2021 Ignyte Awards Finalists

Best Novel — Adult

• The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
• Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu (Saga)
• The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga)
• Midnight Bargain, C.L. Polk (Erewhon)
• Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

Best Novel — YA

• Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Margaret K. McElderry)
• Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet)
• Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
• A Song Below Water, Bethany Morrow (Tor Teen)
• A Sky Beyond the Storm, Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill)

Best in MG

• Maya and the Rising Dark, Rena Barron (HMH)
• Frightville: Curse of the Wish Eater, Mike Ford (Scholastic)
• Ghost Squad, Claribel A. Ortega (Scholastic)
• Race to the Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Disney)
• A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick)

Best Novella

• Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom)
• Stone and Steel, Eboni Dunbar (Neon Hemlock)
• The Four Profound Weaves, R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
• Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom)
• Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

Best Novelette

• “The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny 7-8/20)
• “The Transition of Osoosi”, Ozzie M. Gartrell (Fiyah Winter ’20)
• “One Hand in the Coffin”, Justin C. Key (Strange Horizons 1/20/20)
• “The Night Sun”, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tor.com 3/11/20)
• “Love Hangover”, Sheree Renée Thomas (SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire)

Best Short Story

• “You Perfect, Broken Thing”, C.L. Clark (Uncanny 1-2/20)
• “Express to Beijing West Railway Station | 开往西站的特别列车”, Congyun ‘Mu Ming’ Gu, translated by Kiera Johnson (Samovar 10/26/20)
• “Rat and Finch Are Friends”, Innocent Chizaram Ilo (Strange Horizons 3/2/20)
• “Body, Remember”, Nicasio Andres Reed (Fireside 11/20)
• “My Country Is a Ghost”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 1-2/20)

Best in Speculative Poetry

• “The Alt-history of King Kong”, Renoir Gaither (Speculative City Fall ’20)
• “Fin”, Terese Mason Pierre (Uncanny 9-10/20)
• “The Harrowing | Desgarrador”, Gabriel Ascencio Morales, translated by Juan Martínez (Strange Horizons 11/30/20)
• “Hungry Ghost”, Millie Ho (Uncanny 3-4/20)
• “Tequila Mockingbird | Matar un Ruiseñor”, Raúl Gallardo Flores, translated by Juan Martínez (Strange Horizons 11/30/20)

Critics Award

• Maria Haskins
• Jesse (Bowties & Books)
• Charles Payseur (Quick Sip Reviews)
• Stitch (Stitch’s Media Mix)
• A.C. Wise

Best Fiction Podcast

• PodCastle, Jen R. Albert, Cherae Clark, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Setsu Uzume & Peter Adrian Behravesh
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Scott H. Andrews, ed.
• Escape Pod, Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya, Benjamin C. Kinney, Tina Connolly, Alasdair Stuart, Summer Brooks, Adam Pracht & the entire Escape Pod team
• Nightlight Podcast, Tonia Ransom
• The Magnus Archives, Jonathan Sims, Alexander J Newall, Lowri Ann Davies & Rusty Quill

Best Artist

• Rovina Cai
• Odera Igbokwe
• Paul Lewin
• Nilah Magruder
• John Picacio

Best Comics Team

• Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings (Abrams)
• Cuisine Chinoise: Five Tales of Food and Life, Zao Dao, Diana Schutz & Brandon Kandor (Dark Horse)
• Far Sector, N.K. Jemisin & Jamal Campbell (DC)
• Giga, Alex Paknadel & John Lê (Vault)
• You Brought Me the Ocean, Alex Sanchez & Jul Maroh (DC)

Best Anthology/Collected Works

• A Phoenix First Must Burn, Patrice Caldwell, ed. (Viking)
• Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with a Fresh Bite, Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C. Parker, eds. (Imprint)
• Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn’t Die, dave ring, ed. (Neon Hemlock)
• Nine Bar Blues, Sheree Renée Thomas (Third Man)
• Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, Joshua Whitehead, ed. (Arsenal Pulp)

Best in Creative Nonfiction

• “How to Make a Family: Queer Blood Bonds in Black Feminist Vampire Novels”, Tamara Jerée (Strange Horizons 1/27/20)
• “The African Superhero and the Legacy of Captain Africa”, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Tor.com 8/24/20)
• “Fine Weather, Isn’t It?”, Tochi Onyebuchi (SFWA Bulletin #215)
• “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream: The Duty of the Black Writer During Times of American Unrest”, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tor.com 6/1/20)
• “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Excellence”, Nibedita Sen (Uncanny 9-10/20)

The Ember Award

• K. Tempest Bradford
• Clarion West
• Dhonielle Clayton
• Tananarive Due
• Michi Trota

The Community Award

• Anathema Magazine: Spec from the Margins, Michael Matheson, Andrew Wilmot & Chinelo Onwualu
• #PublishingPaidMe, L.L. McKinney & Tochi Onyebuchi
• Beth Phelan
• Diana M. Pho
• Writing The Other: Online Classes and Workshops, Nisi Shawl & K. Tempest Bradford

Finalists were selected by the Ignyte Awards Committee. Public voting for the winners is open now through May 21, 2021, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. For more information, see the FIYAHCON website.