FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Introducing the Nebula Award Finalists for SFWA’s 61st Annual Awards

San Francisco, CA – March 15, 2026

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is proud to announce its latest Nebula Award Finalists for works published in 2025, to be celebrated this year in Chicago at the organization’s 61st Annual Nebula Awards Conference.

Since 1965, SFWA has advocated for writers of science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. From that very first year, the Nebula Awards has been one of SFWA’s foundational pathways to improving the literary community and industry for SFF writers.

This year, SFWA celebrates two inaugural awards: one for Best Poem, and one for Best Comic. Like the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and Game Writing Award, these new awards celebrate the writers at the heart of productions that also involve editors, artists, publishers, producers, and a wealth of other team members who make the magic happen.

Voting on the Final Nebula Ballot begins at 7pm PDT on March 15, 2026, and runs until 11:59pm PDT on April 15, 2026. SFWA looks forward to celebrating this year’s Nebula Finalists this June, where winners of the final ballot will be announced on Saturday, June 6.

Thank you to everyone who votes, writes, reads, and otherwise contributes to the betterment of this genre in all its brilliant forms.

When We Were Real, by Daryl Gregory (Saga)
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK)
Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz)
The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK)
Sour Cherry, by Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire)
Wearing the Lion, by John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia)

Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle, by Renan Bernardo (Dark Matter INK)
The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia)
The Death of Mountains, by Jordan Kurella (Lethe)
Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)
But Not Too Bold, by Hache Pueyo (Tordotcom)
“Descent”, by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld 5/25)

“Our Echoes Drifting Through the Marsh”, by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/9/25)
“Uncertain Sons”, by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons)
“We Begin Where Infinity Ends”, by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25)
The Name Ziya, by Wen-Yi Lee (Reactor)
“Never Eaten Vegetables”, by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld 1/25)
“The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends”, by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 3-4/25)

“Through the Machine”, by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed 5/25)
“Six People to Revise You”, by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny 1-2/25)
“In My Country”, by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)
“The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead”, by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)
“Because I Held His Name Like a Key”, by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)
“Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything”, by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)

The Tower, by David Anaxagoras (Recorded Books)
Gemini Rising, by Jonathan Brazee (Semper Fi Press)
Wishing Well, Wishing Well, by Jubilee Cho (Atthis Arts)
Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Into the Wild Magic, by Michelle Knudsen (Candlewick)
Goblin Girl, by K.A. Mielke (self-published)

Spire, Surge, and Sea, by Stewart C. Baker (Choice of Games)
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, by Guillaume Broche, & Jennifer Svedberg-Yen (Kepler Interactive), Developer: Sandfall Interactive, Sandfall S.A.S.
Hollow Knight: Silksong, by Ari Gibson & William Pelen (Team Cherry)*
Dispatch, by Ashley Jeffalone, Suzee Matson, Chris Rebbert, Chad Rhiness, & Pierre Shorette (AdHoc Studios)
Hades II, by Greg Kasavin
(Supergiant Games)
Blue Prince, by Tonda Ros (Raw Fury, Developer: Dogubomb)

KPop Demon Hunters, by Danya Jimenez, Maggie Kang, & Hannah McMechan (Netflix)*
Sinners, by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros Pictures)*
Severance: “Chikhai Bardo”, by Dan Erickson & Mark Friedman (Apple TV+)*
Pluribus: Season One, by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV+)*
Superman, by James Gunn (Warner Bros Pictures)*
Murderbot: Season One, by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz (Apple TV+)*

The Nebula Award for Best Comic

Second Shift, by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal, by Amy Chu (Berger)
Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King (Dark Horse)
Fishflies, by Jeff Lemire (Image)
Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone, by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree)
Strange Bedfellows, by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
The Flip Side, by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
The Stoneshore Register, by G. Willow Wilson (Berger)

The Nebula Award for Best Poem

“Though You Always Are”, by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge (Everything Endless)
“They Said Robots Are”, by Casey Aimer (Penumbric 6/25)
“The World To Come”, by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons 12/22/25)
“The Mourning Robot”, by Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/25)
“Care for Lightning”, by Mari Ness (Uncanny 1-2/25)
“To Be the Change”, by Nico Martinez Nocito (Strange Horizons 3/10/25)

*Provisional nomination; awaiting acceptance and response on LLM-use.

San Francisco, CA  – February 24, 2026 The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA)  is proud to announce that American Book Award, NAACP Image Award, and British Fantasy Award-winning author Tananarive Due will serve as Toastmaster for the 61st Annual Nebula Awards Conference happening in Chicago, IL from June 3-7. Previous Toastmasters include Erin Roberts, Sarah Gailey, Aydrea Walden, and Astronaut Dr. Kjell Lindgren. “Due is an exceptional speaker – brilliantly insightful, delightfully funny – and deeply generous in her commitment to elevating the craft of speculative fiction writing across media,” said SFWA Executive Director Isis Asare. “She is the perfect toastmaster for the Nebula Awards Conference celebrating N. K. Jemisin as the recipient for the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award and Gay Haldeman as the recipient for the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award.” A rich tradition of storytelling Due is the acclaimed author of The Reformatory (winner of a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Chautauqua Prize, Bram Stoker Award, Shirley Jackson Award, World Fantasy Award, and a New York Times Notable Book), The Wishing Pool and Other Stories, Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, The Good House, and contributing author of Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror. A seasoned multimedia creator, Due and her husband/collaborator – Steven Barnes – recently co-directed their first short horror film, “The Keeper” (Samansa/Blackmaled), which will stream on Samansa in September. They also wrote “A Small Town” for Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone on Paramount Plus and two segments of Shudder’s anthology film Horror Noire. In addition, they co-wrote the Black Horror graphic novel The Keeper, illustrated by Marco Finnegan and published by Megascope. Due and Barnes co-host the podcast Lifewriting: Write for Your Life! Due also served as executive producer on Shudder’s groundbreaking documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. “It’s such a thrill to be invited to be Toastmaster at the Nebulas, which has such a storied history, especially during a year honoring N. K. Jemisin and Gay Haldeman. Events like this remind us of the power of art to help create hope and change during difficult times,” Due said. Gearing up to the Nebulas in Chicago Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes will also participate in author signings, hybrid panels, and in-person craft workshops during the Nebula Awards Conference. Author signings will be open to the public and copies of Due’s work will be available to purchase onsite from local independent bookstore Call and Response. Hybrid programming will also be available to attendees of Horror Writers Association’s StokerCon as a result of a recent collaboration between HWA and SFWA. “The Horror Writers Association is pleased to see more collaboration and advancement of partnerships between genre-organizations. We’re excited to offer this unique virtual experience to members of both SFWA and the HWA to encourage virtual participation for both the Nebulas and StokerCon,” stated Maxwell Gold, Executive Director of the Horror Writers Association. Learn more about the 61st Nebula Awards Conference, running from June 3-7 in Chicago, IL by visiting SFWA.org. Nebula Award Finalists will be announced March 15. Secure early registration pricing before May 1st.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK)

The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)

Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being, A.W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld 11/24)

Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24)

The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts, Vanessa Ricci-Thode (self-published)

A Death in Hyperspace, Stewart C Baker, Phoebe Barton, James Beamon, Kate Heartfield, Isabel J. Kim, Sara S. Messenger, Jingjing Xiao, Natalia Theodoridou, M. Darusha Wehm, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Infomancy.net)

Dune: Part Two by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve (Warner Bros)