Hugo Award for Best Short Story (Hugo Awards)

Hugo Awards

The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in English or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of fewer than 7,500 words; awards are also given out for pieces of longer lengths in the novelette, novella, and novel categories. The Hugo Award for Best Short Story has been awarded annually since 1955, except in 1957. The award was titled "Best Short Fiction" rather than "Best Short Story" in 1960–1966. During this time no Novelette category was awarded and the Novella category had not yet been established; the award was defined only as a work "of less than novel length" that was not published as a stand-alone book. In addition to the regular Hugo awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro Hugos may only be awarded for years in which a World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, was hosted, but no awards were originally given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been given for short stories for 1946, 1951, and 1954.

Date Established : 1955

Check all the winners of Hugo Award for Best Short Story presented under Hugo Awards since 1955 .

News

2015 Hugo Award Finalists are Announced (Tue, Apr 07 2015)
2014 Hugo Awards Winners Are Announced By The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, Loncon 3 (Mon, Aug 18 2014)

John Chu

Honored for : The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere

Nominations 2014 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Rachel Swirsky	If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love
Thomas Olde Heuvelt	The Ink Readers of Doi Saket
Sofia Samatar	Selkie Stories Are for Losers
John Chu	The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere

Ken Liu

Honored for : Mono no Aware

Nominations 2013 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Ken Liu	Mono no Aware
Aliette de Bodard	Immersion
Kij Johnson	Mantis Wives

Ken Liu

Honored for : The Paper Menagerie

Nominations 2012 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Ken Liu	The Paper Menagerie
E. Lily Yu	The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees
Mike Resnick	The Homecoming
Nancy Fulda	Movement
John Scalzi	Shadow War of the Night Dragons, Book One: The Dead City (Prologue)

Mary Robinette Kowal

Honored for : For Want of a Nail

Nominations 2011 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Peter Watts	The Things
Kij Johnson	Ponies
Mary Robinette Kowal	For Want of a Nail
Carrie Vaughn	Amaryllis

Will McIntosh

Honored for : Bridesicle

Nominations 2010 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Will McIntosh	Bridesicle
Mike Resnick	The Bride of Frankenstein
N. K. Jemisin	Non-Zero Probabilities
Kij Johnson	Spar
Lawrence M. Schoen	The Moment

Ted Chiang

Honored for : Exhalation

Nominations 2009 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Mary Robinette Kowal	Evil Robot Monkey
Kij Johnson	26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss
Ted Chiang	Exhalation
Michael Swanwick	From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled
Mike Resnick	Article of Faith

Elizabeth Bear

Honored for : Tideline

Nominations 2008 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Michael Swanwick	A Small Room in Koboldtown
Mike Resnick	Distant Replay
Stephen Baxter	Last Contact
Ken MacLeod	Who's Afraid of Wolf 359?
Elizabeth Bear	Tideline

Tim Pratt

Honored for : Impossible Dreams

Nominations 2007 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Robert Reed	Eight Episodes
Neil Gaiman	How to Talk to Girls at Parties
Tim Pratt	Impossible Dreams
Bruce McAllister	Kin
Benjamin Rosenbaum	The House Beyond Your Sky

David D. Levine

Honored for : Tk'tk'tk

Nominations 2006 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Margo Lanagan	Singing My Sister Down
Dominic Green	The Clockwork Atom Bomb
David D. Levine	Tk'tk'tk
Michael A. Burstein	Seventy-Five Years
Mike Resnick	Down Memory Lane

Mike Resnick

Honored for : Travels with My Cats

Nominations 2005 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Mike Resnick	Travels with My Cats
James Patrick Kelly	The Best Christmas Ever
Michael A. Burstein	Decisions
Robert J. Sawyer	Shed Skin
Mike Resnick	A Princess of Earth

Neil Gaiman

Honored for : A Study in Emerald

Nominations 2004 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Neil Gaiman	A Study in Emerald
Michael A. Burstein	Paying It Forward
David D. Levine	The Tale of the Golden Eagle
Joe Haldeman	Four Short Novels
Mike Resnick	Robots Don't Cry

Geoffrey A. Landis

Honored for : Falling Onto Mars

Nominations 2003 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Geoffrey A. Landis	Falling Onto Mars
Michael Swanwick	'Hello,' Said the Stick
Molly Gloss	Lambing Season
Michael Swanwick	The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport
Jeffrey Ford	Creation

Michael Swanwick

Honored for : The Dog Said Bow-Wow

Nominations 2002 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Michael Swanwick	The Dog Said Bow-Wow
Stephen Baxter	The Ghost Pit
Mike Resnick	Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Michael A. Burstein	Spaceships
Ursula K. Le Guin	The Bones of the Earth

David Langford

Honored for : Different Kinds of Darkness

Nominations 2001 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Michael A. Burstein	Kaddish for the Last Survivor
Michael Swanwick	Moon Dogs
Mike Resnick	The Elephants on Neptune
David Langford	Different Kinds of Darkness
Stephen Baxter	The Gravity Mine

Michael Swanwick

Honored for : Scherzo with Tyrannosaur

Nominations 2000 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Michael Swanwick	Ancient Engines
Michael Swanwick	Scherzo with Tyrannosaur
Terry Bisson	macs
Mike Resnick	Hothouse Flowers
Nicholas A. DiChario	Sarajevo

Michael Swanwick

Honored for : The Very Pulse of the Machine

Nominations 1999 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Michael Swanwick	Radiant Doors
Michael Swanwick	The Very Pulse of the Machine
Michael Swanwick	Wild Minds
Bruce Sterling	Maneki Neko
Michael A. Burstein	Cosmic Corkscrew
Robert Reed	Whiptail

Mike Resnick

Honored for : The 43 Antarean Dynasties

Nominations 1998 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Mike Resnick	The 43 Antarean Dynasties
James Patrick Kelly	Itsy Bitsy Spider
Karen Joy Fowler	Standing Room Only
Andy Duncan	Beluthahatchie
Gene Wolfe	No Planets Strike
Robert J. Sawyer	The Hand You're Dealt

Connie Willis

Honored for : The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson's Poems: A Wellsian Perspective

Nominations 1997 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Michael Swanwick	The Dead
Connie Willis	The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson's Poems: A Wellsian Perspective
James White	Un-Birthday Boy
John Crowley	Gone
Robert Reed	Decency

Maureen F. McHugh

Honored for : The Lincoln Train

Nominations 1996 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Esther Friesner	A Birthday
Maureen F. McHugh	The Lincoln Train
Michael Swanwick	Walking Out
Michael A. Burstein	TeleAbsence
Tony Daniel	Life on the Moon

Joe Haldeman

Honored for : None So Blind

Nominations 1995 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Kate Wilhelm	I Know What You're Thinking
Joe Haldeman	None So Blind
Barry N. Malzberg	Understanding Entropy
M. Shayne Bell	Mrs. Lincoln's China
Mike Resnick	Barnaby in Exile
Terry Bisson	Dead Man's Curve

Connie Willis

Honored for : Death on the Nile

Nominations 1994 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Terry Bisson	England Underway
Bridget McKenna	The Good Pup
Connie Willis	Death on the Nile
Martha Soukup	The Story So Far
Mike Resnick	Mwalimu in the Squared Circle

Connie Willis

Honored for : Even the Queen

Nominations 1993 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Connie Willis	Even the Queen
Nancy Kress	The Mountain to Mohammed
Martha Soukup	The Arbitrary Placement of Walls
Mike Resnick	The Lotus and the Spear
Nicholas A. DiChario	The Winterberry

Geoffrey A. Landis

Honored for : A Walk in the Sun

Nominations 1992 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Geoffrey A. Landis	A Walk in the Sun
Martha Soukup	Dog's Life
John Kessel	Buffalo
Connie Willis	In the Late Cretaceous
Mike Resnick	One Perfect Morning, With Jackals
Mike Resnick	Winter Solstice
Terry Bisson	Press Ann

Terry Bisson

Honored for : Bears Discover Fire

Nominations 1991 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Terry Bisson	Bears Discover Fire
Charles Sheffield	Godspeed
Connie Willis	Cibola
Robert Reed	The Utility Man
W. R. Thompson	VRM-547

Suzy McKee Charnas

Honored for : Boobs

Nominations 1990 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Bruce Sterling	Dori Bangs
Larry Niven	The Return of William Proxmire
Suzy McKee Charnas	Boobs
Orson Scott Card	Lost Boys
Michael Swanwick	The Edge of the World
Eileen Gunn	Computer Friendly

Mike Resnick

Honored for : Kirinyaga

Nominations 1989 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Mike Resnick	Kirinyaga
Geoffrey A. Landis	Ripples in the Dirac Sea
Eileen Gunn	Stable Strategies for Middle Management
Jack McDevitt	The Fort Moxie Branch
David Brin	The Giving Plague
Bruce Sterling	Our Neural Chernobyl

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Honored for : Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers

Nominations 1988 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Lisa Goldstein	Cassandra's Photographs
Kate Wilhelm	Forever Yours, Anna
Karen Joy Fowler	The Faithful Companion at Forty
Lawrence Watt-Evans	Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers
Pat Cadigan	Angel
Howard Waldrop	Night of the Cooters

Greg Bear

Honored for : Tangents

Nominations 1987 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Nancy Springer	The Boy Who Plaited Manes
Isaac Asimov	Robot Dreams
James Patrick Kelly	Rat
Greg Bear	Tangents
David S. Garnett	Still Life

Frederik Pohl

Honored for : Fermi and Frost

Nominations 1986 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Frederik Pohl	Fermi and Frost
Howard Waldrop	Flying Saucer Rock & Roll
William F. Wu	Hong's Bluff
John Crowley	Snow
Bruce Sterling	Dinner in Audoghast

David Brin

Honored for : The Crystal Spheres

Nominations 1985 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
George Alec Effinger	The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything
David Brin	The Crystal Spheres
Lucius Shepard	Salvador
Lee Killough	Symphony for a Lost Traveler
Kim Stanley Robinson	Ridge Running
Steven Gould	Rory

Octavia E. Butler

Honored for : Speech Sounds

Nominations 1984 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Octavia E. Butler	Speech Sounds
Hilbert Schenck	The Geometry of Narrative
William F. Wu	Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
Gardner Dozois	The Peacemaker
Frederik Pohl	Servant of the People

Spider Robinson

Honored for : Melancholy Elephants

Nominations 1983 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Spider Robinson	Melancholy Elephants
Bruce Sterling	Spider Rose
Howard Waldrop	Ike at the Mike
James Tiptree, Jr.	The Boy Who Waterskied to Forever
Ursula K. Le Guin	Sur

John Varley

Honored for : The Pusher

Nominations 1982 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
John Varley	The Pusher
George Guthridge	The Quiet
Gene Wolfe	The Woman the Unicorn Loved
S. P. Somtow	Absent Thee from Felicity Awhile

Clifford D. Simak

Honored for : Grotto of the Dancing Deer

Nominations 1981 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Clifford D. Simak	Grotto of the Dancing Deer
Jeff Duntemann	Cold Hands
Jeff Duntemann	Guardian
Robert Silverberg	Our Lady of the Sauropods
Susan C. Petrey	Spidersong

George R. R. Martin

Honored for : The Way of Cross and Dragon

Nominations 1980 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
George R. R. Martin	The Way of Cross and Dragon
Orson Scott Card	Unaccompanied Sonata
Edward Bryant	giANTS
Connie Willis	Daisy, In the Sun
Ted Reynolds	Can These Bones Live?

C. J. Cherryh

Honored for : Cassandra

Nominations 1979 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
C. J. Cherryh	Cassandra
Edward Bryant	Stone
Ian Watson	The Very Slow Time Machine
Harlan Ellison	Count the Clock that Tells the Time
Joan D. Vinge	View From a Height

Harlan Ellison

Honored for : Jeffty Is Five

Nominations 1978 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Harlan Ellison	Jeffty Is Five
John Varley	Air Raid
James Tiptree, Jr.	Time-Sharing Angel
Randall Garrett	Lauralyn
Spider Robinson	Dog Day Evening

Joe Haldeman

Honored for : Tricentennial

Nominations 1977 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Charles L. Grant	A Crowd of Shadows
Joe Haldeman	Tricentennial
Damon Knight	I See You
James White	Custom Fitting

Fritz Leiber

Honored for : Catch That Zeppelin!

Nominations 1976 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Fritz Leiber	Catch That Zeppelin!
P. J. Plauger	Child of All Ages
Gregory Benford	Doing Lennon
Richard A. Lupoff	Sail the Tide of Mourning
Harlan Ellison	Croatoan
Michael Bishop	Rogue Tomato

Larry Niven

Honored for : The Hole Man

Nominations 1975 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Ursula K. Le Guin	The Day Before the Revolution
Alfred Bester	The Four-Hour Fugue
Larry Niven	The Hole Man
Michael Bishop	Cathadonian Odyssey
Robert Silverberg	Schwartz Between the Galaxies

Ursula K. Le Guin

Honored for : The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Nominations 1974 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Ursula K. Le Guin	The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
George R. R. Martin	With Morning Comes Mistfall
Vonda N. McIntyre	Wings
Clifford D. Simak	Construction Shack

Frederik Pohl, Cyril M. Kornbluth

Honored for : The Meeting

Nominations 1973 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
R. A. Lafferty	Eurema's Dam
Joanna Russ	When It Changed
Robert Silverberg	When We Went to See the End of the World
James Tiptree, Jr.	And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side
Frederik Pohl	The Meeting
Cyril M. Kornbluth	The Meeting

R. A. Lafferty

Honored for : Eurema's Dam

Nominations 1973 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
R. A. Lafferty	Eurema's Dam
Joanna Russ	When It Changed
Robert Silverberg	When We Went to See the End of the World
James Tiptree, Jr.	And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side
Frederik Pohl	The Meeting
Cyril M. Kornbluth	The Meeting

Larry Niven

Honored for : Inconstant Moon

Nominations 1972 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Larry Niven	Inconstant Moon
Clifford D. Simak	The Autumn Land
George Alec Effinger	All the Last Wars at Once
R. A. Lafferty	Sky
Stephen Tall	The Bear with the Knot on His Tail
Ursula K. Le Guin	Vaster than Empires and More Slow

Theodore Sturgeon

Honored for : Slow Sculpture

Nominations 1971 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
R. A. Lafferty	Continued on Next Rock
Keith Laumer	In the Queue
Theodore Sturgeon	Slow Sculpture
Ben Bova	Brillo
Harlan Ellison	Brillo
Gordon R. Dickson	Jean Duprès

Samuel R. Delany

Honored for : Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones

Nominations 1970 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Gregory Benford	Deeper than the Darkness
Larry Niven	Not Long Before the End
Samuel R. Delany	Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones
Ursula K. Le Guin	Winter's King
Robert Silverberg	Passengers

Harlan Ellison

Honored for : The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World

Nominations 1969 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Larry Niven	All the Myriad Ways
Terry Carr	The Dance of the Changer and the Three
Damon Knight	Masks
Harlan Ellison	The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World
Betsy Curtis	The Steiger Effect

Harlan Ellison

Honored for : Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Nominations 1968 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Samuel R. Delany	Aye, and Gomorrah...
Harlan Ellison	Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
Larry Niven	The Jigsaw Man

Larry Niven

Honored for : Neutron Star

Nominations 1967 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Bob Shaw	Light of Other Days
Brian Aldiss	Man In His Time
Larry Niven	Neutron Star
Richard McKenna	The Secret Place
Fred Saberhagen	Mr. Jester
Harlan Ellison	Delusions for a Dragon Slayer
Raymond F. Jones	Rat Race
Roger Zelazny	Comes Now the Power

Robert Bloch

Honored for : That Hell-Bound Train

Nominations 1959 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Robert Bloch	That Hell-Bound Train
Alfred Bester	The Men Who Murdered Mohammed
Algis Budrys	The Edge of the Sea
Cyril M. Kornbluth	The Advent on Channel Twelve
Cyril M. Kornbluth	Theory of Rocketry
Fritz Leiber	Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-Tah-Tee
Manly Wade Wellman	Nine Yards of Other Cloth
Stanley Mullen	Space to Swing a Cat
Jesse F Bone	Triggerman
Anton Lee Baker	They've Been Working On...

Avram Davidson

Honored for : Or All the Seas with Oysters

Nominations 1958 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Avram Davidson	Or All the Seas with Oysters

Arthur C. Clarke

Honored for : The Star

Nominations 1956 »

Nominee	Nominated Work
Arthur C. Clarke	The Star