2021 Roswell Award Finalists and Women Hold Up Half the Sky Winner

The Omega Sci-Fi Awards has announced the finalists for its Roswell Award short story competition:

• “The Rite to Vote”, Matthew Cushing
• “Imagine Dandelions”, Andrea Goyan
• “Autonomous”, Ben Hennesy
• “Run”, Tenzin Phillips
• “Biomimicry”, Ven Pillay
• “Realtiger”, Susan Wachowski

Honorable mentions were given to the following stories:

• “When the Books Were on Paper”, Evgeniy Bondarev
• “Logistics”, Christian Darkin
• “Buddy and I”, Bryan Leong Jing Ern
• “Opt-In”, Susan Harper
• “Way Out”, Larry Herbst
• “Starchild”, Mayor Prosper Ihechi
• “Eclosion”, Alice Laciny
• “Rate Me!”, Lexus Ndiwe
• “Mittens Aurelius: Meowditations”, Mark Thomas

Results of the 2021 Women Hold Up Half the Sky competition were also announced. “Never Turn Your Back on the Water” by Courtney Watson was declared the winner, with honorable mentions given to the following stories:

• “Yes”, Marie Cartier
• “Unfrozen”, Libby Marshall
• “Fish Hunting Fish”, Archie Nicholson
• “Virgintillion”, Anna O’Brien
• “The Shadows of the Baobabs Fall Long”, Bailey Sweatman

The Roswell Award short story competition is open to writers 16 years old and up. First place winner receives $500 and access to the UCLA Extension writers’ program. Second prize is $250, and third prize is $100. The Women Hold Up Half the Sky Award, co-presented by Artemis literary journal, is an additional prize for a feminist-themed story.

Roswell Award finalist judges include Steven Barnes, Alyssa Bell, Wesley Chu, S.B. Divya, Rebecca Moesta, Philippe Mora, and Larry Niven. All finalists will have their stories performed by celebrity guests, and the winner will be announced in a virtual ceremony on May 22, 2021. For more information, see the Omega Sci-Fi Awards website.

[Edited 5/10/2021 to include full list of judges.]