1980 Nebula Awards®
Presented at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, New York on April 25, 1981
On Thursday evening, an unofficial party was hosted by TImescape Books and Forbidden Planet held its bookstore opening. Following the Saturday Business Meeting were panels on editing and royalties, although attendance was done due to the attraction of a convention of models across the hall. The keynote speech by Barbara Marx Hubbard tied the space program to born-again Christianity and was not successful. Other speeches were given by Marvin Minsky and Marc Chartrand.
Best Novel
- Winner: Timescape by Gregory Benford, published by Simon & Schuster
- Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl, published by Ballantine Del Rey
- The Orphan by Robert Stallman, published by Pocket
- Mockingbird by Walter S. Tevis, published by Doubleday
- The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge, published by Dial Press
- The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, published by Simon & Schuster
Best Novella
- Winner: “Unicorn Tapestry” by Suzy McKee Charnas
- “There Beneath the Silky-Trees and Whelmed in Deeper Gulphs Than Me” by Avram Davidson
- “The Brave Little Toaster” by Thomas M. Disch, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “Lost Dorsai” by Gordon R. Dickson
- “Dangerous Games” by Marta Randall, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “The Autopsy” by Michael Shea, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Best Novelette
- “Strata” by Edward Bryant, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “The Way Station” by Stephen King, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “The Feast of Saint Janis” by Michael Swanwick
- “Ginungagap” by Michael Swanwick, published by TriQuarterly
- “Beatnik Bayou” by John Varley
- Winner: “The Ugly Chickens” by Howard Waldrop
Best Short Story
- “Secrets of the Heart” by Charles L. Grant, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- “A Sunday Visit with Great-Grandfather” by Craig Strete
- “Window” by Bob Leman, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
- Winner: “Grotto of the Dancing Deer” by Clifford D. Simak, published by Analog
- “War Beneath the Tree” by Gene Wolfe, published by Omni