In speculative fiction, there are two major awards given out annually: the Hugo Award (named for Hugo Gernsback) presented by the World Science Fiction Society and the Nebula Award presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).  Yesterday, the SFWA announced the nominees for this year’s award (for the calendar year 2011).

While the awards cover many categories, I’m most interested in the short fiction categories.  Here are the nominees for best novelette:

• “Fields of Gold,” Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse 4)
• “Ray of Light,” Brad R. Torgersen (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)
• “Sauerkraut Station,” Ferrett Steinmetz (Giganotosaurus)
• “Six Months, Three Days,” Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)
• “The Migratory Pattern of Dancers,” Katherine Sparrow (Giganotosaurus)
• “The Old Equations,” Jake Kerr (Lightspeed Magazine)
• “What We Found,” Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

and for short story:

• “Her Husband’s Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine)
• “Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son,” Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed Magazine)
• “Movement,” Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s Science Fiction,)
• “Shipbirth,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction) 
• “The Axiom of Choice,” David W. Goldman (New Haven Review)   
• “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld Magazine)
• “The Paper Menagerie,” Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

Several of these are available for free reading online, and many of the print magazines (Analog, Asimov’s and Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction) will post their nominees online in the near future, if they haven’t already.  While none of my work was nominated (only things published in 2011 were eligible), it’s nice to see some of the publications where I’ve had stories appear get recognized (e.g., Lightspeed Magazine, Asimov’s).  It’s also nice to see some familiar names on the list along with many new names that I might not recognize today, but will probably know better in the future. 

With my recent acceptance into SFWA, I’m eligible to nominate and vote for the Nebula Awards.  I’ve read about a third of the stories listed above, so I’ve got some reading to do before the voting closes on March 30th.