Awards & Winners

Nebula Award for Best Short Story

Nebula Awards

The Nebula Awards are given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for the best science fiction or fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year. 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. The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy short stories published in English or translated into English and released in the United States or on the internet during the previous calendar year. 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 pieces of longer lengths in the novel, novella, and novelette categories. The Nebula Award for Best Short Story has been awarded annually since 1966. 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.
Date Established : 1966

Check all the winners of Nebula Award for Best Short Story presented under Nebula Awards since 1965 .


News

Rachel Swirsky

Honored for : If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love

Nominations 2013 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Matthew Kressel The Sounds of Old Earth
Sofia Samatar Selkie Stories Are for Losers
Kenneth Schneyer Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer
Rachel Swirsky If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love
Sylvia Spruck Wrigley Alive, Alive Oh

Aliette de Bodard

Honored for : Immersion

Nominations 2012 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Aliette de Bodard Immersion
Cat Rambo Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain
Ken Liu The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species
Maria Dahvana Headley Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream
Leah Cypess Nanny's Day
Tom Crosshill Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes
Helena Bell Robot

Ken Liu

Honored for : The Paper Menagerie

Nominations 2011 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Ken Liu The Paper Menagerie
E. Lily Yu The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees
David W. Goldman The Axiom of Choice
Aliette de Bodard Shipbirth
Nancy Fulda Movement
Tom Crosshill Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son
Adam-Troy Castro Her Husband\u2019s Hands

Harlan Ellison

Honored for : How Interesting: A Tiny Man

Nominations 2010 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Harlan Ellison How Interesting: A Tiny Man
Kij Johnson Ponies
Adam-Troy Castro Arvies
Vylar Kaftan I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno
Amal El-Mohtar The Green Book
Jennifer Pelland Ghosts of New York
Felicity Shoulders Conditional Love

Kij Johnson

Honored for : Ponies

Nominations 2010 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Harlan Ellison How Interesting: A Tiny Man
Kij Johnson Ponies
Adam-Troy Castro Arvies
Vylar Kaftan I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno
Amal El-Mohtar The Green Book
Jennifer Pelland Ghosts of New York
Felicity Shoulders Conditional Love

Kij Johnson

Honored for : Spar

Nominations 2009 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kij Johnson Spar
Saladin Ahmed Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela
Michael A. Burstein I Remember the Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein
N. K. Jemisin Non-Zero Probabilities
James Patrick Kelly Going Deep
Will McIntosh Bridesicle

Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Honored for : Trophy Wives

Nominations 2008 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Nina Kiriki Hoffman Trophy Wives
Mike Allen The Button Bin
Jeffrey Ford The Dreaming Wind
Kij Johnson 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss
Gwyneth Jones The Tomb Wife
James Patrick Kelly Don't Stop
Ruth Nestvold Mars: A Traveler\u2019s Guide

Karen Joy Fowler

Honored for : Always

Nominations 2007 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Vera Nazarian The Story of Love
David D. Levine Titanium Mike Saves the Day
Jennifer Pelland Captive Girl
Mary Turzillo Pride
Andy Duncan Unique Chicken Goes In Reverse
Karen Joy Fowler Always

Elizabeth Hand

Honored for : Echo

Nominations 2006 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Jack McDevitt Henry James, This One's for You
Elizabeth Hand Echo
Eugene Mirabelli The Woman in Schrodinger's Wave Equations
Esther Friesner Helen Remembers the Stork Club
Theodora Goss Pip and the Fairies
Karina Sumner-Smith An End To All Things

Carol Emshwiller

Honored for : I Live With You

Nominations 2005 »

Nominee Nominated Work
K. D. Wentworth Born Again
Nancy Kress My Mother, Dancing
Carol Emshwiller I Live With You
Dale Bailey The End of the World as We Know It
Richard Bowes There's a Hole in the City
Margo Lanagan Singing My Sister Down
Anne Harris Still Life with Boobs

Eileen Gunn

Honored for : Coming to Terms

Nominations 2004 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Greg van Eekhout In the Late December
Mike Resnick Travels with My Cats
Eileen Gunn Coming to Terms
Benjamin Rosenbaum Embracing-the-New
Mike Moscoe The Strange Redemption of Sister Mary Anne
Ken Wharton Aloha

Karen Joy Fowler

Honored for : What I Didn't See

Nominations 2003 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Eleanor Arnason Knapsack Poems
Karen Joy Fowler What I Didn't See
Harlan Ellison Goodbye to All That
Carol Emshwiller Grandma
James Van Pelt The Last of the O-Forms
Kevin Brockmeier The Brief History of the Dead
Molly Gloss Lambing Season

Carol Emshwiller

Honored for : Creature

Nominations 2002 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Robin Hobb Cut
Jeffrey Ford Creation
Michael Swanwick The Dog Said Bow-Wow
Jack McDevitt Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City
Carol Emshwiller Creature
Tim Pratt Little Gods

Severna Park

Honored for : The Cure for Everything

Nominations 2001 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Severna Park The Cure for Everything
George Zebrowski Wound the Wind
Michael A. Burstein Kaddish for the Last Survivor
Sherwood Smith Mom and Dad at the Home Front
Mike Resnick The Elephants on Neptune

Terry Bisson

Honored for : macs

Nominations 2000 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Ellen Klages Flying Over Water
Pat York You Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child To Break Your Heart and Mine
Terry Bisson macs
Michael Swanwick Scherzo with Tyrannosaur
Severna Park The Golem
Jeffrey Ford The Fantasy Writer's Assistant

Leslie What

Honored for : The Cost of Doing Business

Nominations 1999 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Michael Swanwick Radiant Doors
Constance Ash Flower Kiss
Bruce Holland Rogers The Dead Boy at Your Window
Michael Swanwick Ancient Engines
Frances Sherwood Basil the Dog
Leslie What The Cost of Doing Business

Bruce Holland Rogers

Honored for : Thirteen Ways to Water

Nominations 1998 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Geoffrey A. Landis Winter Fire
Steven Brust When the Bow Breaks
Lisa Goldstein Fortune and Misfortune
Bruce Holland Rogers Thirteen Ways to Water
K. D. Wentworth Tall One
Karen Joy Fowler Standing Room Only

Jane Yolen

Honored for : Sister Emily's Lightship

Nominations 1997 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Karen Joy Fowler The Elizabeth Complex
K. D. Wentworth Burning Bright
Gregory Feeley The Crab Lice
Jane Yolen Sister Emily's Lightship
James Patrick Kelly Itsy Bitsy Spider
Michael Swanwick The Dead

Esther Friesner

Honored for : A Birthday

Nominations 1996 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Jonathan Lethem Five Fucks
Esther Friesner A Birthday
Dean Wesley Smith In the Shade of the Slowboat Man
Bruce Holland Rogers These Shoes Strangers Have Died Of
Kent Brewster In the Pound, Near Breaktime
Kathleen Ann Goonan The String

Esther Friesner

Honored for : Death and the Librarian

Nominations 1995 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Esther Friesner Death and the Librarian
Kelley Eskridge Alien Jane
Lisa Goldstein The Narcissus Plague
Dave Smeds Short Timer
Geoffrey A. Landis The Kingdom of Cats and Birds
Owl Goingback Grass Dancer
Maureen F. McHugh The Lincoln Train

Martha Soukup

Honored for : A Defense of the Social Contracts

Nominations 1994 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Ben Bova Inspiration
Maureen F. McHugh Virtual Love
Martha Soukup A Defense of the Social Contracts
Kate Wilhelm I Know What You're Thinking
Barry N. Malzberg Understanding Entropy
Joe Haldeman None So Blind

Joe Haldeman

Honored for : Graves

Nominations 1993 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Esther Friesner All Vows
Bridget McKenna The Good Pup
Harlan Ellison The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore
Lisa Goldstein Alfred
William John Watkins The Beggar in the Living Room
Joe Haldeman Graves

Connie Willis

Honored for : Even the Queen

Nominations 1992 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Nancy Kress The Mountain to Mohammed
Kim Stanley Robinson Vinland the Dream
Connie Willis Even the Queen
Martha Soukup The Arbitrary Placement of Walls
Michael Bishop Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats
Paul Di Filippo Lennon Spex

Alan Brennert

Honored for : Ma Qui

Nominations 1991 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Alan Brennert Ma Qui
John Kessel Buffalo
Martha Soukup Dog's Life
Karen Joy Fowler The Dark
Terry Bisson They're Made Out of Meat
W. Gregory Stewart The button, and what you know

Terry Bisson

Honored for : Bears Discover Fire

Nominations 1990 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kim Stanley Robinson Before I Wake
Karen Joy Fowler Lieserl
Pat Murphy Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates
Kristine Kathryn Rusch Story Child
Pat Cadigan The Power and the Passion
Terry Bisson Bears Discover Fire

Geoffrey A. Landis

Honored for : Ripples in the Dirac Sea

Nominations 1989 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Geoffrey A. Landis Ripples in the Dirac Sea
Mary C. Aldridge The Adinkra Cloth
Orson Scott Card Lost Boys
Michael Bishop The Ommatidium Miniatures
Suzy McKee Charnas Boobs
Bruce Sterling Dori Bangs

James K. Morrow

Honored for : Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge

Nominations 1988 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Pat Murphy Dead Men on TV
Jack McDevitt The Fort Moxie Branch
John Kessel Mrs. Shummel Exits a Winner
Thomas M. Disch Voices of the Kill
James K. Morrow Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge
Steven Popkes The Color Winter

Kate Wilhelm

Honored for : Forever Yours, Anna

Nominations 1987 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Karen Joy Fowler The Faithful Companion at Forty
Paul Di Filippo Kid Charlemagne
Susan Shwartz Temple to a Minor Goddess
Lisa Goldstein Cassandra's Photographs
Pat Cadigan Angel
Lawrence Watt-Evans Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers
Kate Wilhelm Forever Yours, Anna

Greg Bear

Honored for : Tangents

Nominations 1986 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Isaac Asimov Robot Dreams
James Patrick Kelly Rat
Nancy Springer The Boy Who Plaited Manes
Pat Cadigan Pretty Boy Crossover
Howard Waldrop The Lions Are Asleep This Night
Greg Bear Tangents

Nancy Kress

Honored for : Out of All Them Bright Stars

Nominations 1985 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Howard Waldrop Heirs of the Perisphere
Gardner Dozois The Gods of Mars
Jack Dann The Gods of Mars
Michael Swanwick The Gods of Mars
James Blaylock Paper Dragons
Nancy Kress Out of All Them Bright Stars
Joe Haldeman More Than the Sum of His Parts
Howard Waldrop Flying Saucer Rock & Roll
John Crowley Snow
William F. Wu Hong's Bluff

Gardner Dozois

Honored for : Morning Child

Nominations 1984 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Lucius Shepard Salvador
Gene Wolfe A Cabin on the Coast
George Zebrowski The Eichmann Variations
Bruce Sterling Sunken Gardens
Gardner Dozois Morning Child
George Alec Effinger The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything

Gardner Dozois

Honored for : The Peacemaker

Nominations 1983 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Hilbert Schenck The Geometry of Narrative
Chad Oliver Ghost Town
Leigh Kennedy Her Furry Face
Gardner Dozois The Peacemaker
William F. Wu Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
Jack McDevitt Cryptic

Connie Willis

Honored for : A Letter from the Clearys

Nominations 1982 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Greg Bear Petra
Robert Silverberg The Pope of the Chimps
Barry N. Malzberg Corridors
Connie Willis A Letter from the Clearys
Howard Waldrop God's Hooks!
Jack Dann High Steel
Jack C. Haldeman II High Steel

Lisa Tuttle

Honored for : The Bone Flute
(Declined)

Nominations 1981 »

Nominee Nominated Work
George Guthridge The Quiet
Jack Dann Going Under
William Gibson Johnny Mnemonic
Lisa Tuttle The Bone Flute
Kim Stanley Robinson Venice Drowned
John Varley The Pusher
Tim Sullivan Zeke
Gardner Dozois Disciples

Clifford D. Simak

Honored for : Grotto of the Dancing Deer

Nominations 1980 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Bob Leman Window
Gene Wolfe The War Beneath the Tree
Clifford D. Simak Grotto of the Dancing Deer
Charles L. Grant Secrets of the Heart
Craig Strete A Sunday Visit with Great-Grandfather
Withdrawn

Edward Bryant

Honored for : giANTS

Nominations 1979 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Orson Scott Card Unaccompanied Sonata
Edward Bryant giANTS
Tanith Lee Red as Blood
George R. R. Martin The Way of Cross and Dragon
Joanna Russ The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand
Michael Bishop Vernalfest Morning

Edward Bryant

Honored for : Stone

Nominations 1978 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Edward Bryant Stone
Jack Dann A Quiet Revolution for Death
C. J. Cherryh Cassandra

Harlan Ellison

Honored for : Jeffty Is Five

Nominations 1977 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Edward Bryant The Hibakusha Gallery
John Varley Air Raid
Dennis R. Bailey Tin Woodman
David Bischoff Tin Woodman
Thomas F. Monteleone Camera Obscura
Harlan Ellison Jeffty Is Five

Charles L. Grant

Honored for : A Crowd of Shadows

Nominations 1976 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Howard Waldrop Mary Margaret Road-Grader
Joe Haldeman Tricentennial
Charles L. Grant A Crowd of Shadows
Jake Saunders Back to the Stone Age
Thomas F. Monteleone Breath's a Ware That Will Not Keep
Lisa Tuttle Stone Circle

Fritz Leiber

Honored for : Catch That Zeppelin!

Nominations 1975 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Gregory Benford Doing Lennon
Gregory Benford White Creatures
P. J. Plauger Child of All Ages
Frederik Pohl Growing Up in Edge City
Fritz Leiber Catch That Zeppelin!
Jorge Luis Borges Utopia of a Tired Man
Craig Strete Time Deer
Richard A. Lupoff Sail the Tide of Mourning
Nicholas Fisk Find the Lady
Charles L. Grant White Wolf Calling
Harlan Ellison Shatterday
Algis Budrys A Scraping at the Bones
Phyllis Eisenstein Attachment

Ursula K. Le Guin

Honored for : The Day Before the Revolution

Nominations 1974 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Roger Zelazny The Engine at Heartspring's Center
Philip José Farmer After King Kong Fell
Ursula K. Le Guin The Day Before the Revolution

James Tiptree, Jr.

Honored for : Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death

Nominations 1973 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Gene Wolfe How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion
Norman Spinrad A Thing of Beauty
James Tiptree, Jr. Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death
Vonda N. McIntyre Wings
Edward Bryant Shark
George R. R. Martin With Morning Comes Mistfall

Joanna Russ

Honored for : When It Changed

Nominations 1972 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Harlan Ellison On the Downhill Side
Robert Silverberg When We Went to See the End of the World
Joanna Russ When It Changed
Frederik Pohl Shaffery Among the Immortals
James Tiptree, Jr. And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side
Gene Wolfe Against the Lafayette Escadrille

Robert Silverberg

Honored for : Good News from the Vatican

Nominations 1971 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Robert Silverberg Good News from the Vatican
George Zebrowski Heathen God
Stephen Goldin The Last Ghost
Gardner Dozois Horse of Air

Nominations 1970 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Keith Laumer In the Queue
Harry Harrison By the Falls
Gardner Dozois A Dream at Noonday
Kate Wilhelm A Cold Dark Night with Snow
Gene Wolfe The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories
R. A. Lafferty Entire and Perfect Chrysolite
James Sallis The Creation of Bennie Good

Robert Silverberg

Honored for : Passengers

Nominations 1969 »

Nominee Nominated Work
James Tiptree, Jr. The Last Flight of Dr. Ain
Theodore Sturgeon The Man Who Learned Loving
Harlan Ellison Shattered Like a Glass Goblin
Larry Niven Not Long Before the End
Robert Silverberg Passengers

Kate Wilhelm

Honored for : The Planners

Nominations 1968 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Robert Taylor Idiot's Mate
Kate Wilhelm The Planners
Damon Knight Masks
H. H. Hollis Sword Game
Poul Anderson Kyrie
Terry Carr The Dance of the Changer and the Three

Samuel R. Delany

Honored for : Aye, and Gomorrah...

Nominations 1967 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kate Wilhelm Baby, You Were Great
Theodore L. Thomas The Doctor
Reginald Bretnor Earthwoman
Fritz Leiber Answering Service
Samuel R. Delany Aye, and Gomorrah...
Samuel R. Delany Driftglass

Richard McKenna

Honored for : The Secret Place

Nominations 1966 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Brian Aldiss Man In His Time
Bob Shaw Light of Other Days
Richard McKenna The Secret Place

Harlan Ellison

Honored for : Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman

Nominations 1965 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Richard Wilson The Eight Billion
Roger Zelazny Devil Car
Larry Niven Becalmed in Hell
James A. Durham Of One Mind
Ted White The Peacock King
Larry McCombs The Peacock King
Gordon R. Dickson Computers Don't Argue
M. J. Engh Lord Moon
Larry Niven Wrong-Way Street
Ron Goulart Calling Dr. Clockwork
Robert Rohrer Keep Them Happy
R. A. Lafferty Slow Tuesday Night
Mack Reynolds A Leader for Yesteryear
Avram Davidson The House the Blakeneys Built
Fritz Leiber Cyclops
James H. Schmitz Balanced Ecology
Donald Barthelme Game
Edgar Pangborn A Better Mousehole
Alex Kirs Better Than Ever
R. A. Lafferty In Our Block
Isaac Asimov Eyes Do More Than See
Samuel Youd A Few Kindred Spirits
Thomas M. Disch Come to Venus Melancholy
Lin Carter Uncollected Works
Isaac Asimov Founding Father
Fritz Leiber The Good New Days
Harlan Ellison \"Repent, Harlequin!\" Said the Ticktockman
J. G. Ballard Souvenir
H. L. Gold Inside Man
Clifford D. Simak Over the River and Through the Woods
Richard Olin The Mischief Maker
Thomas N. Scortia Though a Sparrow Fall