ABOUT THE RHYSLING AND DWARF STARS AWARDS

The Rhysling Awards are given each year by the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA), in recognition of the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poems of the year. Each year, members of SFPA nominate works that are compiled into an annual anthology; members then vote to select winners from the anthology’s contents. The award is given in two categories: works of fifty or more lines are eligible for Best Long Poem, and works shorter than that are eligible for Best Short Poem. Additionally, SFPA gives the Dwarf Stars Award to a poem of ten or fewer lines.

This year’s winners (in order of their appearance in this anthology) are: Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem, “Shutdown” by Marge Simon (page 117), Dwarf Star Award, “abandoned nursing home” by Greg Schwartz (page 119), and Rhysling Award for Best Long Poem, “100 Reasons to Have Sex with an Alien” by F. J. Bergmann (page 243).