Anthology Information
Rhysling Chairs:
AJ Wentz and Jordan Hirsch
Book Design: F.J. Bergmann
Cover Image: To be announced
Publisher: Science Fiction Poetry Association
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Editor Biographies
Editors
AJ Wentz is a poet living in the southern United States. She practices law by day and reads to her cat by night. Most of all, AJ spends her time longing for something just beyond her reach. Her work has appeared in Eye to the Telescope, Fantasy Magazine, Dreams & Nightmares, and elsewhere.She can be found online at www.ajwentz.com.
Jordan Hirsch writes speculative fiction and poetry in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, where she lives with her husband. Her work has appeared with Liminality Magazine, Octavos, The Future Fire, and other venues. Find her on Twitter (@jordanrhirsch), and find more of her work on her website: jordanrhirsch.wordpress.com.
Finalists
The jury-selected finalists for the 2026 Rhysling Award were announced on Wednesday, May 6th. Congratulations to our finalists, and a HUGE THANK YOU to our jurors.
Short Poems (50 finalists)
- A Troll's Feast • Rebecca Buchanan • Fairy Tale Magazine
- Beyond the Standard Model • Ursula Whitcher • Analog
- Bigfoot Farewell • Carolyn Clink • Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters
- Black Hole Framing • Casey Aimer • Foofaraw
- Cataract Dome • Debra Cazalet • Chrome Baby
- Does That Familiar Come in Black? • Gerri Leen • Black Cat Publishing
- Escritoire For Wraiths • West Ambrose • NeckSnap
- Final Moments of a Witch: A Poem Told in Reverse • Pedro Iniguez • StokerCon 2025 Souvenir Anthology
- Gaia forgets her shopping list • Clarabelle Miray Fields • Vinegar Press
- Glitch • Darius Jones • The Book of Hours
- How to become a sea witch • Theodora Goss • The Orange & Bee
- I Consult a Spiritualist • Merna Dyer Skinner • Heartlines Spec
- I Try to Explain the Concept of Teeth to My Alien Roommate • Rachel Linton • Asimov's Science Fiction
- I Was A Fish • Svetlana Litvinchuk • Strange Horizons
- I Was Lt. Uhura • January Gill O'Neil • Poetry Magazine
- I, Robot • Ali Trotta • Space Cowboy Books
- Is This How You Pictured It? • Eugen Bacon • Live Encounters Poetry & Writing 16th Anniversary Volume Two
- It Was the Cats • Colleen S. Harris • Star*Line
- Little Haunted House • Portia Yu • Strange Horizons
- Los Fantasmas en Su Boca • Richard Leis • Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane: Nostalgic Terrors
- Maestro Beneath the Bluebells • Silvatiicus Riddle • Eternal Haunted Summer
- Mannequin Mom • Rebecca O’Bern • Radon Journal
- Matthew 28:19 • Jack Cooper • The Latin Poetry Programme Prize Anthology
- Military Industrial Complexity • Ian Willey • Mobius: The Journal of Social Change
- Missing You, No Matter Where I Am • Anna Madden • Heartlines Spec
- Old Brooklyn Magic • Ian Li • Nightmare Magazine
- Our SpaceWays • Akua Lezli Hope • Spacefunk!
- Post-apocalypse Love Poem • Gospel Chinedu • Uncanny
- Reaper • Mary Soon Lee • Strange Horizons
- Renfield At His Windowsill • Courtney Floyd • Small Wonders Magazine
- Rockets Over Anaheim • Wendy Van Camp • Anaheim Poetry Review
- Snow White Puts the Pieces Together • Jacqueline West • New Myths
- Southern Comfort • Peg Cherrin-Myers • Contemporary Haibun Online
- Swamp Witch Season • Lynne Sargent • Solarpunk Magazine
- The Farmer and the Princess • Larina Warnock • 4LPH4NUM3R1C2.0
- The Inner Life of Objects • David Clink • Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters
- The Jacarandas Are Unimpressed by Your Show of Force • Gwynne Garfinkle • Strange Horizons
- The Language of Fireflies • Angela Liu • The Deadlands
- The Lost Dragon's Home • PS Cottier • Dreams & Nightmares
- The Lowest Kind of Fable • Lynne Sargent • Just Keep Up Magazine
- The Mask • Marge Simon • Star*Line
- The Message • Denise Dumars • Eldritch Prayers I / Island of Wak Wak
- The Mourning Robot • Angela Liu • Uncanny Magazine
- The Paper Swift • Ciarán Parkes • Asimov's
- The penitent • Tim Jones • Dracula in the Colonies
- Though You Always Are • Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge • Everything Endless
- Time loop for the day I die. • Abdulrazaq Salihu • Uncanny Magazine
- To Be the Change • Nico Martinez Nocito • Strange Horizons
- Venus on the Cusp of Prophecy • Sheikha A. • SpecPoVerse
- When the Cat's Away • Beth Cato • Daikaijuzine
Long Poems (25 finalists)
- 138 Melon Seeds • Geneve Flynn • Weird Tales
- A Priestess of Bast Reflects on a Past Life • Clarabelle Miray Fields • The Orange Rose
- An Ache With No Name • Toby MacNutt • Small Wonders
- Bass Chasers • Bryant O'Hara • Spacefunk!
- Components • PS Cottier • AntipodeanSF
- Deconstructed Sestina for a Brackish Bay • Stephanie Jones • Sublimation
- Falling Between Seconds • Hannan Khan • Abyss & Apex
- Heritage / Speaker | Hablante / Herencia • Angela Acosta • Samovar
- Hex Supply Customer Support Log • Elis Montgomery • Strange Horizons
- His New Antlers • Rick Christiansen • Sheila-Na-Gig
- Irrevocable • Adele Gardner • Star*Line
- Looking Back • Arthur H. Manners • Analog
- One Hundred Thousand Legends and the Longing Underneath • Gwendolyn Maia Hicks • Dangerous to Go Alone! 2
- Patient 10642 • Elizabeth R. McClellan • Salon Sinister
- Pterosaur • M. Frost • Strange Horizons
- Red Blood, Dark Water • Deborah L. Davitt • Abyss & Apex
- Stationary • David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Focus Summer
- Tasks for the Mourning, or Flowers as for Flesh • G.E. Woods • Small Wonders Magazine
- The Blanket, The Secret, The Dark • RB Lemberg • Strange Horizons
- The Emerald Tapestry • Katherine Quevedo • Corvid Queen
- The Last Nightingale • Stephen Jackson • Eye to the Telescope
- The Witch is my Mother, the Witch is my Prince • Silvatiicus Riddle • Strange Horizons
- Toward a Cladistic Analysis of Hauntings • Rick Hollon • Time Travel Is Easy
- Welcome to the Horror Opposition Association! • Bree Wernicke • Strange Horizons
- What Water Says • Michael H. Payne • Eternal Haunted Summer
2026 Rhysling Jurors
Short Category Jurors
TBA
Long Category Jurors
TBA
All Nominated Poems
These lists contain all poems nominated by SFPA members by the deadline of February 26, 2026.
Short Poems
| Poem Title | Author Name | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Oumuamua | Geoffrey A. Landis | Analog |
| A Curse Aroused | Scott J. Couturier | Penumbra |
| A Troll's Feast | Rebecca Buchanan | Fairy Tale Magazine |
| Alligators and You | Herb Kauderer | Star*Line |
| At the Ruins of Sarpedon | Anna Cates | Abyss & Apex |
| Auctober Apocalypto | Denise Dumars | HWA Poetry Blog, Terrors of Today |
| Beard of Birds | Sandra Kasturi | Night Shades Magazine |
| Beyond the Standard Model | Ursula Whitcher | Analog |
| Bigfoot Farewell | Carolyn Clink | Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters |
| Black Hole Framing | Casey Aimer | Foofaraw |
| Cataract Dome | Debra Cazalet | Chrome Baby |
| Complex Alice in the Red Riding Hood | Geoffrey A. Landis | Angry Gable Press |
| Cry of a Barren Woman | Becky Parker | Abyss & Apex |
| Demonic Oppression | C. Payne | Just Keep Up |
| Does That Familiar Come in Black? | Gerri Leen | Black Cat Publishing |
| Eagle-Eyed | Nico Martinez Nocito | Eye to the Telescope |
| Escritoire For Wraiths | West Ambrose | NeckSnap |
| Final Moments of a Witch: A Poem Told in Reverse | Pedro Iniguez | StokerCon 2025 Souvenir Anthology |
| Gaia forgets her shopping list | Clarabelle Miray Fields | Vinegar Press |
| Glitch | Darius Jones | The Book of Hours |
| God's Townhouse | Robert Wooten | Dreams and Nightmares |
| Hellhound | D.A. Cooper | Forgotten Ground Regained |
| History | Vonnie Winslow Crist | Asimov's Magazine |
| How to become a sea witch | Theodora Goss | The Orange & Bee |
| I Consult a Spiritualist | Merna Dyer Skinner | Heartlines Spec |
| I Try to Explain the Concept of Teeth to My Alien Roommate | Rachel Linton | Asimov's Science Fiction |
| I Was A Fish | Svetlana Litvinchuk | Strange Horizons |
| I Was Lt. Uhura | January Gill O'Neil | Poetry Magazine |
| I, Robot | Ali Trotta | Space Cowboy Books |
| Is This How You Pictured It? | Eugen Bacon | Live Encounters Poetry & Writing 16th Anniversary Volume Two |
| It Was the Cats | Colleen S. Harris | Star Line |
| Job Interview | Max Hunt | SpecPoVerse |
| Little Haunted House | Portia Yu | Strange Horizons |
| Los Fantasmas en Su Boca | Richard Leis | Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane: Nostalgic Terrors |
| Maestro Beneath the Bluebells | Silvatiicus Riddle | Eternal Haunted Summer |
| Mannequin Mom | Rebecca O’Bern | Radon Journal |
| Matthew 28:19 | Jack Cooper | The Latin Poetry Programme Prize Anthology |
| Military Industrial Complexity | Ian Willey | Mobius: The Journal of Social Change |
| Missing You, No Matter Where I Am | Anna Madden | Heartlines Spec |
| Moon Rising | Colleen Anderson | Absynthe |
| Never Wander the Catskills Without Understanding That Rip Van Winkle Was a Cautionary Tale | Juleigh Howard-Hobson | 518 Press |
| Nightmare Eater | Silvatiicus Riddle | Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores |
| Ode to Nephila pilipes | Kaleb Atkinson | Carmina Magazine |
| Old Brooklyn Magic | Ian Li | Nighmare Magazine |
| Old Stories | Lisa Timpf | New Myths |
| Our SpaceWays | Akua Lezli Hope | Spacefunk! |
| Post-apocalypse Love Poem | Gospel Chinedu | Uncanny |
| Precocious Child | Alexander Senko | Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact |
| Reaper | Mary Soon Lee | Strange Horizons |
| Renfield At His Windowsill | Courtney Floyd | Small Wonders Magazine |
| Rockets Over Anaheim | Wendy Van Camp | Anaheim Poetry Review |
| Snow White Puts the Pieces Together | Jacqueline West | New Myths |
| Southern Comfort | Peg Cherrin-Myers | Contemporary Haibun Online |
| Stillborn | Shantell Powell | Nightmare Magazine |
| Subatomic Matrimony | Jamal Hodge | Everything Endless / Raw Dog Screaming Press |
| Swamp Witch Season | Lynne Sargent | Solarpunk Magazine |
| The Blight Sky | Gretchen Tessmer | Star*Line |
| The Farmer and the Princess | Larina Warnock | 4LPH4NUM3R1c2 |
| The Flames of Passion | Deneffew Gordon | The Limerick in Chains |
| The Great Night | Adele Gardner | Spectral Realms |
| The Inner Life of Objects | David Clink | Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn |
| The Jacarandas Are Unimpressed by Your Show of Force | Gwynne Garfinkle | Strange Horizons |
| The Language of Fireflies | Angela Liu | The Deadlands |
| The Lost Dragon's Home | PS Cottier | Dreams & Nightmares |
| The Lowest Kind of Fable | Lynne Sargent | Just Keep Up Magazine |
| The Mask | Marge Simon | Star*Line |
| The Message | Denise Dumars | Eldritch Prayers I / Island of Wak Wak |
| The Mourning Robot | Angela Liu | Uncanny Magazine |
| The Needed | Roger Dutcher | Dreams & Nightmares |
| The Orchid | M. Frost | Sublimation |
| The Paper Swift | Ciarán Parkes | Asimov's |
| The penitent | Tim Jones | Dracula in the Colonies |
| Though You Always Are | Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge | Everything Endless |
| Time loop for the day I die. | Abdulrazaq Salihu | Uncanny Magazine |
| To Be the Change | Nico Martinez Nocito | Strange Horizons |
| Venus on the Cusp of Prophecy | Sheikha A. | SpecPoVerse |
| When the Cat's Away | Beth Cato | Daikaijuzine |
| Why Some Towns Get Extra Bears | Amelia Gorman | Strange Horizons |
Long Poems
| Poem Title | Author Name | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 138 Melon Seeds | Geneve Flynn | Weird Tales |
| A Priestess of Bast Reflects on a Past Life | Clarabelle Miray Fields | The Orange Rose |
| An Ache With No Name | Toby MacNutt | Small Wonders |
| An Aging AI Tries to Remember Its Life | Casey Aimer | Small Wonders |
| Bass Chasers | Bryant O'Hara | Spacefunk! |
| Caesar Says, Earthquakes Aren’t So Manifest From Space | Jasmine Leng | Uncanny Magazine |
| Cassandra | E. N. Díaz | Uncanny Magazine |
| Castle of Indolence | F.J. Bergmann | Just Keep Up |
| Components | PS Cottier | AntipodeanSF |
| Deconstructed Sestina for a Brackish Bay | Stephanie Jones | Sublimation |
| Diamond Dragon | Herb Kauderer | View From Atlantis |
| Don't Turn Your Back on the King | John Shirley | Eternal Haunted Summer |
| Falling Between Seconds | Hannan Khan | Abyss & Apex |
| False Beet | RJ Aurand | Small Wonders |
| From Out the Jaded Sky | Alan Ira Gordon | SFPA Contest |
| Heritage / Speaker | Hablante / Herencia | Angela Acosta | Samovar |
| Hex Supply Customer Support Log | Elis Montgomery | Strange Horizons |
| His New Antlers | Rick Christiansen | Sheila-Na-Gig |
| Hyapollo | Adele Gardner | Orion’s Beau |
| In Which Water Becomes Audible | Haley Bossé | Foglifter |
| Iron Worker in the Dreamers Mall | Herb Kauderer | Sleepless Nights in the Dreamers Mall |
| Irrevocable | Adele Gardner | Star*Line |
| John Keats 2.0 | West Ambrose | Utopia Science Fiction |
| Knot Loosener Memorial Disputation with Gas Giant | Michael Hessel-Mial | Forgotten Ground Regained |
| Look in My Eyes | Gerri Leen | Penumbric |
| Looking Back | Arthur H. Manners | Analog |
| Medea | Deborah L. Davitt | The Pink Hydra |
| Meeting | LindaAnn LoSchiavo | Angry Gable Press |
| Mend Your Broken Bow and Aim It at the Sky | Steve Wheat | Radon Journal |
| One Hundred Thousand Legends and the Longing Underneath | Gwendolyn Maia Hicks | Dangerous to Go Alone! 2 |
| Patient 10642 | Elizabeth R. McClellan | Salon Sinister |
| prayers in zero gravity | Lesley Hart Gunn | Amazing Stories |
| Prometheus Rebound | Theodore Holmes | Carmina Magazine |
| Pterosaur | M. Frost | Strange Horizons |
| Red Blood, Dark Water | Deborah L. Davitt | Abyss & Apex |
| Soulbirds and Firefoxes | Lauren Sharhag | Marrow Magazine |
| Stationary | David C. Kopaska-Merkel | Focus Summer |
| Tasks for the Mourning, or Flowers as for Flesh | G.E. Woods | Small Wonders Magazine |
| The Blanket, The Secret, The Dark | RB Lemberg | Strange Horizons |
| The Cat Who Only Returned When You Lied | Fendy S. Tulodo | SpecPoVerse |
| The Church at the Edge of Time | Angela Liu | Strange Horizons |
| The Emerald Tapestry | Katherine Quevedo | Corvid Queen |
| The Fin Stitch | Marisca Pichette | This Exquisite Topology (Angry Gable Press) |
| The Last Nightingale | Stephen Jackson | Eye to the Telescope |
| The Mordaunt Heiress | F.J. Bergman | Dreams and Nightmares |
| The Separation Was Not Mutual | Gerri Leen | Penumbric |
| The Timetrippers Tale—A Transference | Robert Frazier | Worlds of If |
| The Witch is my Mother, the Witch is my Prince | Silvatiicus Riddle | Strange Horizons |
| Toward a Cladistic Analysis of Hauntings | Rick Hollon | Time Travel Is Easy |
| Transhuman | Anna Cates | Star*Line |
| Watery Horizon | James Callan | Chrome Baby |
| Welcome to the Horror Opposition Association! | Bree Wernicke | Strange Horizons |
| What The Old-Timers Say | Beth Cato | Hauntings and Hoarfrost |
| What Water Says | Michael H. Payne | Eternal Haunted Summer |
Nominations by Publication
| Publication Name | Number of Nominations |
|---|---|
| 4LPH4NUM3R1c2 | 1 |
| 518 Press | 1 |
| Absynthe | 1 |
| Abyss & Apex | 4 |
| Amazing Stories | 1 |
| Anaheim Poetry Review | 1 |
| Analog | 4 |
| Angry Gable Press | 2 |
| AntipodeanSF | 1 |
| Asimov's | 3 |
| Black Cat Publishing | 1 |
| Carmina Magazine | 2 |
| Chrome Baby | 2 |
| Contemporary Haibun Online | 1 |
| Corvid Queen | 1 |
| Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores | 1 |
| Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn | 2 |
| Daikaijuzine | 1 |
| Dangerous to Go Alone! 2 | 1 |
| Dracula in the Colonies | 1 |
| Dreams & Nightmares | 5 |
| Eldritch Prayers I / Island of Wak Wak | 1 |
| Eternal Haunted Summer | 3 |
| Everything Endless | 2 |
| Eye to the Telescope | 2 |
| Fairy Tale Magazine | 1 |
| Focus Summer | 1 |
| Foglifter | 1 |
| Foofaraw | 1 |
| Forgotten Ground Regained | 2 |
| Hauntings and Hoarfrost | 1 |
| Heartlines Spec | 2 |
| HWA Poetry Blog, Terrors of Today | 1 |
| Just Keep Up | 3 |
| Live Encounters Poetry & Writing 16th Anniversary Volume Two | 1 |
| Marrow Magazine | 1 |
| Mobius: The Journal of Social Change | 1 |
| NeckSnap | 1 |
| New Myths | 2 |
| Night Shades Magazine | 1 |
| Nightmare Magazine | 2 |
| Orion’s Beau | 1 |
| Penumbra | 1 |
| Penumbric | 2 |
| Poetry Magazine | 1 |
| Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane: Nostalgic Terrors | 1 |
| Radon Journal | 2 |
| Salon Sinister | 1 |
| Samovar | 1 |
| SFPA Contest | 1 |
| Sheila-Na-Gig | 1 |
| Sleepless Nights in the Dreamers Mall | 1 |
| Small Wonders | 5 |
| Solarpunk Magazine | 1 |
| Space Cowboy Books | 1 |
| Spacefunk! | 2 |
| SpecPoVerse | 3 |
| Spectral Realms | 1 |
| Star*Line | 7 |
| StokerCon 2025 Souvenir Anthology | 1 |
| Strange Horizons | 12 |
| Sublimation | 2 |
| The Book of Hours | 1 |
| The Deadlands | 1 |
| The Impossible Physics of the Hummingbird | 1 |
| The Latin Poetry Programme Prize Anthology | 1 |
| The Limerick in Chains | 1 |
| The Orange & Bee | 1 |
| The Orange Rose | 1 |
| The Pink Hydra | 1 |
| This Exquisite Topology (Angry Gable Press) | 1 |
| Time Travel Is Easy | 1 |
| Uncanny | 5 |
| Utopia Science Fiction | 1 |
| View From Atlantis | 1 |
| Vinegar Press | 1 |
| Weird Tales | 1 |
| Worlds of If | 1 |