2023 Locus Awards Winners
The Locus Science Fiction Foundation announced the winners in each category of the 2023 Locus Awards on June 24, 2023, during the Locus Awards Weekend. Maggie Tokuda-Hall MCed the awards ceremony with Connie Willis as special guest. Additional weekend events included readings and panels with leading authors.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
- WINNER: The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi (Tor; Tor UK)
- Sweep of Stars, Maurice Broaddus (Tor)
- The Red Scholar’s Wake, Aliette de Bodard (Gollancz; JABberwocky)
- The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor; Solaris UK)
- Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf; Picador; HarperCollins Canada)
- The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)
- Goliath, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom)
- Eyes of the Void, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US)
- Neom, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)
- Eversion, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US)
FANTASY NOVEL
- WINNER: Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
- The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris UK)
- When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (Doubleday; Hot Key)
- Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)
- The World We Make, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
- Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
- Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)
- The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik (Del Rey US; Del Rey UK)
- Fevered Star, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga; Solaris UK)
- Siren Queen, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
HORROR NOVEL
- WINNER: What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher (Nightfire; Titan UK)
- Saturnalia, Stephanie Feldman (Unnamed)
- Just Like Home, Sarah Gailey (Tor; Hodder & Stoughton)
- Road of Bones, Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s; Titan UK)
- The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland; Wildfire)
- The Fervor, Alma Katsu (Putnam; Titan UK)
- Gwendy’s Final Task, Stephen King & Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance; Hodder & Stoughton)
- Echo, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Nightfire; Hodder & Stoughton)
- No Gods for Drowning, Hailey Piper (Agora)
- The Pallbearers Club, Paul Tremblay (Morrow; Titan UK)
- Sundial, Catriona Ward (Nightfire; Viper)
YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
- WINNER: Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan UK)
- The Scratch Daughters, H.A. Clarke (Erewhon)
- Bloodmarked, Tracy Deonn (McElderry; Simon & Schuster UK)
- The Kindred, Alechia Dow (Inkyard)
- Bitter, Akwaeke Emezi (Knopf; Faber & Faber)
- Unraveller, Frances Hardinge (Macmillan; Amulet 1/23)
- Rust in the Root, Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
- Lakelore, Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel and Friends)
- Ballad & Dagger, Daniel José Older (Hyperion)
- An Arrow to the Moon, Emily X.R. Pan (Little, Brown; Orion)
FIRST NOVEL
- WINNER: The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Cryptid; Tor)
- The Hacienda, Isabel Cañas (Berkley)
- The Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean (Tor; Harper Voyager UK)
- The Bruising of Qilwa, Naseem Jamnia (Tachyon)
- The Ballad of Perilous Graves, Alex Jennings (Redhook; Orbit UK)
- The Unbalancing, R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
- The Bone Orchard, Sara A. Mueller (Tor)
- How High We Go in the Dark, Sequoia Nagamatsu (Morrow; Bloomsbury)
- The Genesis of Misery, Neon Yang (Tor)
NOVELLA
- WINNER: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
- Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances, Aliette de Bodard (JABberwocky)
- Servant Mage, Kate Elliott (Tordotcom)
- “Bishop’s Opening“, R.S.A Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)
- A Mirror Mended, Alix E. Harrow (Tordotcom)
- Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
- Tread of Angels, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga; Solaris UK)
- High Times in the Low Parliament, Kelly Robson (Tordotcom)
- Ogres, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Solaris)
- Into the Riverlands, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
NOVELETTE
- WINNER: “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You“, John Chu (Uncanny 7-8/22)
- “Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold“, S.B. Divya (Uncanny 5-6/22)
- “Incident at Bear Creek Lodge”, Tananarive Due (Other Terrors)
- “Solidity”, Greg Egan (Asimov’s 9-10/22)
- “The Six Deaths of the Saint”, Alix E. Harrow (Into Shadow)
- “In Mercy, Rain“, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com 7/18/22)
- “Falling Off the Edge of the World”, Suzanne Palmer (Asimov’s 11-12/22)
- “The Sadness Box“, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld 7/22)
- “A Dream of Electric Mothers”, Wole Talabi (Africa Risen)
- “The Difference Between Love and Time”, Catherynne M. Valente (Someone in Time)
SHORT STORY
- WINNER: “Rabbit Test”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 11-12/22)
- “Give Me English”, Ai Jiang (F&SF 5-6/22)
- “The Goldfish Man”, Maureen McHugh (Uncanny 3-4/22)
- “Dick Pig”, Ian Muneshwar (Nightmare 1/22)
- “Master of Ceremonies“, Frances Ogamba (The Dark 5/22)
- “Beginnings”, Kristina Ten (Fantasy 4/22)
- “The Coward Who Stole God’s Name”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 5-6/22)
- “D.I.Y”, John Wiswell (Tor.com 8/24/22)
- “Inheritance “, Hannah Yang (Analog 9-10/22)
- “A Monster in the Shape of a Boy”, Hannah Yang (Apex 5/22)
ANTHOLOGY
- WINNER: Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, Sheree Renée Thomas & Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Zelda Knight, eds. (Tordotcom) with works by Dilman Dila, WC Dunlap, Steven Barnes, Joshua Omenga, Russell Nichols, Nuzo Onoh, Franka Zeph, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Wole Talabi, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Alex Jennings, Mirette Bahgat, Timi Odueso, Maurice Broaddus, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Tobias S. Buckell, Somto Ihezue Onyedikachi, Tananarive Due, Ytasha L. Womack, Oyedotun Damilola, Alexis Brooks de Vita, Tobi Ogundiran, Moustapha Mbacké Diop, Akua Lezli Hope, Mame Bougouma Diene & Woppa Diallo, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Ada Nnadi, Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, Chinelo Onwualu, Danian Darrell Jerry, Dare Segun Falowo
- The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, Yu Chen & Regina Kanyu Wang, eds. (Tordotcom)
- The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 6, Neil Clarke, ed. (Night Shade)
- Screams from the Dark, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Nightfire)
- The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022, Rebecca Roanhorse & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)
- Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris)
- Tomorrow’s Parties: Life in the Anthropocene, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (MIT Press)
- Trouble the Waters: Tales from the Deep Blue, Sheree Renée Thomas & Pan Morigan & Troy L. Wiggins, eds. (Third Man)
- The Best of World SF: Volume 2, Lavie Tidhar, ed. (Head of Zeus)
- The Future is Female! Volume Two: The 1970s, Lisa Yaszek, ed. (Library of America)
COLLECTION
- WINNER: Boys, Beasts & Men, Sam J. Miller (Tachyon)
- Dark Breakers, C.S.E. Cooney (Mythic Delirium)
- Memory’s Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection, James S.A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
- Night Shift, Eileen Gunn (PM)
- Breakable Things, Cassandra Khaw (Undertow)
- Geometries of Belonging, R.B. Lemberg (Fairwood)
- The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe et al. (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
- Illuminations, Alan Moore (Bloomsbury USA; Bloomsbury UK)
- Our Fruiting Bodies, Nisi Shawl (Aqueduct)
- The Best of Lucius Shepard: Vol. 2, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean)
MAGAZINE
- WINNER: Tor.com
- Apex
- Asimov’s
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- Clarkesworld
- F&SF
- FIYAH
- Lightspeed
- Strange Horizons
- Uncanny
PUBLISHER
- WINNER: Tor
- Angry Robot
- Gollancz
- Harper Voyager
- Neon Hemlock
- Orbit
- Small Beer
- Subterranean
- Tachyon
- Tordotcom
EDITOR
- WINNER: Ellen Datlow
- Neil Clarke
- Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
- Arley Sorg & Christie Yant
- Jonathan Strahan
- Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
- Sheree Renée Thomas
- Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
- Wendy N. Wagner
- Sheila Williams
ARTIST
- WINNER: Charles Vess
- Tommy Arnold
- Rovina Cai
- Kinuko Y. Craft
- Galen Dara
- Julie Dillon
- Bob Eggleton
- John Picacio
- Shaun Tan
- Michael Whelan
NON-FICTION
- WINNER: Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography, Rob Wilkins (Doubleday UK)
- The Rise of the Cyberzines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1991 to 2020, Mike Ashley (Liverpool University Press)
- Fantasy: How It Works, Brian Attebery (Oxford University Press)
- An Earnest Blackness, Eugen Bacon (Anti-Oedipus)
- Queering SF: Readings, Ritch Calvin (Aqueduct)
- Bridging Worlds: Global Conversations on Creating Pan-African Speculative Literature in a Pandemic, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Jembefola)
- Charting the Afrofuturist Imaginary in African American Art: The Black Female Fantastic, Elizabeth Carmel Hamilton (Routledge)
- The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom, Volume Two: 1940, David Ritter & Daniel Ritter (First Fandom Experience)
- Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics, Darieck Scott (New York University Press)
- Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences, Bev Vincent (Epic Ink)
ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOK
- WINNER: Chivalry, Neil Gaiman, art by Colleen Doran (Dark Horse)
- Visions of Beauty, Dianne Borsini-Burr, ed., art by Kinuko Y. Craft (Borsini-Burr & Imaginary Editions)
- Paintings & Drawings of Rowena, Kim DeMulder, art by Rowena (self-published)
- The Keeper, Tananarive Due & Steven Barnes, art by Marco Finnegan (Megascope)
- In the Black Fantastic, Ekow Eshun (Thames & Hudson; MIT Press)
- Spectrum Fantastic Art Quarterly Volume Two, Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Spectrum Fantastic Art)
- The Night Eaters Book 1: She Eats the Night, Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Abrams ComicArts)
- Mother Christmas, Vol 1: The Muse, Valya Dudycz Lupescu, art by Vic Terra (Rosarium)
- Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, George Orwell, art by Omar Rayyan (Suntup)
- Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections, Shaun Tan (Walker Studio UK; Windy Hollow; Levine Querido)
SPECIAL AWARD 2023: Developing Diversity in Genre Communities
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Hello, I am looking for information about the Locus awards; specifically, is there a way for authors or publishers to submit for consideration, and if so, where are the guidelines for this? I’m interested in categories, fees/books for submission, and deadlines.
Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Best, Molly Rosen
Hi Molly! The Locus Awards doesn’t take awards submissions. Any book published in the award year is eligible, and titles may be written onto the public ballot, which is hosted on our site from February 1 to April 15. We strongly recommend submitting books for review to bring titles to the attention of our readers and staff. Our submission guidelines are here: https://locusmag.com/aboutlocusonline/submission-guidelines/.