Rhysling Award

2006 Rhysling Award winner Mike Allen, with his award for "The Journey to Kailash". Courtesy Science Fiction Poetry Association.

The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year.

Overview

The Rhyslings are named for a character in a science fiction story: the blind poet Rhysling, in Robert A. Heinlein's short story The Green Hills of Earth. The award is given in 2 categories: "Best Long Poem", for works of 50 or more lines, and "Best Short Poem", for works of 49 or fewer lines.

The nominees for each year's Rhysling Awards are chosen by the members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA). Each member may nominate one work for each of the categories. The nominated works are then compiled into an anthology called The Rhysling Anthology, and members of the Association then vote on the final winners.

Since 2005, the Awards have been presented in July at a ceremony at Readercon. While the "Best Short Poem" category allows very short poems to be entered the SFPA also has the Dwarf Stars Award, for poems from 1 to 10 lines..

Best Long Poem winners

• 1978 Gene Wolfe, The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps
• 1979 Michael Bishop, For the Lady of a Physicist
• 1980 Andrew Joron, The Sonic Flowerfall of Primes
• 1981 Thomas M. Disch, On Science Fiction
• 1982 Ursula K. Le Guin, The Well of Baln
• 1983 Adam Cornford, Your Time and You: A neoprole's dating guide
• 1984 Joe Haldeman, Saul's Death: Two sestinas
• 1985 Siv Cedering, A Letter from Caroline Herschel (1750-1848)
• 1986 Andrew Joron, Shipwrecked on Destiny Five
• 1987 W. Gregory Stewart, Daedalus
• 1988 Lucius Shepard, White Trains
• 1989 (tie): Bruce Boston In the Darkened Hours / John M. Ford Winter Solstice, Camelot Station
• 1990 Patrick McKinnon, dear spacemen
• 1991 David Memmott, The Aging Cryonicist in the Arms of His Mistress Contemplates the Survival of the Species While the Phoenix Is Consumed by Fire
• 1992 W. Gregory Stewart, the button and what you know
• 1993 William J. Daciuk, To Be from Earth
• 1994 W. Gregory Stewart and Robert Frazier, Basement Flats: Redefining the Burgess Shale
• 1995 David Lunde, Pilot, Pilot
• 1996 Margaret B. Simon, Variants of the Obsolete
• 1997 Terry A. Garey, Spotting UFOs While Canning Tomatoes
• 1998 Laurel Winter, why goldfish shouldn't use power tools
• 1999 Bruce Boston, Confessions of a Body Thief
• 2000 Geoffrey A. Landis, Christmas (after we all get time machines)
• 2001 Joe Haldeman, January Fires
• 2002 Lawrence Schimel, How to Make a Human
• 2003 (tie): Charles Saplak and Mike Allen, Epochs in Exile: A Fantasy Trilogy / Sonya Taaffe, Matlacihuatl's Gift
• 2004 Theodora Goss, Octavia Is Lost in the Hall of Masks
• 2005 Tim Pratt, Soul Searching
• 2006 Kendall Evans and David C. Kopaska-Merkel, The Tin Men
• 2007 Mike Allen, The Journey to Kailash
• 2008 Catherynne M. Valente, The Seven Devils of Central California
• 2009 Geoffrey A. Landis, Search
• 2010 Kendall Evans and Samantha Henderson, In the Astronaut Asylum
• 2011 C.S.E. Cooney, The Sea King's Second Bride
• 2012: Megan Arkenberg, The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages
• 2013 Andrew Robert Sutton, Into Flight
• 2014 Mary Soon Lee, Interregnum
• 2015 F.J. Bergmann, 100 Reasons to Have Sex with an Alien
• 2016 (tie) Krysada Panusith Phounsiri, It Begins With A Haunting; Ann K. Schwader, Keziah
• 2017 Theodora Goss, Rose Child

Best Short Poem winners

• 1978 (tie): Duane Ackerson, "The Starman" / Andrew Joron "Asleep in the Arms of Mother Night" / Sonya Dorman, "Corruption of Metals"
• 1979 (tie): Duane Ackerson, "Fatalities" / Steve Eng "Storybooks and Treasure Maps"
• 1980 (tie): Robert Frazier, "Encased in the Amber of Eternity" / Peter Payack, "The Migration of Darkness"
• 1981 Ken Duffin, "Meeting Place"
• 1982 Raymond DiZazzo, "On the Speed of Sight"
• 1983 Alan P. Lightman, "In Computers"
• 1984 Helen Ehrlich, "Two Sonnets"
• 1985 Bruce Boston, "For Spacers Snarled in the Hair of Comets"
• 1986 Susan Palwick, "The Neighbor's Wife"
• 1987 (tie): Jonathan V. Post, "Before the Big Bang: News from the Hubble Large Space Telescope" / John Calvin Rezmerski, "A Dream of Heredity"
• 1988 (tie): Bruce Boston "The Nightmare Collector" / Suzette Haden Elgin, "Rocky Road to Hoe"
• 1989 Robert Frazier, "Salinity"
• 1990 G. Sutton Breiding, "Epitaph for Dreams"
• 1991 Joe Haldeman, "Eighteen Years Old, October Eleventh"
• 1992 David Lunde, "Song of the Martian Cricket"
• 1993 Jane Yolen, Will
• 1994 (tie): Bruce Boston, "Spacer's Compass" / Jeff VanderMeer, "Flight Is for Those Who Have Not Yet Crossed Over"
• 1995 Dan Raphael, "Skin of Glass"
• 1996 Bruce Boston, "Future Present: A Lesson in Expectation"
• 1997 W. Gregory Stewart, "Day Omega"
• 1998 John Grey, "Explaining Frankenstein to His Mother"
• 1999 Laurel Winter, "egg horror poem"
• 2000 Rebecca Marjesdatter, "Grimoire"
• 2001 Bruce Boston, "My Wife Returns as She Would Have It"
• 2002 William John Watkins, "We Die as Angels"
• 2003 Ruth Berman, "Potherb Gardening"
• 2004 Roger Dutcher, "Just Distance"
• 2005 Greg Beatty, "No Ruined Lunar City"
• 2006 Mike Allen, "The Strip Search"
• 2007 Rich Ristow, "The Graven Idol's Godheart"
• 2008 F.J. Bergmann, "Eating Light"
• 2009 Amal El-Mohtar, "Song for an Ancient City"
• 2010 Ann K. Schwader, "To Theia"
• 2011 Amal El-Mohtar, "Peach-Creamed Honey"
• 2012 Shira Lipkin, "The Library, After"
• 2013 Terry A. Garey, "The Cat Star
• 2014 Amal El-Mohtar, "Turning the Leaves"
• 2015 Marge Simon, "Shutdown"
• 2016 Ruth Berman, "Time Travel Vocabulary Problems"
• 2017 Marge Simon, "George Tecumseh Sherman's Ghosts"

See also

• List of poetry awards

External links

• Official list of Rhysling Award winners
• SFPA Rhysling Anthology
• The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase

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