My neighborhood crows are croaking about approaching storms and deadlines for speculative fiction and poetry awards. I’ve soothed their storm worries with some peanuts, and I’ve listed links below for anyone nominating and voting.

Speculative Fiction and Poetry Award Deadlines

Rhysling Award Nominations (Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association) are open until February 15. The Rhysling Awards are given annually for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year in two categories: “Best Long Poem”, for works of 50 or more lines, and “Best Short Poem”, for works of 49 or fewer lines. SFPA members can enter their nominations here.

Voting for the Bram Stoker Awards Preliminary Ballot (Horror Writers Association) is open until February 15. The Bram Stoker Awards are given annually for superior achievement in dark fantasy and horror writing in a variety of categories. Ballots went out to voting HWA members earlier this month.

Nebula Award Nominations (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association) are open until February 28. The Nebula Awards are given annually to the best science fiction and fantasy writing in several categories. Any member of the SFWA can add works to the Nebula Reading List, and certain members may nominate works through the SFWA forums.

Why Membership and Awards Matter to Me

Last year was an amazing year for speculative fiction and poetry. Small presses and indie writers, especially, created some of the most visceral, heart wrenching horror and provided the most distinctive perspectives. I’m excited to see a diverse slate of writers on the readings lists and ballots for the HWA, SFPA, and SFWA awards. This recognition not only rewards exceptional writing, but it elevates traditionally underrepresented voices.

For Your Consideration

I’m honored to have poems that are eligible to be nominated and in an anthology on the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Awards. Email me at leavesandcobwebs @ earthlink.net for reading copies of any of the poems below. A reading copy of MOTHER: TALES OF LOVE AND TERROR is available to voting HWA members from Book Funnel.

“Cleaning Out Her House, As If She’ll Ever Be Gone” is a poem about the horror of exploring a mother’s dreams and madness after she is gone. It closes out MOTHER: TALES OF LOVE AND TERROR, edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Christi Nogle, from Weird Little Worlds (October 2022). Eligible in Rhysling Award Short Poem category and on the Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot.

“An Empty Seat” is a poem about an unexpected clown, in the Halloween: Circus issue of Magpie Messenger Literary Magazine, from Curious Corvid Publishing (October 2022). Eligible in the Rhysling Award Short Poem Rhysling category.

“Reasons Why You Can’t Go Out To Play Alone” is a poem about the horrors of grief and vengeance, in HWA POETRY SHOWCASE VOLUME IX, edited by Angela Yuriko Smith, from the Horror Writers Association (October 2022). Eligible in the Short Poem (Rhysling) category.

“Scabrous” is a story about how pain and violence linger like ghosts. It appeared in A QUAINT AND CURIOUS VOLUME OF GOTHIC TALES, edited by Alex Woodroe, from Brigids Gate Press (January 2022). Eligible in the Nebular Award Short Fiction category.