__NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. The award name was dubbed by Andrew Joron in reference to a character in a science fiction story: the blind poet Rhysling, in

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

's short story "

The Green Hills of Earth "The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History (novel), Future History stories, the short story originally appeared in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (February 8, 1947 ...

David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and Literary criticism, critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'' and holds the all-time ...

"Rhysling Award."
''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

'', 3rd edition (online). Ed. John Clute, David Langford, and Peter Nicholls. 2013. Accessed 19 February 2013 The award is given in two categories: "Best Long Poem", for works of 50 or more lines, and "Best Short Poem", for works of 49 or fewer lines. The nominees for each year's Rhysling Awards are chosen by the members of the

Science Fiction Poetry Association The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...

(SFPA). Each member may nominate one work for each of the categories. Until 2022, all nominated works were compiled into an anthology called '' The Rhysling Anthology'', and members of the Association would then vote on the final winners. In 2022, the process was changed such that the nominees are instead presented to a jury, who select no more than 50 finalists for the short award, and no more than 25 for the long award. Now only these finalist are compiled into the anthology and put to a final vote by the SFPA membership. From 2005 to 2011, the Awards were presented in July at a ceremony at

Readercon Readercon is an annual science fiction convention, typically held every July in the Boston, Massachusetts area, currently taking place in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was founded by Bob Colby and Eric Van in 1987 with the goal of focusing almost exc ...

. In 2022, eligibilty guidelines were changed to exclude poems also nominated for the Dwarf Stars Award or the Elgin Awards. In 2005, the SFPA published an anthology of the winning poems, ''The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase''.

Winners and Runners Up

From 1978 to 1994, only a first-place winner was awarded. In 1995, a number of runners up were named and in 1996, a number of "Honorable Mentions" were given. Since 1997, 2nd and 3rd place have also been honored, and from 2020 onward, "Honorable Mentions" have been mentioned once again.

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

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2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

!scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="4", Long , ''"Heliobacterium daphnephilum"''*, , , , '' Star*Line'' , rowspan="8" bgcolor=#F8F9FA, , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''The Cinder Girl Burns Brightly'', , , , ''

Uncanny The uncanny is the psychological experience of an event or thing that is unsettling in a way that feels oddly familiar, rather than simply mysterious. This phenomenon is used to describe incidents where a familiar entity is encountered in a frig ...

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''The Macabre Modern'', , , , ''The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities'', P'rea Press , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''Ode to the Artistic Temperament'', , , , ''Silver Blade'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="4", Short , ''Taking, Keeping''*, , , , ''Apparition Lit'' , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''when my father reprograms my mother {'', , , , ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online magazine, online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and non-fiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in S ...

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''Creation: Dark Matter Dating App'', , , , ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''The Day the Animals Turned to Sand'', , , , ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="6" ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

!scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="3", Long , ''Eleven Exhibits in a Better Natural History Museum, London''*, , , , ''

'' , rowspan="6" bgcolor=#F8F9FA, , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''A Song from Bedlam (with apologies to Christopher Smart)'', , , , ''

Liminality In anthropology, liminality () is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they ...

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''Devilish Incarnations'', , , , '' Star*Line'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="3", Short , ''Summer Time(lessness)''*, , , , '' Star*Line'' , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''Why did white people conquer the world for spices and then never use them?'', , , , ''Drunk Monkeys'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''Darning'', , , , ''

'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="12" ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

!scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="6", Long , ''The Bookstore''*, , , , ''New Myths'' , rowspan="12" bgcolor=#F8F9FA, , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''Reservation Fairy Tales 101—Final Exam'', , , , ''Augur Magazine'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , rowspan="2", ''Alexander's Babylon'', , , , rowspan="2", ''Victims'', Weasel Press , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , , - , ''The Captain Flies'', , , , ''

Uncanny Magazine ''Uncanny Magazine'' is an American science fiction magazine, science fiction and Fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy online magazine founded by publishing editors Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas. History First issued in 2014, the pu ...

'' , - , ''Medusa Gets a Haircut'', , , , ''

'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="6", Short , ''Confessions of a Spaceport AI''*, , , , ''

'' , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''Gravity (some things that fly)'', , , , ''

Space and Time In physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing ...

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''The Butterfly Affect'', , , , ''Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology'', Brigids Gate Press , - , ''our translucent bodies'', , , , ''Mermaids Monthly'' , - , ''dry land'', , , , ''

'' , - , ''Exquisite'', , , , ''Tortured Willows: Bent, Bowed, Unbroken'', Yuriko Publishing , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="14" ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

!scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="6", Long , ''Machine (r)Evolution''*, , , , ''Radon Journal'' , rowspan="14" bgcolor=#F8F9FA, , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''The Bone Tree'', , , , ''Not a Princess, but (Yes) There was a Pea, and Other Fairy Tales to Foment Revolution'', Jackanapes Press , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''Igbo Landing II'', , , , ''Black Fire—This Time'', Aquarius Press , - , ''Herbaceous Citadel'', , , , ''The Fairy Tale Magazine'' , - , ''Living in Rubble'', , , , ''Eccentric Orbits 3'', Dimensionfold Publishing , - , ''The Thing About Stars'', , , , ''Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga'', Black Spot Books , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="8", Short , ''Harold and the Blood-Red Crayon''*, , , , '' Star*Line'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 , ''In Stock Images of the Future, Everything is White''*, , , , ''

'' , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''Bitch Moon'', , , , ''Nightmare Magazine'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''First Contact'', , , , ''

Eye to the Telescope ''Eye to the Telescope'' is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, originally released on 13 December 2004 and re-released 10 January 2005 by Relentless Records. On 19 July 2005, it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury ...

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''The Gargoyle Watches the Rains End'', , , , ''The Gargoylicon: Imaginings and Images of the Gargoyle in Literature and Art'', Mind's Eye Publications , - , ''Field Notes from the Anthropocene'', , , , ''Nightmare Magazine'' , - , ''Near the end, your mother tells you she's been seeing someone'', , , , '' SFPA Poetry Contest'' , - , ''Dinner Plans with Baba Yaga'', , , , ''Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga'', Black Spot Books , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="12" ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

!scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="6", Long , ''Little Brown Changeling''*, , , , ''Aphelion'' , rowspan="12" bgcolor=#F8F9FA, , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''The Witch Makes Her To-Do List'', , , , ''

'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''An Interrogation About A Monster During Sleep Paralysis'', , , , ''

'' , - , ''Pilot'', , , , ''Black Joy Unbound'', BLF Press , - , ''Cradling Fish'', , , , ''

'' , - , ''Archivist of a Lost World'', , , , ''Eccentric Orbits'' , -bgcolor=#FAEB86 !scope="rowgroup" align="center" rowspan="6", Short , ''No One Now Remembers''*, , , , ''

Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional un ...

'' , -bgcolor=lightyellow , ''Language as a Form of Breath'', , , , ''Apparition Lit'' , -bgcolor=BurlyWood , ''The Day We All Died, A Little'', , , , ''Radon Journal'' , - , ''Let Us Dream'', , , , ''Small Wonders'' , - , ''As Does the Crow'', , , , ''

'' , - , ''Mass-Market Affair'', , , , '' Star*Line''

References

External links

Official list of Rhysling Award winners
{{Science fiction R Science fiction awards Fantasy poetry American poetry awards Fantasy awards Horror fiction awards