus has aided in diversifying and making healthier the field of speculative fiction by emphasizing inclusion.