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THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARDS

The British Science Fiction Association is delighted to announce the shortlists of nominees for the BSFA Awards, for work published in 2025. The BSFA Awards have been presented annually since 1970. The awards are voted on by members of the British Science Fiction Association and by the members of the year’s Eastercon, the national science fiction convention, held since 1955. This year’s Eastercon, Iridescence, will be at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel from the 3rd of April to 6th of April 2026, where the winners will be announced.

We would be delighted if you circulated this shortlist. #BSFAAwards2025

BSFA members and attendees of the convention Iridescence 2026 may vote for the winners of the award. The voting form is available here

Voting is open to all BSFA members and attendees of the convention. Voting will close at 23:59 on Friday the 3rd of April.

Best Audio Fiction

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
Wasteland: A Dex Legacy Story	Emily Inkpen	Alternative Stories	https://www.emilyinkpen.com/wasteland
The Dex Legacy Series 3	Emily Inkpen	Alternative Stories	https://www.thedexlegacy.com/
Five Finger Stories	Rick Danforth	Tall Tale TV	https://talltaletv.com/five-finger-stories
Just Let Me Help	Tara Campbell	Space Cowboy Books	https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/spacecowboybooks/episodes/2025-08-15T05_17_36-07_00
Unicorn Spotting	Rick Danforth	The Tiny Bookcase	https://www.thetinybookcase.co.uk/listen

Best Artwork

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
The cover of The River Has Roots	Spencer Fuller	Arcadia/Hachette	https://www.amazon.co.uk/River-Has-Roots-Amal-El-Mohtar/dp/1529443369
The cover of Dark Crescent	Jenni Coutts	Luna Press Publishing	https://www.everand.com/book/838214436/Dark-Crescent-Dark-and-seasonal-tales-from-Scottish-Folklore
The cover of The Salt Oracle	Sam Gretton	Solaris	https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Salt-Oracle/Lorraine-Wilson/We-Are-All-Ghosts-in-the-Forest/9781837865741
Mushroom Fairy	Jenni Coutts	Published by the Artist	https://bsky.app/profile/jennicoutts.bsky.social/post/3m2vqht7cd22o
Fractal Series (12 book tessellated cover)	Nick Wells	Flame Tree Press	https://www.flametreepublishing.com/the-fractal-series-episodes-ebook-list.html
Highway Above the Clouds	Tziano Zhou	Published by the Artist	https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/086/262/460/large/tiziano-zhou-.jpg?1742779956

Best Collection

(For collections and anthologies)

Title	Author/Editor	Publisher	Link
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories	Thomas Ha	Undertow Publications	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncertain-Sons-Other-Stories-Thomas/dp/1988964490
Black Friday	Cheryl S. Ntumy	Flame Tree Press	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Friday-Stories-Africa-Beyond/dp/1835623026
The Black Fantastic: 20 Afrofuturist Stories	Andre M. Carrington (Editor)	Library of America	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Fantastic-20-Afrofuturist-Stories/dp/159853811X
Blood in the Bricks	Neil Williamson	Newcon Press	https://www.newconpress.co.uk/info/book.asp?id=255
Who Will You Save?	Gareth . L Powell	Titan Books	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Will-Save-Gareth-Powell/dp/1803368659
Creative Futures: Beyond and Within	Allen Stroud (Editor)	Flame Tree Press	https://www.flametreepublishing.com/creative-futures-isbn-9781835626474.html

Best Non-Fiction (Long)

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
Writing the Magic: Essays on Crafting Fantasy Fiction	Dan Coxon and Richard Hirst	Dead Ink	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Magic-Crafting-Fantasy-Fiction-ebook/dp/B0FCMJHG92
Speculation and the Darwinian Method in British Romance Fiction, 1859-1914	Kate Holterhoff	Ohio University Press	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speculation-Darwinian-British-1859-1914-Victorian/dp/082142596X
Dispelling Fantasies: Authors of Colour Re-imagining a Genre	Joy Sanchez-Taylor	Ohio State University Press	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dispelling-Fantasies-Reimagine-Sexuality-Speculative/dp/0814259499/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Fantasy: A Short History	Adam Roberts	Bloomsbury Academic	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Short-History-Adam-Roberts/dp/1350407828/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction	Paul Kincaid	Briardene Books	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Colourfields-Writing-About-Science-Fiction-ebook/dp/B0DZPBC65J/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism and the American With Film	Payton McCarty-Simas	Luna Press Publishing	https://www.amazon.co.uk/That-Very-Witch-Feminism-American/dp/1915556600

Best Novel

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
The Salt Oracle	Lorraine Wilson	Solaris	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Salt-Oracle-Are-Ghosts-Forest/dp/1837865744/
Edge of Oblivion	Kirk Weddell	Troubador Publishing	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edge-Oblivion-Kirk-Weddell/dp/1836285469
When There Are Wolves Again	E. J. Swift	Arcadia	https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-There-Are-Wolves-Again/dp/1529436478/
Project Hanuman	Stewart Hotston	Angry Robot	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Project-Hanuman-Stewart-Hotston/dp/1915998948
A Granite Silence	Nina Allan	Riverrun	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Granite-Silence-mesmerising-historical-notorious/dp/1529435609

Best Short Fiction

(For short written works of fiction and their equivalent)

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
One Step at a Time	Rick Danforth	Vivid Worlds (Slab Press)	https://rickdanforth.wordpress.com/one-step-at-a-time/
The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends	Eugenia Triantafyllou	Uncanny Magazine	https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-life-and-times-of-alavira-the-great-as-written-by-titos-pavlou-and-reviewed-by-two-lifelong-friends
25 Peppercorns	Emma Burnett	Mythaxis	https://mythaxis.co.uk/issue-43/25-peppercorns.html
Of Seagrass Fins and Slippery Fingers	A. J. Van Belle	Augur Society	https://augursociety.org/augur-issue-8-2/5
Godzilla as a Young Man Named Mike	E.M Faulds	Podcastle (Escape Artists)	https://podcastle.org/2025/07/29/podcastle-902-godzilla-as-a-young-man-named-mike

Best Non-Fiction (Short)

(For short written works and their equivalent)

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
Comparing Colonialisms in Dan Simmons The Terror and it's AMC Adaptation	Fiona Moore	Foundation	https://shorturl.at/gGfim
Review of When There Are Wolves Again	Paul March Russell	Strange Horizons	https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/when-there-are-wolves-again-by-e-j-swift/
Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: Finding the Self in Other	Eugen Bacon	Strange Horizons	https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/spec-fic-and-the-politics-of-identity-finding-the-self-in-other/
When People Giggle at Your Name, Or the 2025 Hugo Awards Incident	Grigory Lukin	Self Published Blog Article	https://grigorylukin.com/2025/08/21/when-people-giggle-at-your-name-or-the-2025-hugo-awards-incident/
The Legacy of Discworld	Rick Danforth	The British Fantasy Society	https://britishfantasysociety.org/the-legacy-of-discworld/

Best Shorter Fiction

(For novellas, novelettes and other works that are not novel length)

Title	Author	Publisher	Link
Cities are Forests Waiting to Happen	Cecile Cristofari	Newcon Press	https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cities-Are-Forests-Waiting-Happen/dp/1917735081/
The Apologists	Tade Thompson	Clarkesworld	https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/thompson_11_25/
The Art of Time Travel (In One Million Times)	Teika Marija Smits	Elsewhen Press	https://elsewhen.press/index.php/2026/03/the-art-of-time-travel-shortlisted-for-a-bsfa-award-vote-now/
Descent	Wole Talabi	Clarkesworld	https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/talabi_05_25/
The River Has Roots	Amal El-Mohtar	Arcadia	https://www.amazon.co.uk/River-Has-Roots-Amal-El-Mohtar/dp/1529443369

Best Translated Short Fiction

This award is selected by an appointed BSFA Jury. Our Jurors for this award are Cristina Jurado, Rachel Cordasco, Franceso Verso, Eliza Filimon and Nadya Mercik.

Title	Author	Translator	Publisher	Link
Liecraft	Anita Moskat	Austin Wagner	Apex	https://www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-magazine/post/liecraft?srsltid=AfmBOopJBjolX65N2TfvpIADEIKwVe2SP3UMjvrUQDsXlz13ddFLCn6x
Beyond Everything	Wang Yanzhong	Stella Jiayue-Zhu	Clarkesworld	https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/wang_01_25/
Elasticity	Andrés González Galante	Lucy Corrie-Tannen	Samovar	https://samovar.strangehorizons.com/2025/10/27/elasticity-elasticidad/
Pollen	Anna Burdenko	Alex Shvartsman	Clarkesworld	https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/burdenko_03_25/
Bodyhoppers	Rocio Vega	Sue Burke	Clarkesworld	https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/vega_02_25/
Zephyr	Sofia Rhei	Marian Womack	Samovar	https://samovar.strangehorizons.com/2025/04/28/zephyr-cefiro/
Still Water	Zhang Ran	Andy Dudak	Clarkesworld	https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhang_04_25/