Nebula Award for Best Novelette


The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,500 and 17,500 words; awards are also given out for pieces of longer lengths in the Novel and Novella categories, and for shorter lengths in the Short Story category. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a novelette must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition. The Nebula Award for Best Novelette has been awarded annually since 1966. The Nebula Awards have been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards.
Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be members. Works are nominated each year between November 15 and February 15 by published authors who are members of the organization, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Members may then vote on the ballot throughout March, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. The rules were changed to their current format in 2009. Previously, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then be awarded in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary list for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create a final ballot, to which the SFWA organizing panel was also allowed to add an additional work.
During the 55 nomination years, 217 authors have had works nominated; 48 of these have won, including co-authors and ties. Ted Chiang has won three times out of three nominations, and Poul Anderson, Kelly Link, George R. R. Martin, and Connie Willis have each won twice out of five, two, four, and five nominations, respectively. One of Anderson's nominations was under the pseudonym Michael Karageorge. Ursula K. Le Guin has the most nominations of any author with seven, including one win and not including one withdrawn nomination. James Patrick Kelly and Richard Bowes are tied for the most nominations without winning at six.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the novelette was first published. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature". Entries with a blue background and an asterisk next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist.
* Winners and joint winners
YearAuthorNovelettePublisher or publicationRef.
1966*""'
1966""Galaxy Science Fiction
1966""Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"Vanishing Point"If
1966"102 H-Bombs"Fantastic
1966"Half a Loaf"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966""Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"At the Institute"Worlds of Tomorrow
1966""'
1966"Laugh Along with Franz"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966"Four Ghosts In Hamlet"'
1966"Small One"If
1966""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966"Masque of the Red Shift"If
1966"Goblin Night"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966"Planet of Forgetting"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"Maiden Voyage"'
1966"Shall We Have a Little Talk?"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966""'
1967*"Call Him Lord"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1967"Apology to Inky"'
1967""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1967""Galaxy Science Fiction
1967"This Moment of the Storm"'
1968*"Gonna Roll the Bones"Dangerous Visions
1968"Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes"Knight
1968"Flatlander"If
1968""New Worlds
1968"This Mortal Mountain"If
1969*"Mother to the World"'
1969"Total Environment"Galaxy Science Fiction
1969""Galaxy Science Fiction
1969""Galaxy Science Fiction
1969""If
1969"Once There Was a Giant"'
1969"Final War"'
1970*"Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones"New Worlds
1970"Deeper than the Darkness"'
1970"Nine Lives"Playboy
1970""'
1971*"Slow Sculpture"Galaxy Science Fiction
1971""'
1971"Dear Aunt Annie"Fantastic
1971""Galaxy Science Fiction
1971"Continued on Next Rock"'
1971""'
1972*""'
1972""'
1972"Mount Charity"'
1972"Poor Man, Beggar Man"'
1972""'
1973*"Goat Song"'
1973""'
1973""'
1973"Basilisk"'
1973"In the Deadlands"With a Finger In My I
1973"Patron of the Arts"'
1973""Again, Dangerous Visions
1974*"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1974""'
1974"Case and the Dreamer"Galaxy Science Fiction
1974""'
1975*"If the Stars Are Gods"'
1975*"If the Stars Are Gods"'
1975""'
1975"Twilla"'
1976*"San Diego Lightfoot Sue"'
1976""New Worlds 6
1976"Blooded on Arachne"Epoch
1976""'
1976""'
1976"Polly Charms, the Sleeping Woman"'
1976""'
1976""'
1976""'
1976""Galaxy Science Fiction
1976"Retrograde Summer"'
1977*""Stellar 2
1977"His Hour Upon the Stage"Amazing Stories
1977"Custer's Last Jump"'
1977"Custer's Last Jump"'
1977"In the Bowl"'
1978*""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1978"Particle Theory"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1978""'
1978""New Voices in Science Fiction
1978""'
1979*""Graven Images
1979"Mikal's Songbird"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1979"Devil You Don't Know"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1980*"Sandkings"Omni
1980""Destinies
1980"Camps"'
1980""'
1980""'
1980"Options"'
1981*""'
1981"Strata"'
1981""'
1981""'
1981"Ginungagap"TriQuarterly
1981"Beatnik Bayou"New Voices 3
1982*""'
1982"Sea Changeling"Asimov's Science Fiction
1982""'
1982""'
1982"Mummer Kiss"'
1982"Lirios: A Tale of the Quintana Roo"Asimov's Science Fiction
1983*"Fire Watch"Asimov's Science Fiction
1983"Myths of the Near Future"'
1983"Understanding Human Behavior"'
1983"Burning Chrome"Omni
1983""Speculations
1983"Swarm"'
1984*"Blood Music"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1984"Blind Shemmy"Omni
1984""'
1984"Black Air"'
1984"Cicada Queen"'
1984"Slow Birds"'
1984""Asimov's Science Fiction
1985*"Bloodchild"Asimov's Science Fiction
1985"Bad Medicine"Asimov's Science Fiction
1985"Saint Theresa of the Aliens"Asimov's Science Fiction
1985""'
1985""'
1985"Trojan Horse"Omni
1986*"Portraits of His Children"Asimov's Science Fiction
1986""Asimov's Science Fiction
1986""'
1986"Paladin of the Lost Hour"'
1986"Dogfight"Omni
1986"Dogfight"Omni
1986""'
1986"Rockabye Baby"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1987*""Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Hatrack River"Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Listening to Brahms"Omni
1987""Stardate
1987"Surviving"'
1987"Aymara"Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Permafrost"Omni
1988*"Rachel in Love"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988""Omni
1988"Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1988"Dream Baby"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988"Flowers of Edo"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988"Schwarzschild Radius"'
1989*"Schrödinger's Kitten"Omni
1989"Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus"Asimov's Science Fiction
1989"Peaches for Mad Molly"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1989"Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh"Empire Dreams
1989""Asimov's Science Fiction
1989"Kirinyaga"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1989"Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance?"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990*"At the Rialto"Omni
1990"Sisters"Tangents
1990"Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990"For I Have Touched the Sky"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1990"Fast Cars"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990"Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another"Asimov's Science Fiction
1991*"Tower of Babylon"Omni
1991""Asimov's Science Fiction
1991""
1991"1/72nd Scale"Weird Tales
1991""Asimov's Science Fiction
1991""Amazing Stories
1991"Loose Cannon"What Might Have Been? Vol. 2: Alternate Heroes
1991"Over the Long Haul"Amazing Stories
1992*"Guide Dog"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1992"Gate of Faces"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1992"Black Glass"
1992""Playboy
1992""Playboy
1992"Standing In Line with Mister Jimmy"Asimov's Science Fiction
1992""Asimov's Science Fiction
1992"Getting Real"Newer York
1993*"Danny Goes to Mars"Asimov's Science Fiction
1993"Matter's End"
1993""Asimov's Science Fiction
1993""Fantasy & Science Fiction
1993"Suppose They Gave a Peace..."Alternate Presidents
1993"Prayers on the Wind"When the Music's Over
1994*"Georgia on My Mind"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
1994"England Underway"Omni
1994""Asimov's Science Fiction
1994""Asimov's Science Fiction
1994"Things Not Seen"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
1994"Death on the Nile"Asimov's Science Fiction
1995*""Fantasy & Science Fiction
1995"Necronauts"Playboy
1995""Fantasy & Science Fiction
1995""Analog Science Fiction and Fact
1995""Crank!
1995"Nekropolis"Asimov's Science Fiction
1996*"Solitude"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1996""Fantasy & Science Fiction
1996"Tea and Hamsters"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1996"Jesus at the Bat"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1996"Home for Christmas"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1996"Think Like a Dinosaur"Asimov's Science Fiction
1996"When the Old Gods Die"Asimov's Science Fiction
1997*"Lifeboat on a Burning Sea"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1997"Erase/Record/Play"Starlight 1
1997"Mirror of Lop Nor"Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn
1997""Analog Science Fiction and Fact
1997"Must and Shall"Asimov's Science Fiction
1997""Realms of Fantasy
1997"After a Lean Winter"Fantasy & Science Fiction
1998*""Asimov's Science Fiction
1998""Asimov's Science Fiction
1998"Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream"Asimov's Science Fiction
1998"We Will Drink a Fish Together..."Asimov's Science Fiction
1998""Asimov's Science Fiction
1998""Analog Science Fiction and Fact
1998""Asimov's Science Fiction
1999*"Lost Girls"Realms of Fantasy
1999""Science Fiction Age
1999"Time Gypsy"Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction
1999""Fantasy & Science Fiction
1999"Echea"Asimov's Science Fiction
1999"Lethe"Asimov's Science Fiction
2000*"Mars Is No Place for Children"Science Fiction Age
2000""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2000"How to Make Unicorn Pie"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2000"Five Days in April"Chiaroscuro
2000"Good Intentions"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2000"Good Intentions"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2000"Taklamakan"Asimov's Science Fiction
2001*"Daddy's World"Not of Woman Born
2001"Stellar Harvest"Asimov's Science Fiction
2001""Asimov's Science Fiction
2001"Jack Daw's Pack"Century
2001""Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2001"How the Highland People Came to Be"Realms of Fantasy
2001"Generation Gap"Artemis
2002*"Louise's Ghost"Stranger Things Happen
2002"To Kiss the Star"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2002""Sci Fiction
2002"Undone"Asimov's Science Fiction
2002"Auspicious Eggs"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2002"Dance of the Yellow-Breasted Luddites"Vanishing Acts
2003*"Hell Is the Absence of God"Starlight 3
2003""'
2003""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2003"Madonna of the Maquiladora"Asimov's Science Fiction
2003""Asimov's Science Fiction
2003"Lobsters"Asimov's Science Fiction
2004*""Sci Fiction
2004""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2004"Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs"Imaginings: An Anthology of Long Short Fiction
2004"0wnz0red"Salon
2004""Sci Fiction
2005*"Basement Magic"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2005"Zora and the Zombie"Sci Fiction
2005""Sci Fiction
2005"Dry Bones"Asimov's Science Fiction
2005""Asimov's Science Fiction
2006*""'
2006"Flat Diane"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2006"Men Are Trouble"Asimov's Science Fiction
2006"Nirvana High"Stable Strategies and Others
2006"Nirvana High"Stable Strategies and Others
2006""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2007*"Two Hearts"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2007""Realms of Fantasy
2007"Walpurgis Afternoon"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2007"Journey into the Kingdom"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2007"Little Faces"Sci Fiction
2008*""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2008""Heroes in Training
2008"Child, Maiden, Woman, Crone"Jim Baen's Universe
2008""'
2008"Safeguard"Asimov's Science Fiction
2008""'
2008"Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter "Fantasy & Science Fiction
2009*"Pride and Prometheus"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2009"If Angels Fight"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2009""Asimov's Science Fiction
2009"Dark Rooms"Asimov's Science Fiction
2009"Night Wind"Lace and Blade
2009"Baby Doll"'
2009"Kaleidoscope"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2010*"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast"Interzone
2010""Fast Forward 2
2010"Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage"Asimov's Science Fiction
2010"I Needs Must Part, the Policeman Said"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2010"Divining Light"Asimov's Science Fiction
2010""Tor.com
2011*"That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2011"Map of Seventeen"'
2011""Asimov's Science Fiction
2011""Realms of Fantasy
2011"Plus or Minus"Asimov's Science Fiction
2011"Pishaach"'
2011"Stone Wall Truth"Asimov's Science Fiction
2012*"What We Found"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2012"Fields of Gold"Eclipse 4
2012"Ray of Light"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2012"Sauerkraut Station"Giganotosaurus
2012"Six Months, Three Days"Tor.com
2012""Giganotosaurus
2012""Lightspeed
2013*"Close Encounters"'
2013""'
2013""Asimov's Science Fiction
2013""Tor.com
2013"Swift, Brutal Retaliation"Tor.com
2013"Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia"Tor.com
2013"Fade to White"Clarkesworld Magazine
2014*""'
2014"Paranormal Romance"Lightspeed
2014"They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass"Asimov's Science Fiction
2014"Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters"Asimov's Science Fiction
2014""Lightspeed
2014"In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind"Strange Horizons
2015*""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2015"Sleep Walking Now and Then"Tor.com
2015""Clarkesworld Magazine
2015""Granta
2015"We Are the Cloud"Lightspeed
2015""Tor.com
2016*"Our Lady of the Open Road"Asimov's Science Fiction
2016"And You Shall Know Her by the Trail of Dead"Lightspeed
2016""Fantasy & Science Fiction
2016"Grandmother-nai-Laylit's Cloth of Winds"Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2016""Asimov's Science Fiction
2016"Rattlesnakes and Men"Asimov's Science Fiction
2017*Fantasy & Science Fiction
2017"Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea"Lightspeed
2017"Blood Grains Speak Through Memories"Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2017"The Orangery"Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2017Fran WildeTor.com Publishing
2017"You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay"Uncanny Magazine
2018*Tor.com
2018"Dirty Old Town"Fantasy & Science Fiction
2018"Weaponized Math"'
2018"Wind Will Rove"Asimov's Science Fiction
2018Clarkesworld Magazine
2018"Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time"Uncanny Magazine
2019*Tor.com Publishing
2019'
2019Tor.com
2019"Messenger"'
2019"Messenger"'
2019Future Science Fiction Digest
2019Lightspeed
2020*Meerkat Press
2020Fantasy & Science Fiction
2020"For He Can Creep"Tor.com
2020"His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light"Tor.com
2020Uncanny Magazine
2020Lightspeed