Anthology Information
Editor and Rhysling Chair:
David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Book Design: F.J. Bergmann
Cover Image: Outpost
by Robert Frazier
Publisher: Science Fiction Poetry Association
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All Award Winners
Short Poem Category
First Place: “After Her Brother Ripped the Heads from Her Paper Dolls” • Beth Cato • Mythic Delirium 4.3
Second Place: What Loves You • Jeff Crandall • Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October
Third Place: A City Built on Bones • Ann K. Schwader • Abyss & Apex 66
Long Poem Category
First Place: Ursula Le Guin in the Underworld • Sarah Tolmie • On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic, April
Second Place: The Fairies in the Crawlspace • Beth Cato • Uncanny 21
Third Place: 3-Minute Future • F. J. Bergmann • Unlikely Stories V
Chair and Winner Biographies
Nebula Award-nominated Beth Cato is the author of the Clockwork Dagger duology and the Blood of Earth trilogy from Harper Voyager. She’s a Hanford, California, native transplanted to the Arizona desert, where she lives with her husband, son, and requisite cats. Follow her at BethCato.comand on Twitter at @BethCato.
Sarah Tolmie is a poet, speculative fiction writer and professor of British literature and creative writing at the University of Waterloo. Her poetry collection The Art of Dying was nominated for the 2019 Griffin Prize, and her poem “Ursula Le Guin in the Underworld” is nominated for an Aurora Award. Her most recent novel, The Little Animals, about the 17th-century Dutch microscopist
Leeuwenhoek and his weird (fictional) encounter with the goose girl from the Brothers Grimm, came out in May to starred reviews in PW and Locus. Her work appears in Year’s Best Canadian Poetry in English (2018) and Year’s Best Weird Fiction (2017). Her first book of poems, Trio, was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award in 2015, and her first novel, The Stone Boatmen, for the Campbell Award (2014).
Jeff Crandall is a Washington State poet, glass artist and a founding editor of Floating Bridge Press. His work has appeared previously in Beloit Poetry Journal, Bloom, North American Review, JAMA and Seattle Review, among others. His book of poems, The Grief Pool, was published by Firestorm Press
Millie Ho’s work appears in Strange Horizons, Uncanny Magazine, Fireside Fiction, and more. She draws the comic sorrowbacon. She attended Clarion West in 2019. Find her on Twitter @Millie_Ho
Ann K. Schwader’s poems have recently appeared in Spectral Realms, Dreams & Nightmares, Star*Line, Abyss & Apex, and Weird Fiction Review. Her most recent collection, Dark Energies (P’rea Press 2015) was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist. She has been a Rhysling Award winner twice (for short & long form), and she was voted SFPA Grand Master in 2018
F.J. Bergmann won the Rhysling Award for the Short Poem in 2008 and the Long Poem in 2015. She is pleased to mention that Star*Line published this year's winning short poem under her (former) editorship. She is the poetry editor of Mobius: The Journal of Social Change and the managing editor of MadHat Press. Her specialty is imagining tragedies on or near exoplanets.
All Nominated Poems
124 members voted on 85 short poems and 54 long poems from 64 publications.
Short Poems
- 3D-Printed Brother • Millie Ho • Strange Horizons 9/25/18
- Acceptable Documentation • Sonya Taaffe • Sycorax Journal 1
- After Her Brother Ripped the Heads from Her Paper Dolls • Beth Cato • Mythic Delirium 4.3
- Alien Interview Questions • Mary Soon Lee • Dreams and Nightmares 109
- An Alien Visits an Earth Psychiatrist • John Grey • The Pedestal Magazine 82
- “as if …” • LeRoy Gorman • Atlas Poetica: 25 Science Fiction Tanka & Kyoka, eds. Julie Bloss Kelsey & Susan Burch
- beseeching the kitchen gods • M. C. Childs • Grievous Angel 5/20/18
- Cardiad • Virginia M. Mohlere • Mythic Delirium 4.4
- A City Built on Bones • Ann K. Schwader • Abyss & Apex 66
- Colorless Reflection • Cindy O’Quinn • Poppy Road Review 8/29/18
- Concerning President Carter and the UFO Sighting • August Huerta • Strange Horizons 3/19/18
- Consumption • Jennifer Ruth Jackson • Eye to the Telescope 29
- The Crimson Witch • K. A. Opperman • Eye to the Telescope 30
- Curse of Waccasassa Lagoon • John Reinhart • Dreams and Nightmares 109
- Data Value • Patricia Gomes • Star*Line 41.2
- Dead-Eye Girl • Holly Lyn Walrath • Liminality 17
- Dear Creator • Mary Soon Lee • Fantasy & Science Fiction, January/February
- The Dissolution of Icarus • Michelle Muenzler • Liminality 18
- Divinatory • Rose Lemberg • Sycorax Journal 1
- Down in Windy Hollow • Jenny Blackford • The School Magazine, June
- drop some amens • Brandon O’Brien • Uncanny 21
- Echoes of Light from Orbit • Megan Engelhardt • Asimov’s SF, November/December
- Engineered • Bruce McAllister • Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March/April
- Entanglement • David C. Kopaska-Merkel & Kendall Evans • Entanglement (diminuendo press)
- Esprit d'escalier • May Chong • Apparition Lit 1
- Excalibur’s Lament • P.S. Cottier • Eye to the Telescope 27
- Flat Dyson • Francis W. Alexander • Spaceports & Spidersilk, July
- Forest Mother • Christina Sng • The Ladies of Horror Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge
- Fortune Favors the Cold • Katherine Inskip • Abyss & Apex 68
- From Her Tower, the Lady of Shalott Sees the Ice Age Come • R. Mac Jones • Eye to the Telescope 27
- Galahad Returns from the Holy Wars • David E. Cowen • Bleeding Saffron (Weasel Press)
- Generation Ship • David Barber • Kaleidotrope, Summer
- The Girl and Her Wolf Dog • Christina Sng • Spectral Realms 8
- Golgothan (Shit Demon's Sonnet) • David F. Shultz • Deadman's Tome Shit Fest, ed. Jesse Dedman (?)
- Heart’s Desire • Lynn White • The Sirens Call 41
- Hey Man, Nice Shot • Gretchen Tessmer • Strange Horizons 2/26/18
- Intruders • Cindy O’Quinn • Star*Line 41.2
- The Ladies of Lancashire • Clay F. Johnson • Eye to the Telescope 30
- Laika • Holly Day • Dreams and Nightmares 109
- Lament of the Four Moons • Kendall Evans & John Philip Johnson • Asimov’s SF, ?
- Lost Memories • Bruce Boston • The Literary Hatchet 19
- The Maenad to Her Artist Friend • Amal El-Mohtar • Strange Horizons 2/12/18
- Mars Must Remember • Denise Dumars • The Pedestal Magazine 82
- Mining Time • P.S. Cottier • Not Very Quiet 2
- Monster, Creature, Human • Herb Kauderer • Dreams and Nightmares 109
- My Little Vampire • Adele Gardner • Dreams and Nightmares 110
- The Mysterious Hermit • Krystal Volney • krystalvolneyfanssite
- Neuraweb • Logan Thrasher Collins • Abyss & Apex 67
- The Nightmare Thing • Sandra Kasturi • Eye to the Telescope 29
- O Siren • Ashley Dioses • Liquid Imagination 38
- Ode to the Gorgon • K. A. Opperman • Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer Solstice
- Okuri Inu, or the sending-off dog demon • Betsy Aoki • Uncanny 22
- Our Lady of the Winter Squash • Jenny Blackford • Polu Texni 10/29/18
- Pan’s Descent • Bruce Boston • Artifacts (Independent Legions Publishing)
- Past Is Present • Deborah L. Davitt • Modern Poetry Review 8
- The Patron Saint of Alien Abductees • Noel Sloboda • Evansville Review XXVIII
- Pinocchio Plays the Cotton Club • Alan Ira Gordon • Star*Line 41.3
- Planck Length • David F. Shultz • Dreams and Nightmares 108
- Planetary Lensing • Herb Kauderer • Dreams & Nightmares 109
- Planktivorous Fish and the Structure of Pelagic Plankton • David Clink • Juniper 2:2
- Pouring the Pennyroyal • Andrea Blythe & Laura Madeline Wiseman • Priestess & Hierophant 5
- Quetzalcoatlus roboti Heads Home • Vince Gotera • Multiverse, ed. Russell Jones (Shoreline of Infinity)
- Relic • Kari Flickinger • Riddled with Arrows 2.3
- The Sea Horse Isles • Michael H. Hanson • Untimely Frost: Poetry Unthawed, eds. Suzie & Bruce Lockhart (Lycan Valley Press)
- The Sea Never Says It Loves You • Fran Wilde • Uncanny 21
- Seraphima • Hal Y. Zhang • Liminality 15
- Son of Aswang • Vince Gotera • The Philippines Graphic, October
- The Southern Lady • Marge Simon • War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
- Spatial Arrangement • David F. Shultz • Abyss & Apex 65
- Stand and Wait • Herb Kauderer • Scifaikuest print, August
- Station Rain • Erik Burdett • Apparition Lit 4
- Stephen Hawking • Greer Woodward • Haikuniverse 3/24/18
- That's one small step for (a) man … • Russell Jones • Dark Matters (Tapsalteerie Press)
- Things That Go Bump & Smile in the Night • Kathleen A. Lawrence • Altered Reality Magazine ?
- This Sacred Earth • Deborah L. Davitt • Abyss & Apex 67
- Thunderstorm in Glasgow, July 25 2013 • Amal El-Mohtar • Fireside Fiction broadside
- Trips to Impossible Cities • Sandra Kasturi • Amazing Stories Magazine 2
- Try the Veal • Robert Beveridge • Vastarien 1:1
- Universal Immigrants • Ann K. Schwader • Star*Line 41.1
- Unstole It • Jim Davies • Altered Reality Magazine ?
- Venusian Arachnoids • David F. Shultz • Star*Line 41.1
- Waterworld • Terry Persun • Space & Time Magazine 131
- What Is Dead • Kristin Garth • Luna Luna Magazine 4/13/18
- What Loves You • Jeff Crandall • Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October
- Wraiths • Wade German • Vastarien 1:1
Long Poems
- 3-Minute Future • F. J. Bergmann • Unlikely Stories V
- After the Wolf • Jeff Crandall • Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April
- Alima among the Trees • T. D. Walker • Projector Magazine 1
- Atomic Numbers • D. A. Xaolin Spires • Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January/February
- Cassini’s Mini-Packets Home • Jessy Randall • Strange Horizons 7/2/18
- Cataclysm Days: Arizona Conservatives Revert to Old Forms of Worship • Chuck Von Nordheim • Liquid Imagination 37
- The Cat’s Daughters • Nitoo Das • Uncanny 20
- Cinderella's Pumpkin • Colleen Anderson • Polu Texni 5/28/18
- The Collaborator • Cassandra Rose Clarke • Illumen, Spring
- Commemoration of the Divine Passion • William Cook • Eye to the Telescope 30
- Conditions of the Curse • Herb Kauderer • Exploits in the Adirondacks, eds. (pub518)
- Dragon Mountain • Mary Soon Lee • Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 35
- Drug Wars • Marge Simon • War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
- The Fairies in the Crawlspace • Beth Cato • Uncanny 21
- Finding Hecate • Clay F. Johnson • Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer Solstice
- five sigils • David F. Shultz • Eye to the Telescope 27
- Getting to Mars • Roger Dutcher • The Pedestal Magazine 82
- If you would seek a Seeress • Rebecca Buchanan • Star*Line 41.1
- In the Vaults • Adele Gardner • The Pedestal Magazine 82
- It Took Some Time • David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Devilfish Review 20
- The Kind Thing to Do • Kurt Newton • Polu Texni 4/23/18
- The Last Transport • Frank Coffman • Abyss & Apex 65
- Lorelei • Ali Trotta • Uncanny 22
- Lost Girls • Rachel Verkade • Liminality 15
- Misstep • David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Star*Line 41.4
- Mother • Deborah L. Davitt • Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer Solstice
- Mother Giant • Peri Fae Blomquist • Mythic Delirium 4.4
- nakajiru • D. A. Xiaolin Spires • Mithila Review 10
- The Nightmares • Wade German • Spectral Realms 8
- Nixon's Planet • Peter Ullian • Secret Histories and Exobiologies (Poet's Haven)
- Om Economics • Sandra J. Lindow • 2018 SFPA Poetry Contest
- Our Minds Are Jewels of Uncertainty • Terrie Leigh Relf & Kendall Evans • Star*Line 41.3
- Past Far Gone • Toby Macnutt • Arsenika 3
- The Poisoning • Jessica Drake-Thom • Eye to the Telescope 29
- The Prophet’s Vision • W. C. Roberts • Polu Texni 10/15/18
- The Protest: Ant Work Ethic • Michael H. Payne • Civilized Beasts III, ed. Vincent Corbeau (Weasel Press)
- Ragnarök: A Prism • Alexandra Seidel • Sycorax Journal 1
- Rapunzel • Christina Sng • Dreams and Nightmares 109
- Rex Arthurs • Deborah L. Davitt • Eye to the Telescope 27
- The Sea-Wolf of Brittany • Deborah L. Davitt • Liminality 17
- The Search • Deborah L. Davitt • Zetetic, May
- Seven Witches • Alexandra Seidel • Eye to the Telescope 30
- Skathi’s Spite • Deborah L. Davitt • Eternal Haunted Summer, Winter Solstice
- Snow: White; White: Snow • Erin Robinson • Liminality 18
- The Space of One Paragraph • Mark McCutcheon • Riddled with Arrows 2.2
- The Stars Are Not Eternal • Kendall Evans & David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Entanglement (diminuendo press)
- Third-Floor Bookstore • Herb Kauderer • Altered Reality Magazine 12
- Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Monster • Bruce Boston • Birthing Monsters: Frankenstein’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Cruelties (Firbolg Publishing)
- Two Dozen Restaurant Concepts for a Gentrified Mixed-Use Vacancy • James Ebersole • The Cockroach Conservatory Vol 1: The Working Zealot's Guide to Gaining Capital in Pre-Apocalyptic America
- Ursula Le Guin in the Underworld • Sarah Tolmie • On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic, April
- Verdant • F. J. Bergmann • Dreams and Nightmares 110
- The Visionary • Ian Futter • Spectral Realms 9
- White Siege • Alessandro Manzetti & Marge Simon • War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
- The Witch’s House • Jeana Jorgenson • Liminality 15
Nominations per Publication
| Number of Nominations | Publication Name |
|---|---|
| 6 | Abyss & Apex |
| 3 | Altered Reality Magazine |
| 1 | Amazing Stories Magazine |
| 2 | Analog Science Fiction and Fact |
| 2 | Apparition Lit |
| 1 | Artifacts (Independent Legions Publishing) |
| 2 | Asimov’s Science Fiction |
| 1 | Atlas Poetica: 25 Science Fiction Tanka & Kyoka, eds. Julie Bloss Kelsey & Susan Burch |
| 1 | Birthing Monsters: Frankenstein’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Cruelties (Firbolg Publishing) |
| 1 | Bleeding Saffron (Weasel Press) |
| 1 | Civilized Beasts III, ed. Vincent Corbeau (Weasel Press) |
| 1 | The Cockroach Conservatory |
| 1 | Dark Matters (Tapsalteerie Press) |
| 1 | Deadman's Tome Shit Fest, ed. Jesse Dedman (?) |
| 1 | Devilfish Review |
| 8 | Dreams and Nightmares |
| 3 | Entanglement (diminuendo press) |
| 4 | Eternal Haunted Summer |
| 1 | Evansville Review |
| 1 | Exploits in the Adirondacks, ed. ? (pub518) |
| 11 | Eye to the Telescope |
| 3 | Fantasy & Science Fiction |
| 1 | Fireside Fiction |
| 2 | Grievous Angel |
| 1 | Haikuniverse |
| 1 | Heroic Fantasy Quarterly |
| 1 | Illumen |
| 1 | Kaleidotrope |
| 1 | krystalvolneyfanssite |
| 1 | The Ladies of Horror Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge |
| 6 | Liminality |
| 2 | Liquid Imagination |
| 1 | The Literary Hatchet |
| 1 | Luna Luna Magazine |
| 1 | Mithila Review |
| 1 | Modern Poetry Review |
| 1 | Multiverse, ed. Russell Jones (Shoreline of Infinity) |
| 3 | Mythic Delirium |
| 1 | Not Very Quiet |
| 1 | On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic |
| 4 | The Pedestal Magazine |
| 1 | The Philippines Graphic |
| 1 | Poetry Northwest |
| 4 | Polu Texni |
| 1 | Poppy Road Review |
| 1 | Priestess & Hierophant |
| 1 | Projector Magazine |
| 2 | Riddled with Arrows |
| 1 | The School Magazine |
| 1 | SFPA Poetry Contest |
| 1 | Scifaikuest |
| 1 | Secret Histories and Exobiologies (Poet's Haven) |
| 1 | The Sirens Call |
| 1 | Space & Time Magazine |
| 1 | Spaceports & Spidersilk |
| 2 | Spectral Realms |
| 8 | Star*Line |
| 4 | Strange Horizons |
| 3 | Sycorax Journal |
| 6 | Uncanny |
| 1 | Unlikely Stories |
| 1 | Untimely Frost: Poetry Unthawed, eds. Suzie & Bruce Lockhart (Lycan Valley Press) |
| 2 | Vastarien |
| 3 | War (Crystal Lake Publishing) |