Nebula Award for Best Short Story


The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short story if it is less than 7,500 words; awards are also given out for longer works in the categories of novel, novella, and novelette. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a short story must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. The Nebula Award for Best Short Story has been awarded annually since 1966. The award has been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards.
Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be a member. Works are nominated each year by members in a period around December 15 through January 31, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Soon after, members are given a month to vote on the ballot, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. Beginning with the 2009 awards, the rules were changed to the current format. Prior to then, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then reach the final ballot in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary ballot for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create a final ballot, to which the SFWA organizing panel was also allowed to add an additional work.
During the 60 nomination years, 243 authors have had works nominated; 47 of these have won, including co-authors. One of these authors, Lisa Tuttle, refused her award, and in 1971 no winner was chosen as "no award" received the highest number of votes. Harlan Ellison won three times out of eight nominations, both the highest number of wins and the highest number of nominations of any author. Ten authors have won twice, with Karen Joy Fowler at seven and Gardner Dozois at six having the next highest nomination count after Ellison. Michael Swanwick has the most nominations for short story without winning at six, and Howard Waldrop and Gene Wolfe are next with five each. No other author has been nominated more than four times.

Winners and nominees

SFWA currently identifies the awards by the year of publication, that is, the year prior to the year in which the award is given. Entries with a yellow background and an asterisk next to the writer's name have won the award; the other entries are the other nominees on the shortlist. Entries with a gray background and a plus sign mark a year when "no award" was selected as the winner.
* Winners and joint winners
+ No winner selected
YearAuthorShort storyPublisher or publicationRef.
1965*""Galaxy Science Fiction
1965"Eyes Do More Than See"'
1965"Founding Father"Galaxy Science Fiction
1965"Souvenir"Playboy
1965"Game"'
1965"Lord Moon"'
1965"Uncollected Works"'
1965""'
1965""'
1965"Computers Don't Argue"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1965"Come to Venus Melancholy"'
1965"Of One Mind"If
1965"Inside Man"Galaxy Science Fiction
1965"Calling Dr. Clockwork"Amazing Stories
1965"Better Than Ever"'
1965"In Our Block"If
1965"Slow Tuesday Night"Galaxy Science Fiction
1965"Cyclops"Worlds of Tomorrow
1965""Galaxy Science Fiction
1965""'
1965""'
1965"Though a Sparrow Fall"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1965"Becalmed in Hell"'
1965"Wrong-Way Street"Galaxy Science Fiction
1965""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1965""Galaxy Science Fiction
1965""If
1965"Keep Them Happy"'
1965"Balanced Ecology"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1965"Over the River and Through the Woods"Amazing Stories
1965""'
1965"Devil Car"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966*""'
1966"Man In His Time"Who Can Replace a Man?
1966"Light of Other Days"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1967*""Dangerous Visions
1967"Earthwoman"'
1967"Driftglass"If
1967"Answering Service"If
1967""'
1967"Baby, You Were Great"'
1968*""'
1968"Kyrie"'
1968""'
1968"Sword Game"Galaxy Science Fiction
1968"Masks"Playboy
1968"Idiot's Mate"Amazing Stories
1969*"Passengers"'
1969"Shattered Like a Glass Goblin"'
1969"Not Long Before the End"'
1969""'
1969""Galaxy Science Fiction
1970+
1970""'
1970"By the Falls"If
1970"Entire and Perfect Chrysolite"'
1970"In the Queue"'
1970""'
1970""'
1970""'
1971*"Good News from the Vatican"'
1971"Horse of Air"'
1971""Protostars
1971"Heathen God"'
1972*"When It Changed"Again, Dangerous Visions
1972"On the Downhill Side"'
1972"Shaffery Among the Immortals"'
1972"When We Went to See the End of the World"'
1972"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side"'
1972"Against the Lafayette Escadrille"Again, Dangerous Visions
1973*"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death"'
1973"Shark"'
1973"With Morning Comes Mistfall"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1973"Wings"'
1973""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1973"How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1974*""Galaxy Science Fiction
1974"After King Kong Fell"Omega
1974""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1975*"Catch That Zeppelin!"'
1975"Doing Lennon"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1975"White Creatures"'
1975"Utopia of a Tired Man"'
1975""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1975"Attachment"Amazing Stories
1975"Shatterday"Gallery
1975"Find the Lady"'
1975"White Wolf Calling"'
1975"Sail the Tide of Mourning"'
1975"Child of All Ages"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1975"Growing Up in Edge City"Epoch
1975"Time Deer"If
1976*""'
1976"Tricentennial"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1976"Breath's a Ware That Will Not Keep"Dystopian Visions
1976"Back to the Stone Age"Lone Star Universe
1976"Stone Circle"Amazing Stories
1976"Mary Margaret Road-Grader"'
1977*"Jeffty Is Five"'
1977"Tin Woodman"Amazing Stories
1977"Tin Woodman"Amazing Stories
1977""Penthouse
1977"Camera Obscura"Cosmos
1977"Air Raid"Asimov's Science Fiction
1978*"Stone"'
1978"Cassandra"'
1978""'
1979*"giANTS"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1979"Vernalfest Morning"Chrysalis 3
1979"Unaccompanied Sonata"Omni
1979"Red as Blood"'
1979""Omni
1979""'
1980*"Grotto of the Dancing Deer"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1980"Secrets of the Heart"'
1980"Window"'
1980"War Beneath the Tree"Omni
1980 ""'
1981* ""'
1981"Going Under"Omni
1981"Disciples"Penthouse
1981"Johnny Mnemonic"Omni
1981""'
1981"Venice Drowned"'
1981"Zeke"Twilight Zone
1981""'
1982*""Asimov's Science Fiction
1982"Petra"Omni
1982"High Steel"'
1982"High Steel"'
1982"Corridors"'
1982""Perpetual Light
1982"God's Hooks!"'
1983*""Asimov's Science Fiction
1983"Her Furry Face"Asimov's Science Fiction
1983"Cryptic"Asimov's Science Fiction
1983"Ghost Town"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1983""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1983"Wong's Lost and Found Emporium"Amazing Stories
1984*"Morning Child"Omni
1984""'
1984"Salvador"'
1984"Sunken Gardens"Omni
1984""'
1984""Light Years and Dark
1985*"Out of All Them Bright Stars"'
1985"Paper Dragons"Imaginary Lands
1985"Snow"Omni
1985""Omni
1985""Omni
1985""Omni
1985"More Than the Sum of His Parts"Playboy
1985"Flying Saucer Rock & Roll"Omni
1985"Heirs of the Perisphere"Playboy
1985"Hong's Bluff"Omni
1986*"Tangents"Omni
1986"Robot Dreams"Asimov's Science Fiction
1986"Pretty Boy Crossover"Asimov's Science Fiction
1986"Rat"'
1986""'
1986""Omni
1987*"Forever Yours, Anna"Omni
1987"Angel"Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Kid Charlemagne"Amazing Stories
1987""Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Cassandra's Photographs"Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Temple to a Minor Goddess"Amazing Stories
1987"Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988*""Full Spectrum
1988"Voices of the Kill"Full Spectrum
1988"Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988""Full Spectrum
1988"Dead Men on TV"Full Spectrum
1988""Asimov's Science Fiction
1989*"Ripples in the Dirac Sea"Asimov's Science Fiction
1989""Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine
1989""'
1989"Lost Boys"'
1989"Boobs"Asimov's Science Fiction
1989"Dori Bangs"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990*"Bears Discover Fire"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990""Omni
1990"Lieserl"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990"Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates"Alien Sex
1990"Before I Wake"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990"Story Child"Aboriginal SF
1991*"Ma Qui"'
1991"They're Made Out of Meat"Omni
1991""'
1991"Buffalo"'
1991"Dog's Life"Amazing Stories
1991"The Button, and What You Know"Amazing Stories
1992*"Even the Queen"Asimov's Science Fiction
1992"Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats"Omni
1992"Lennon Spex"Amazing Stories
1992""Asimov's Science Fiction
1992"Vinland the Dream"Asimov's Science Fiction
1992""Asimov's Science Fiction
1993*"Graves"'
1993""Omni
1993"All Vows"Asimov's Science Fiction
1993"Alfred"Asimov's Science Fiction
1993""'
1993""Asimov's Science Fiction
1994*""Science Fiction Age
1994"Inspiration"'
1994"None So Blind"Asimov's Science Fiction
1994"Understanding Entropy"Science Fiction Age
1994"Virtual Love"'
1994"I Know What You're Thinking"Asimov's Science Fiction
1995*"Death and the Librarian"Asimov's Science Fiction
1995"Alien Jane"Century
1995"Grass Dancer"Excalibur
1995""Asimov's Science Fiction
1995""Science Fiction Age
1995""'
1995"Short Timer"'
1996*""'
1996"In the Pound, Near Breaktime"Tomorrow Speculative Fiction
1996""'
1996"Five Fucks"'
1996"These Shoes Strangers Have Died Of"Enchanted Forests
1996"In the Shade of the Slowboat Man"'
1997*"Sister Emily's Lightship"Starlight 1
1997""Alternate Tyrants
1997""Crank!
1997"Itsy Bitsy Spider"Asimov's Science Fiction
1997""Starlight 1
1997"Burning Bright"Aboriginal SF
1998*"Thirteen Ways to Water"Black Cats and Broken Mirrors
1998"When the Bow Breaks"'
1998"Standing Room Only"Asimov's Science Fiction
1998"Fortune and Misfortune"Asimov's Science Fiction
1998"Winter Fire"Asimov's Science Fiction
1998"Tall One"'
1999*""Amazing Stories
1999"Flower Kiss"Realms of Fantasy
1999""North American Review
1999"Basil the Dog"'
1999"Radiant Doors"Asimov's Science Fiction
1999"Ancient Engines"Asimov's Science Fiction
2000*"Macs"'
2000""'
2000"Flying Over Water"Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
2000""Black Heart, Ivory Bones
2000"Scherzo with Tyrannosaur"Asimov's Science Fiction
2000"You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child To Break Your Heart and Mine"Silver Birch, Blood Moon
2001*""Sci Fiction
2001"Kaddish for the Last Survivor"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2001""Asimov's Science Fiction
2001"Mom and Dad at the Home Front"Realms of Fantasy
2001"Wound the Wind"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2002*"Creature"'
2002"Creation"'
2002"Cut"Asimov's Science Fiction
2002"Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City"Artemis
2002"Little Gods"Strange Horizons
2002""Asimov's Science Fiction
2003*"What I Didn't See"Sci Fiction
2003"Knapsack Poems"Asimov's Science Fiction
2003""Asimov's Science Fiction
2003"Good-Bye to All That"McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
2003"Grandma"'
2003"Lambing Season"Asimov's Science Fiction
2003""Asimov's Science Fiction
2004*"Coming to Terms"Stable Strategies and Others
2004""Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2004"Travels with My Cats"Asimov's Science Fiction
2004"Embracing-The-New"Asimov's Science Fiction
2004"In the Late December"Strange Horizons
2004"Aloha"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2005*"I Live With You"'
2005"Born Again"'
2005""'
2005"My Mother, Dancing"Asimov's Science Fiction
2005"Singing My Sister Down"Black Juice
2005"Still Life with Boobs"Talebones
2005"There's a Hole in the City"Sci Fiction
2006*"Echo"'
2006"Helen Remembers the Stork Club"'
2006""'
2006"Henry James, This One's for You"Subterranean Magazine
2006""Children of Magic
2006"Pip and the Fairies"Strange Horizons
2007*"Always"Asimov's Science Fiction
2007"Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse"Eclipse 1
2007"Titanium Mike Saves the Day"'
2007""Salt of the Air
2007"Captive Girl"Helix SF
2007"Pride"Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge
2008*"Trophy Wives"Fellowship Fantastic
2008""Helix SF
2008""'
2008"26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss"Asimov's Science Fiction
2008""'
2008"Don't Stop"Asimov's Science Fiction
2008"Mars: A Traveler's Guide"'
2009*"Spar"Clarkesworld Magazine
2009"Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela"Clockwork Phoenix 2
2009"I Remember the Future"I Remember the Future
2009"Non-Zero Probabilities"Clarkesworld Magazine
2009"Going Deep"Asimov's Science Fiction
2009"Bridesicle"Asimov's Science Fiction
2010*"How Interesting: A Tiny Man"Realms of Fantasy
2010*"Ponies"Tor.com
2010"Arvies"Lightspeed
2010"I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno"Lightspeed
2010""Apex Magazine
2010"Ghosts of New York"Dark Faith
2010"Conditional Love"Asimov's Science Fiction
2011*""'
2011"Her Husband's Hands"Lightspeed
2011"Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son"Lightspeed
2011"Movement"Asimov's Science Fiction
2011"Shipbirth"Asimov's Science Fiction
2011""New Haven Review
2011""Clarkesworld Magazine
2012*"Immersion"Clarkesworld Magazine
2012"Robot"Clarkesworld Magazine
2012"Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes"Clarkesworld Magazine
2012"Nanny's Day"Asimov's Science Fiction
2012"Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream"Lightspeed
2012""Lightspeed
2012"Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain"Near + Far
2013*"If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love"Apex Magazine
2013""Lightspeed
2013"Selkie Stories Are for Losers"Strange Horizons
2013"Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer"Clockwork Phoenix 4
2013"Alive, Alive Oh"Lightspeed
2014*"Jackalope Wives"Apex Magazine
2014""Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2014"When It Ends, He Catches Her"Daily Science Fiction
2014""Clarkesworld Magazine
2014""Qualia Nous
2014""'
2014""'
2015*"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers"Nightmare Magazine
2015"Cat Pictures Please"Clarkesworld Magazine
2015"Damage"Tor.com
2015"Madeleine"Lightspeed
2015"Today I Am Paul"Clarkesworld Magazine
2015"When Your Child Strays from God"Clarkesworld Magazine
2016*"Seasons of Glass and Iron"
2016"Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies"Uncanny Magazine
2016"Sabbath Wine"Clockwork Phoenix 5
2016"Things With Beards"Clarkesworld Magazine
2016"This Is Not a Wardrobe Door"Fireside Magazine
2016Tor.com
2016"Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station │ Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0"Lightspeed
2017*"Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™"Apex Magazine
2017"Fandom for Robots"Uncanny Magazine
2017"Utopia, LOL?"Strange Horizons
2017"Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand"Uncanny Magazine
2017Tor.com
2017"Carnival Nine"Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2018*Fireside Magazine
2018Uncanny Magazine
2018Lightspeed
2018"Going Dark"Backblast Area Clear
2018"Interview for the End of the World"Bridge Across the Stars
2018Apex Magazine
2019*"Give the Family My Love"Clarkesworld Magazine
2019Uncanny Magazine
2019"And Now His Lordship Is Laughing"Strange Horizons
2019"Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island"Nightmare Magazine
2019Uncanny Magazine
2019"How the Trick Is Done"Uncanny Magazine
2020*"Open House on Haunted Hill"Diabolical Plots
2020"Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse"Uncanny Magazine
2020"Advanced Word Problems in Portal Math"Daily Science Fiction
2020Made to Order: Robots and Revolution
2020Asimov's Science Fiction
2020"My Country Is a Ghost"Uncanny Magazine
2021*"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather"Uncanny Magazine
2021"Mr. Death"Apex Magazine
2021"Proof by Induction"Uncanny Magazine
2021"Let All the Children Boogie"Tor.com
2021"Laughter Among the Trees"'
2021"For Lack of a Bed"Diabolical Plots
2022*"Rabbit Test"Uncanny Magazine
2022"D.I.Y."Tor.com
2022"Destiny Delayed"Asimov's Science Fiction
2022"Dick Pig"Nightmare Magazine
2022"Douen"'
2022"Give Me English"'
2023*"Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200"Uncanny Magazine
2023"Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont"Fantasy
2023"Window Boy"Clarkesworld Magazine
2023Nightmare Magazine
2023"Better Living Through Algorithms"Clarkesworld Magazine
2023"Bad Doors"Uncanny Magazine
2024"Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole"Clarkesworld Magazine
2024"Evan: A Remainder"Reactor
2024"Five Views of the Planet Tartarus"Lightspeed
2024Reactor
2024"We Will Teach You How to Read We Will Teach You How to Read"Lightspeed
2024Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet