The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 59th Annual Nebula Awards®! Our congratulations go out to each and every finalist for the recognition of their excellent works published in 2023.

The awards will be presented in a ceremony on Saturday, June 8, that will be streamed live as it is held in-person in Pasadena, CA, as part of the 2024 Nebula Conference Online. Winners in each category will be determined by the vote of Full, Associate, and Senior members of SFWA.

Here is the complete list of finalists:

Nebula Award for Novel

• The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
• The Water Outlaws, S.L. Huang (Tordotcom; Solaris UK)
• Translation State, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• The Terraformers, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK)
• Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi (DAW, Gollancz)
• Witch King, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

Nebula Award for Novella

• The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)
• “Linghun”, Ai Jiang (Dark Matter Ink)
• Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
• Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee (Tordotcom)
• The Mimicking of Known Successes, Malka Older (Tordotcom)
• Mammoths at the Gates, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

Nebula Award for Novelette

• “A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair”, Renan Bernardo (Samovar 2/23)
• I Am AI, Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
• “The Year Without Sunshine”, Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny 11-12/23)
• “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down The Moon”, Angela Liu (Clarkesworld 6/23)
• “Saturday’s Song”, Wole Talabi (Lightspeed 5/23)
• “Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9-10/23)

Nebula Award for Short Story

• “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont”, P.A. Cornell (Fantasy 10/23)
• “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200”, R.S.A Garcia (Uncanny 7-8/23)
• “Window Boy”, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 8/23)
• “The Sound of Children Screaming”, Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare 10/23)
• “Better Living Through Algorithms”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 5/23)
• “Bad Doors”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 1-2/23)

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

• To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey)
• The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern, J. Dianne Dotson (Android)
• Liberty’s Daughter, Naomi Kritzer (Fairwood)
• The Ghost Job, Greg van Eekhout (Harper)

Nebula Award for Game Writing

• The Bread Must Rise, Stewart C Baker, James Beamon (Choice of Games)
• Alan Wake II, Sam Lake, Clay Murphy, Tyler Burton Smith, Sinikka Annala (Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games Publishing)
• Ninefox Gambit: Machineries of Empire Roleplaying Game, Yoon Ha Lee, Marie Brennan(Android)
• Dredge, Joel Mason (Black Salt Games, Team 17)
• Chants of Sennaar, Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel (Rundisc, Focus Entertainment)
• Baldur’s Gate 3, Adam Smith, Adrienne Law, Baudelaire Welch, Chrystal Ding, Ella McConnell, Ine Van Hamme, Jan Van Dosselaer, John Corcoran, Kevin VanOrd, Lawrence Schick, Martin Docherty, Rachel Quirke, Ruairí Moore, Sarah Baylus, Stephen Rooney, Swen Vincke (Larian Studios)

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

• Nimona, Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor, Pamela Ribon, Marc Haimes, Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Keith Bunin, Nate Stevenson (Annapurna Animation, Annapurna Pictures)
• The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time”, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (HBOMax)
• Barbie, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach (Warner Bros., Heyday Films, LuckyChap Entertainment)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Michael Gilio, Chris McKay (Paramount Pictures, Entertainment One, Allspark Pictures)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham (Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Avi Arad Productions)
• The Boy and the Heron, Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli, Toho Company)

Author Martha Wells has graciously declined her nomination as a novel finalist this year for System Collapse published by Tordotcom. In 2022, Wells also declined a nomination for novella and felt that the Murderbot Diaries series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community.

We look forward to celebrating all the finalists with aspiring and professional creators in the science fiction and fantasy genres at the 2024 Nebula Conference, June 6-9, 2024.

Questions about the awards or the upcoming conference may be directed to the SFWA Events Team at events@sfwa.org