Congratulations to this year's winners of the Dwarf Stars award for excellence in science fiction, fantasy, and horror short-short poetry.

Physically, a dwarf star and a giant star have similar masses; however, because giants have larger radii, they are less dense and less pressurized and so, while they are larger, their radiation is less intense. The same can be said of poetry. The smaller the poem, the more compact the language, and the more pressure is put upon each word to burn with precision and intensity, in order to catch the reader's attention. If written well, these poems, like their namesakes, radiate a pure, blinding light and ignite the very core of the reader with all the strength of a nuclear reaction. Such can be said about this year's winners.

Award Winners

Winner: “Comet” • Julie Bloss Kelsey • microcosms

2nd Place: “Tapping the Vine” • Sonya Taaffe • Goblin Fruit

3rd Place: “Returning” • Ann K. Schwader • Star*Line

Table of Contents

• "Solo missions, I do all I can” • Camille Alexander • Kaleidotrope
• “stargazing” • Aurora Antonovic • American Tanka
• “in the mouth” • Roberta Beary • Roadrunner
• Ceres • Karen Berry • Goblin Fruit
• “I pause a moment” • Dawn Bruce • Ribbons
• Ghost/Machine • Shelly Bryant • Scifaikuest
• “snakes and ladders …” • Helen Buckingham • Roadrunner
• “butterfly” • Beate Conrad • Mainichi Daily News
• The Wailing Well • Peg Duthie • Goblin Fruit
• “in zero gravity” • LeRoy Gorman • Scifaikuest
• “deforested planet” • LeRoy Gorman • Scifaikuest
• Sleeping Beauty's Court • K. S. Hardy • Tales of the Talisman
• “red wheat” • C. William Hinderliter • Scifaikuest
• “gingerbread house” • Carolyn M. Hinderliter • Scifaikuest
• Bluebeard's Grandmother • Sandra Kasturi • Tesseracts 14
• “Comet“ • Julie Bloss Kelsey • microcosms
• Trickster Weather • Deborah P Kolodji • Mythic Delirium
• “spatters of blood” • Geoffrey A. Landis • Scifaikuest
• Walrus • Rose Lemberg • trapeze magazine
• On Stopping for Directions • Wendy Rathbone • Star*Line
• In the Hydroponic Garden Aboard Survey Station E319 … • Terri Leigh Relf • Alien Skin
• Haute Couture • Matt S • microcosms
• “returning” • Ann K. Schwader • Star*Line
• They Held My Heart • Jenny Schwartz • Star*Line
• “the house software” • dan smith • microcosms
• “eleven minutes” • J. E. Stanley • microcosms
• “your view” • J. E. Stanley • microcosms
• Tapping the Vine • Sonia Taaffe • Goblin Fruit
• Howard d'oeuvres • Stephen M. Wilson • Star*Line
• “October” • Peter Yovu • Roadrunner