The current World Fantasy Award statue was produced by award-winning sculptor and artist Vincent Villafranca (www.villafrancasculpture.com) and first awarded at the 2017 WFC in San Antonio, Texas.

SPECIAL NOTE:

• Novellas were first awarded in 1982.
• Collections and Anthologies were given separate categories in 1988.
• Convention Awards were not given after 1987 except to Hugh B. Cave in 1997.

Use the following links to go to different views of the awards.

>> Complete List of Nominees

>> Complete List of Winners

The World Fantasy Awards winners for works published in 2022 have been announced during the 2023 World Fantasy Convention, held October 26-29, 2023 at the Sheraton Crown Center in Kansas City MO.

The Life Achievement Awards, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy field, went to Peter Crowther and John Douglas.

The World Fantasy Awards winners are:

Best Novel

This year’s judges were Dale Bailey, Kelly Robson, Ginny Smith, A.C. Wise, and Ian Whates. For more information, see the WFC website.

2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Rowena Morrill
Samuel R. Delany

* Winners in bold.

2021 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Megan Lindholm
Howard Waldrop

* Winners in bold.

2020 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Rowena Morrill
Karen Joy Fowler
* Winners in bold.

2019 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Hayao Miyazaki
Jack Zipes

* Winners in bold.

Nominees

Novel

• In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey (John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley (MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)
• Witchmark by C. L. Polk (Tor.com)
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press)

Novella

• The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com)
• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com)
• The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean Press)
• “The Privilege of the Happy Ending” by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Aug. 2018)
• Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com)

Short Fiction

• “The Ten Things She Said While Dying: An Annotation” by Adam-Troy Castro (Nightmare Magazine, July 2019)
• “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)
• “Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake” by Mel Kassel (Lightspeed, October 2018)
• “The Court Magician” by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed, January 2018)
• “Like a River Loves the Sky” by Emma Törzs (Uncanny Magazine, March-April 2018)

Anthology

• Sword and Sonnet, edited by Aidan Doyle, Rachael K. Jones, and E. Catherine Tobler (Ate Bit Bear)
• The Book of Magic, edited by Gardner Dozois (Bantam Books US/HarperVoyager UK)
• Best New Horror #28, edited by Stephen Jones (Drugstore Indian Press UK)
• Robots vs. Fairies, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe (Saga Press)
• Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction, edited by Irene Gallo (Tor.com)

Collection

• The Tangled Lands, by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell (Saga Press/Head of Zeus UK)
• Still So Strange, by Amanda Downum (ChiZine Publications)
• An Agent of Utopia: New & Selected Stories, by Andy Duncan (Small Beer Press)
• How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• Phantom Limbs, by Margo Lanagan (PS Publishing)

Artist

• Rovina Cai
• Galen Dara
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Shaun Tan
• Charles Vess

Special Award – Professional

• C. C. Finlay, for F&SF editing
• Irene Gallo, for Art Direction at Tor Books and Tor.com
• Huw Lewis-Jones for The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands (University of Chicago Press)
• Catherine McIlwaine for Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth exhibition (The Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford)
• Julian Yap, Molly Barton, Jeff Li, and James Stuart for Serial Box

Special Award – Non-Professional

• Mike Allen, for Mythic Delirium
• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Literary Adventure Fantasy
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny Magazine
• E. Catherine Tobler, for Shimmer Magazine
• Terri Windling, for Myth & Moor

Judges: Nancy Holder, Kathleen Jennings, Garry Douglas Kilworth, Stephen Graham Jones, and Tod McCoy

Awards presented during the World Fantasy convention held November 1-4, 2018 in Baltimore, MD.

2018 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Charles de Lint
Elizabeth Wollheim

Nominees

Novel

• VictorE LaValle, The Changeling (Spiegel & Grau/Canongate Press UK) (winner – tie)
• Fonda Lee, Jade City (Orbit) (winner – tie)
• S. A. Chakraborty, The City of Brass (Harper Voyager)
• John Crowley, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (Saga Press)
• Theodora Goss, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (Saga Press)
• Daryl Gregory, Spoonbenders (Bond Street Books CA/Knopf US/riverrun UK)

Novella

• Ellen Klages, Passing Strange (Tor.com) (winner)
• Simon Avery, The Teardrop Method (TTA Press)
• Peter S. Beagle, In Calabria (Tachyon Publications)
• Stephen Graham Jones, Mapping the Interior (Tor.com)
• JY Yang, The Black Tides of Heaven (Tor.com)

Short Fiction

• Natalia Theodoridou, “The Birding: A Fairy Tale” (Strange Horizons, Dec. 18, 2017) (winner)
• Fonda Lee, “Old Souls” (Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• Rebecca Roanhorse, “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” (Apex Magazine, Aug. 2017)
• Fran Wilde, “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand” ( Uncanny Magazine, Sept.-Oct. 2017)
• Caroline Yoachim, “Carnival Nine” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 11, 2017)

Anthology

• Peter S. Beagle & Jacob Weisman, eds. The New Voices of Fantasy (Tachyon Publications) (winner)
• Ellen Datlow, ed. Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales (Pegasus Books)
• Gardner Dozois, ed. The Book of Swords (Bantam Books US/Harper Voyager UK)
• Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin, eds. The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories (Solaris)
• William Schafer, ed. The Best of Subterranean (Subterranean Press)

Collection

• Jane Yolen, The Emerald Circus (Tachyon Publications) (winner)
• Ellen Klages, Wicked Wonders (Tachyon Publications)
• Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties (Graywolf Press/Serpent’s Tail UK)
• Tim Powers, Down and Out in Purgatory: The Collected Stories of Tim Powers (Baen Books)
• Sofia Samatar, Tender (Small Beer Press)

Artist

• Gregory Manchess (winner)
• Victo Ngai
• Omar Rayyan
• Rima Staines
• Fiona Staples

Special Award – Professional

• Harry Brockway, Patrick McGrath, & Danel Olson Writing Madness (Centipede Press) (winner)
• C. C. Finlay for for F&SF editing
• Irene Gallo, for for Art Direction at Tor Books & Tor.com
• Greg Ketter, for DreamHaven Books
• Leslie Klinger, for The New Annotated Frankenstein (Liveright Publishing Corp.)

Special Award – Non-Professional

• Justina Ireland & Troy L. Wiggins, for FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction (winner)
• Scott H. Andrews for Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Literary Adventure Fantasy
• Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali & Jen R. Albert for PodCastle
• Ray B. Russell & Rosalie Parker, for Tartarus Press
• Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny Magazine

The 2018 World Fantasy Award nominations came from two sources. Members of the current convention as well as the previous two were able to vote two nominations onto the final ballot. The remainder were nominated by the panel of judges: David Anthony Durham, Christopher Golden, Juliet E. McKenna, Charles Vess and Kaaron Warren.

Dates: November 4 – 7, 2021
Site: Hotel Bonaventure Montréal
City: Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Theme: Fantasy, Imagination, and the Dreams of Youth
Special Guests of Honor: Owl Goingback, Yves Meynard,
Guests of Honor: John Picacio, André-François Ruaud, Nisi Shawl
Toastmaster: Christine Taylor-Butler

Chairs: Diane Lacey

Visit the Website

Winners & Nominees

TBA

Dates: October 29 – November 1, 2020
Site: Little American Hotel
City: Salt Lake City, UT
Theme: Fairyland was Nothing Like This
Guests of Honor: Stephen Gallagher, Anne Groell, David Cherry, C.J. Cherryh, Cindy Pon, Stephen Graham Jones
Toastmaster: Tracy and Laura Hickman

Chairs: Dee Ann Larsen and Ginny Smith

Visit the Website

Winners & Nominees

Click on a column heading to sort.

Dates: October 31 – November 3, 2019
Site: Marriott Los Angeles Airport
City: Los Angeles, CA
Theme: Fantasy Noir
Guests of Honor: Margo Lanagan, Beth Meacham, Reiko Murakami, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tad Williams
Toastmaster: Robert Silverberg

Chairs: Sheri Benoun and Bruce Farr

Visit the Website

Winners & Nominees

Click on a column heading to sort.

Awards presented during the World Fantasy convention held November 2-5, 2017 in San Antonio, TX.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Terry Brooks
Marina Warner

Best Novel

• Borderline, Mishell Baker (Saga)
• Roadsouls, Betsy James (Aqueduct)
• The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Sudden Appearance of Hope, Claire North (Redhook; Orbit UK)
• Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff (Harper)

Best Long Fiction

• The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, Kij Johnson (Tor.com Publishing)
• The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle (Tor.com Publishing)
• Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
• “Bloodybones”, Paul F. Olson (Whispered Echoes)
• A Taste of Honey, Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com Publishing)

Best Short Fiction

• “Das Steingeschöpf”, G.V. Anderson (Strange Horizons 12/12/16)
• “Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies”, Brooke Bolander (Uncanny 11-12/16)
• “Seasons of Glass and Iron”, Amal El-Mohtar (The Starlit Wood)
• “Little Widow”, Maria Dahvana Headley (Nightmare 9/16)
• “The Fall Shall Further the Flight in Me”, Rachael K. Jones (Clockwork Phoenix 5)

Best Anthology

• Clockwork Phoenix 5, Mike Allen, ed. (Mythic Delirium)
• Dreaming in the Dark, Jack Dann, ed. (PS Australia)
• Children of Lovecraft, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Dark Horse)
• The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, Karen Joy Fowler & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)
• The Starlit Wood, Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe, eds. (Saga)

Best Collection

• Sharp Ends, Joe Abercrombie (Orbit US; Gollancz)
• On the Eyeball Floor and Other Stories, Tina Connolly (Fairwood)
• A Natural History of Hell, Jeffrey Ford (Small Beer)
• Vacui Magia, L.S. Johnson (Traversing Z Press)
• The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Ken Liu (Saga; Head of Zeus)

Best Artist

• Greg Bridges
• Julie Dillon
• Paul Lewin
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Victo Ngai

Special Award, Professional

• L. Timmel Duchamp, for Aqueduct Press
• C.C. Finlay, for editing F&SF
• Michael Levy & Farah Mendlesohn, for Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press)
• Kelly Link, for contributions to the genre
• Joe Monti, for contributions to the genre

Special Award, Non-Professional

• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Neile Graham, for fostering excellence in the genre through her role as Workshop Director, Clarion West
• Malcolm R. Phifer & Michael C. Phifer, for their publication The Fantasy Illustration Library, Volume Two: Gods and Goddesses (Michael Publishing)
• Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny
• Brian White, for Fireside Fiction Company