Nebula Award for Best Short Story


The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short story if it is less than 7,500 words; awards are also given out for longer works in the categories of novel, novella, and novelette. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a short story 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 Short Story has been awarded annually since 1966. The award has 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 the SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be a member. 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. Beginning with the 2009 awards, the rules were changed to the current format. Prior to then, 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 reach the final ballot in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary ballot 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, 224 authors have had works nominated; 42 of these have won, including co-authors. One of these authors, Lisa Tuttle, refused her award, and in 1971 no winner was chosen as "no award" received the highest number of votes. Harlan Ellison won three times out of eight nominations, both the highest number of wins and the highest number of nominations of any author. Ten authors have won twice, with Karen Joy Fowler at seven and Gardner Dozois at six having the next highest nomination count after Ellison. Michael Swanwick has the most nominations for short story without winning at six, and Howard Waldrop and Gene Wolfe are next with five each. No other author has been nominated more than four times.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the short story 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. Entries with a gray background and a plus sign mark a year when "no award" was selected as the winner.
* Winners and joint winners
+ No winner selected
YearAuthorShort storyPublisher or publicationRef.
1966*""Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"Eyes Do More Than See"'
1966"Founding Father"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"Souvenir"Playboy
1966"Game"'
1966"Lord Moon"'
1966"Uncollected Works"'
1966""'
1966""'
1966"Computers Don't Argue"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966"Come to Venus Melancholy"'
1966"Of One Mind"If
1966"Inside Man"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"Calling Dr. Clockwork"Amazing Stories
1966"Better Than Ever"'
1966"In Our Block"If
1966"Slow Tuesday Night"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966"Cyclops"Worlds of Tomorrow
1966""Galaxy Science Fiction
1966""'
1966""'
1966"Though a Sparrow Fall"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966"Becalmed in Hell"'
1966"Wrong-Way Street"Galaxy Science Fiction
1966""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966""Galaxy Science Fiction
1966""If
1966"Keep Them Happy"'
1966"Balanced Ecology"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1966"Over the River and Through the Woods"Amazing Stories
1966""'
1966"Devil Car"Galaxy Science Fiction
1967*""'
1967"Man In His Time"Who Can Replace a Man?
1967"Light of Other Days"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1968*""Dangerous Visions
1968"Earthwoman"'
1968"Driftglass"If
1968"Answering Service"If
1968""'
1968"Baby, You Were Great"'
1969*""'
1969"Kyrie"'
1969""'
1969"Sword Game"Galaxy Science Fiction
1969"Masks"Playboy
1969"Idiot's Mate"Amazing Stories
1970*"Passengers"'
1970"Shattered Like a Glass Goblin"'
1970"Not Long Before the End"'
1970""'
1970""Galaxy Science Fiction
1971+
1971""'
1971"By the Falls"If
1971"Entire and Perfect Chrysolite"'
1971"In the Queue"'
1971""'
1971""'
1971""'
1972*"Good News from the Vatican"'
1972"Horse of Air"'
1972""Protostars
1972"Heathen God"'
1973*"When It Changed"Again, Dangerous Visions
1973"On the Downhill Side"'
1973"Shaffery Among the Immortals"'
1973"When We Went to See the End of the World"'
1973"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side"'
1973"Against the Lafayette Escadrille"Again, Dangerous Visions
1974*"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death"'
1974"Shark"'
1974"With Morning Comes Mistfall"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1974"Wings"'
1974""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1974"How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1975*""Galaxy Science Fiction
1975"After King Kong Fell"Omega
1975""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1976*"Catch That Zeppelin!"'
1976"Doing Lennon"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1976"White Creatures"'
1976"Utopia of a Tired Man"'
1976""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1976"Attachment"Amazing Stories
1976"Shatterday"Gallery
1976"Find the Lady"'
1976"White Wolf Calling"'
1976"Sail the Tide of Mourning"'
1976"Child of All Ages"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1976"Growing Up in Edge City"Epoch
1976"Time Deer"If
1977*""'
1977"Tricentennial"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1977"Breath's a Ware That Will Not Keep"Dystopian Visions
1977"Back to the Stone Age"Lone Star Universe
1977"Stone Circle"Amazing Stories
1977"Mary Margaret Road-Grader"'
1978*"Jeffty Is Five"'
1978"Tin Woodman"Amazing Stories
1978"Tin Woodman"Amazing Stories
1978""Penthouse
1978"Camera Obscura"Cosmos
1978"Air Raid"Asimov's Science Fiction
1979*"Stone"'
1979"Cassandra"'
1979""'
1980*"giANTS"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1980"Vernalfest Morning"Chrysalis 3
1980"Unaccompanied Sonata"Omni
1980"Red as Blood"'
1980""Omni
1980""'
1981*"Grotto of the Dancing Deer"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1981"Secrets of the Heart"'
1981"Window"'
1981"War Beneath the Tree"Omni
1981 ""'
1982* ""'
1982"Going Under"Omni
1982"Disciples"Penthouse
1982"Johnny Mnemonic"Omni
1982""'
1982"Venice Drowned"'
1982"Zeke"Twilight Zone
1982""'
1983*""Asimov's Science Fiction
1983"Petra"Omni
1983"High Steel"'
1983"High Steel"'
1983"Corridors"'
1983""Perpetual Light
1983"God's Hooks!"'
1984*""Asimov's Science Fiction
1984"Her Furry Face"Asimov's Science Fiction
1984"Cryptic"Asimov's Science Fiction
1984"Ghost Town"Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1984""Analog Science Fact & Fiction
1984"Wong's Lost and Found Emporium"Amazing Stories
1985*"Morning Child"Omni
1985""'
1985"Salvador"'
1985"Sunken Gardens"Omni
1985""'
1985""Light Years and Dark
1986*"Out of All Them Bright Stars"'
1986"Paper Dragons"Imaginary Lands
1986"Snow"Omni
1986""Omni
1986""Omni
1986""Omni
1986"More Than the Sum of His Parts"Playboy
1986"Flying Saucer Rock & Roll"Omni
1986"Heirs of the Perisphere"Playboy
1986"Hong's Bluff"Omni
1987*"Tangents"Omni
1987"Robot Dreams"Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Pretty Boy Crossover"Asimov's Science Fiction
1987"Rat"'
1987""'
1987""Omni
1988*"Forever Yours, Anna"Omni
1988"Angel"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988"Kid Charlemagne"Amazing Stories
1988""Asimov's Science Fiction
1988"Cassandra's Photographs"Asimov's Science Fiction
1988"Temple to a Minor Goddess"Amazing Stories
1988"Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers"Asimov's Science Fiction
1989*""Full Spectrum
1989"Voices of the Kill"Full Spectrum
1989"Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner"Asimov's Science Fiction
1989""Full Spectrum
1989"Dead Men on TV"Full Spectrum
1989""Asimov's Science Fiction
1990*"Ripples in the Dirac Sea"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990""Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine
1990""'
1990"Lost Boys"'
1990"Boobs"Asimov's Science Fiction
1990"Dori Bangs"Asimov's Science Fiction
1991*"Bears Discover Fire"Asimov's Science Fiction
1991""Omni
1991"Lieserl"Asimov's Science Fiction
1991"Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates"Alien Sex
1991"Before I Wake"Asimov's Science Fiction
1991"Story Child"Aboriginal SF
1992*"Ma Qui"'
1992"They're Made Out of Meat"Omni
1992""'
1992"Buffalo"'
1992"Dog's Life"Amazing Stories
1992"The Button, and What You Know"Amazing Stories
1993*"Even the Queen"Asimov's Science Fiction
1993"Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats"Omni
1993"Lennon Spex"Amazing Stories
1993""Asimov's Science Fiction
1993"Vinland the Dream"Asimov's Science Fiction
1993""Asimov's Science Fiction
1994*"Graves"'
1994""Omni
1994"All Vows"Asimov's Science Fiction
1994"Alfred"Asimov's Science Fiction
1994""'
1994""Asimov's Science Fiction
1995*""Science Fiction Age
1995"Inspiration"'
1995"None So Blind"Asimov's Science Fiction
1995"Understanding Entropy"Science Fiction Age
1995"Virtual Love"'
1995"I Know What You're Thinking"Asimov's Science Fiction
1996*"Death and the Librarian"Asimov's Science Fiction
1996"Alien Jane"Century
1996"Grass Dancer"Excalibur
1996""Asimov's Science Fiction
1996""Science Fiction Age
1996""'
1996"Short Timer"'
1997*""'
1997"In the Pound, Near Breaktime"Tomorrow Speculative Fiction
1997""'
1997"Five Fucks"'
1997"These Shoes Strangers Have Died Of"Enchanted Forests
1997"In the Shade of the Slowboat Man"'
1998*"Sister Emily's Lightship"Starlight 1
1998""Alternate Tyrants
1998""Crank!
1998"Itsy Bitsy Spider"Asimov's Science Fiction
1998""Starlight 1
1998"Burning Bright"Aboriginal SF
1999*"Thirteen Ways to Water"Black Cats and Broken Mirrors
1999"When the Bow Breaks"'
1999"Standing Room Only"Asimov's Science Fiction
1999"Fortune and Misfortune"Asimov's Science Fiction
1999"Winter Fire"Asimov's Science Fiction
1999"Tall One"'
2000*""Amazing Stories
2000"Flower Kiss"Realms of Fantasy
2000""North American Review
2000"Basil the Dog"'
2000"Radiant Doors"Asimov's Science Fiction
2000"Ancient Engines"Asimov's Science Fiction
2001*"Macs"'
2001""'
2001"Flying Over Water"Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
2001""Black Heart, Ivory Bones
2001"Scherzo with Tyrannosaur"Asimov's Science Fiction
2001"You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child To Break Your Heart and Mine"Silver Birch, Blood Moon
2002*""Sci Fiction
2002"Kaddish for the Last Survivor"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2002""Asimov's Science Fiction
2002"Mom and Dad at the Home Front"Realms of Fantasy
2002"Wound the Wind"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2003*"Creature"'
2003"Creation"'
2003"Cut"Asimov's Science Fiction
2003"Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City"Artemis
2003"Little Gods"Strange Horizons
2003""Asimov's Science Fiction
2004*"What I Didn't See"Sci Fiction
2004"Knapsack Poems"'
2004""Asimov's Science Fiction
2004"Good-Bye to All That"McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
2004"Grandma"'
2004"Lambing Season"Asimov's Science Fiction
2004""Asimov's Science Fiction
2005*"Coming to Terms"Stable Strategies and Others
2005""Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2005"Travels with My Cats"Asimov's Science Fiction
2005"Embracing-The-New"Asimov's Science Fiction
2005"In the Late December"Strange Horizons
2005"Aloha"Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2006*"I Live With You"'
2006"Born Again"'
2006""'
2006"My Mother, Dancing"Asimov's Science Fiction
2006"Singing My Sister Down"Black Juice
2006"Still Life with Boobs"Talebones
2006"There's a Hole in the City"Sci Fiction
2007*"Echo"'
2007"Helen Remembers the Stork Club"'
2007""'
2007"Henry James, This One's for You"Subterranean Magazine
2007""Children of Magic
2007"Pip and the Fairies"Strange Horizons
2008*"Always"Asimov's Science Fiction
2008"Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse"Eclipse 1
2008"Titanium Mike Saves the Day"'
2008""Salt of the Air
2008"Captive Girl"Helix SF
2008"Pride"Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge
2009*"Trophy Wives"Fellowship Fantastic
2009""Helix SF
2009""'
2009"26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss"Asimov's Science Fiction
2009""'
2009"Don't Stop"Asimov's Science Fiction
2009"Mars: A Traveler's Guide"'
2010*"Spar"Clarkesworld Magazine
2010"Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela"Clockwork Phoenix 2
2010"I Remember the Future"I Remember the Future
2010"Non-Zero Probabilities"Clarkesworld Magazine
2010"Going Deep"Asimov's Science Fiction
2010"Bridesicle"Asimov's Science Fiction
2011*""Realms of Fantasy
2011*"Ponies"Tor.com
2011"Arvies"Lightspeed
2011"I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno"Lightspeed
2011""Apex Magazine
2011"Ghosts of New York"Dark Faith
2011"Conditional Love"Asimov's Science Fiction
2012*""'
2012"Her Husband's Hands"Lightspeed
2012"Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son"Lightspeed
2012"Movement"Asimov's Science Fiction
2012"Shipbirth"Asimov's Science Fiction
2012""New Haven Review
2012""Clarkesworld Magazine
2013*"Immersion"Clarkesworld Magazine
2013"Robot"Clarkesworld Magazine
2013"Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes"Clarkesworld Magazine
2013"Nanny's Day"Asimov's Science Fiction
2013"Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream"Lightspeed
2013""Lightspeed
2013"Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain"Near + Far
2014*"If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love"Apex Magazine
2014""Lightspeed
2014"Selkie Stories Are for Losers"Strange Horizons
2014"Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer"Clockwork Phoenix 4
2014"Alive, Alive Oh"Lightspeed
2015*"Jackalope Wives"Apex Magazine
2015""Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2015"When It Ends, He Catches Her"Daily Science Fiction
2015""Clarkesworld Magazine
2015""Qualia Nous
2015""'
2015""'
2016*"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers"Nightmare Magazine
2016"Cat Pictures Please"Clarkesworld Magazine
2016"Damage"Tor.com
2016"Madeleine"Lightspeed
2016"Today I Am Paul"Clarkesworld Magazine
2016"When Your Child Strays from God"Clarkesworld Magazine
2017*"Seasons of Glass and Iron"
2017"Our Talons Can Crush Galaxies"Uncanny Magazine
2017"Sabbath Wine"Clockwork Phoenix 5
2017"Things With Beards"Clarkesworld Magazine
2017"This Is Not a Wardrobe Door"Fireside Magazine
2017Tor.com
2017"Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station / Hours Since the Last Patient Death: 0"Lightspeed
2018*"Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™"Apex Magazine
2018"Fandom for Robots"Uncanny Magazine
2018"Utopia, LOL?"Strange Horizons
2018"Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand"Uncanny Magazine
2018Tor.com
2018"Carnival Nine"Beneath Ceaseless Skies
2019*Fireside Magazine
2019Uncanny Magazine
2019Lightspeed
2019"Going Dark"Backblast Area Clear
2019"Interview for the End of the World"Bridge Across the Stars
2019Apex Magazine
2020*"Give the Family My Love"Clarkesworld Magazine
2020Uncanny Magazine
2020"And Now His Lordship Is Laughing"Strange Horizons
2020"Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island"Nightmare Magazine
2020Uncanny Magazine
2020"How the Trick Is Done"Uncanny Magazine