Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award

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The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award ( Sturgeon Award for short ) for the best science fiction short story of the year is a literary award . It was founded in 1987 by James Gunn , director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas , and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon , in memory of one of the greatest SF short story writers.

For the first eight years (1987-1994), the winners were chosen by an Orson Scott Card- led committee of short story experts. The prize has been awarded by a jury since 1995. This is James Gunn and Frederik Pohl as permanent members. Judith Merril was initially there, but resigned after the 1996 award and was replaced by Kij Johnson . Since 1999 one of Theodore Sturgeon's children, usually his daughter Noel, has always participated in the voting process. George Zebrowski joined in 2005 and is part of the now five-person jury.

The nominations are made by reviewers, serious readers (original sound on the Sturgeon Award website) and editors of SF short stories. The suggestions are collected over the winter. A list of finalists will be drawn up based on the evaluation by the nominators. During the spring, the jury reads the final nominated works and debates their merits. The winner usually receives notification in May and is invited to the Campbell Conference .

The winner will be publicly announced during the Campbell Conference Awards Banquet held at the University of Kansas . The Sturgeon Award is the short story counterpart to the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best SF novel of the year.

Award winners

Nobody has ever won the Sturgeon Award multiple times. The front runners in the “Losers Club” are James Patrick Kelly , Ian R. MacLeod and Bruce Sterling , who were nominated seven, five and four times, respectively, without having won the award even once. James Patrick Kelly is also the most frequently nominated author to date for the Sturgeon Award, followed by John Kessel and Ursula K. Le Guin with six nominations each.

year author Original title
1987 Judith Moffett Surviving
1988 Pat Murphy Rachel in Love
1989 George Alec Effinger Schrödinger's kitten
1990 Michael Swanwick The Edge of the World
1991 Terry Bisson Bears Discover Fire
1992 John Kessel Buffalo
1993 Dan Simmons This Year's Class Picture
1994 Kij Johnson Fox Magic
1995 Ursula K. Le Guin Forgiveness Day
1996 John G. McDaid Jigoku no Mokushiroku (The Symbolic Revelation of the Apocalypse)
1997 Nancy Kress The Flowers of Aulit Prison
1998 Michael F. Flynn House of Dreams
1999 Ted Chiang Story of Your Life
2000 David Marusek The Wedding Album
2001 Ian McDonald Tendeléo's story
2002 Andy Duncan The chief designer
2003 Lucius Shepard Over Yonder
2004 Kage Baker The Empress of Mars
2005 Bradley Denton Sergeant Chip
2006 Paolo Bacigalupi The Calorie Man
2007 Robert Charles Wilson The Cartesian Theater
2008 Elizabeth Bear Tidelines
David R. Moles Finistera
2009 James Alan Gardner The Ray Gun: A Love Story
2010 James Morrow Shambling Towards Hiroshima
2011 Geoffrey A. Landis The Sultan of the Clouds
2012 Paul J. McAuley The Choice
2013 Molly Gloss The Grinnell Method
2014 Sarah Pinsker In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind
2015 Cory Doctorow The Man Who Sold the Moon
2016 Kelly Link The Game of Smash and Recovery
2017 Catherynne M. Valente The future is blue
2018 Charlie Jane Anders Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue
2019 Annalee Newitz When Robot and Crew Saved East St. Louis

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