Michael Shea

Past Nominations and Wins

1980

“The Autopsy” by Michael Shea, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Nominated for Best Novella in 1980

1979

“The Angel of Death” by Michael Shea, published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Nominated for Best Novelette in 1979

Michael Shea (1946-2014) wrote the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Nifft the Lean and his story “The Growlimb” earned him a second award in 2004. After coming across a used copy of Jack Vance’s The Eyes of the Overworld in an Alaskan hotel, Shea wrote his first novel, novel A Quest for Simbilis, which continued the story and was authorized by Jack Vance. The book was short-listed for the British Fantasy Award. Shea wrote numerous other stories and novels, including the Nebula and Hugo nominated “The Autopsy.” When not writing, Shea spent quite a bit of time hitchhiking around the US and Europe and working a variety of jobs, ranging from language instruction to construction to painting houses. Shea’s writing was reminiscent in many ways of not only Vance, but also Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith.