November is the start of Speculative Poetry Month!
Speculative Poetry Month was established in 2017 as an initiative of the international Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association to highlight the poetry created by writers and artists across the globe that incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other imaginative genres.
They hope to introduce communities to the delights and benefits of reading and writing speculative poetry as well as make speculative poetry an important and innovative part of our cultural life. Sahtu Press author Krysada Panusith Phounsiri was the very first Lao poet to ever receive a Rhysling Award for poem of the year from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association was established in 1978 by Suzette Haden-Elgin and has an international membership representing over 19 nations and cultures including United States, Italy, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania, Poland, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Israel, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, the Hmong, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. The current Grand Masters of Speculative Poetry include: Akua Lezli Hope, Mary Soon Lee, Linda D. Addison, Ann K. Schwader, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Marge Simon, Steve Sneyd (RIP), Jane Yolen, Ray Bradbury (RIP), Robert Frazier and Bruce Boston.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association publishes two journals: Star*Line and Eye to the Telescope. It oversees three major literary awards for poetry: The Rhyslings, the Dwarf Stars, and the Elgin Awards. They also conduct an annual science fiction poetry contest and other special events and gatherings. Further, they provide resources for emerging and established poets seeking professional publication and networking opportunities.
The following awards were conferred:
Elgin Awards
Now in its tenth year, the first place Elgin Award winner for Book of the Year is Some Disassembly Required by David C. Kopaska-Merkel (Diminuendo Press, 2022). Second place went to The Saint of Witches by Avra Margariti (Weasel Press, 2022), while third place was a tie between Elegies of Rotted Stars by Tiffany Morris (Nictitating Books, 2022) and Not a Princess, But (Yes) There Was a Pea & Other Tales to Foment Revolution by Rebecca Buchanan (Jackanapes Press, 2022), The Elgin Award winner for Chapbook of the Year is The Last Robot and Other Science Fiction Poems by Jane Yolen (Shoreline of Infinity, 2021). The second place chapbook was Spacers Snarled in the Hair of Comets by Bruce Boston (Mind’s Eye Publishing, 2022). The third place went to Cajuns in Space by Denise Dumars (self-published, 2022).
Morgan L Ventura served as the 2023 Chair of the Elgin Awards. 78 members voted on the selections. 58 books had been nominated and 18 chapbooks had been nominated.
Rhysling Awards
For the Rhysling awards, in the Long Poem category, Colleen Anderson’s “Machine (r)Evolution” from Radon Journal 2 received first place. In the Short Poem category there was a tie between Jennifer Crow’s “Harold and the Blood-Red Crayon” from Star*Line 45.1 and Terese Mason Pierre’s “In Stock Images of the Future, Everything is White” from Uncanny 46. The second place award in the Long Poem category went to Rebecca Buchanan’s “The Bone Tree” from Not A Princess, but (Yes) There was a Pea, and Other Fairy Tales to Foment Revolution (Jackanapes Press) and the second place in the Short Poem category went to Sarah Grey’s “Bitch Moon” from Nightmare Magazine 118. The 2023 third place Long Poem was Akua Lezli Hope’s “Igbo Landing II” which first appeared in Black Fire—This Time, ed. Kim McMillon (Aquarius Press). The third place award for Short Poem was a tie between Amelia Gorman’s “The Gargoyle Watches the Rains End” from The Gargoylicon: Imaginings and Images of the Gargoyle in Literature and Art ed. Frank Coffman (Mind’s Eye Publications) and Lisa Timpf’s “First Contact” from Eye to the Telescope 44.
Rhysling honorable mentions in the Short Poem category included “Field Notes from the Anthropocene” by Priya Chand Nightmare Magazine 116, “Near the end, your mother tells you she’s been seeing someone” by Shannon Connor Winward, from the SFPA Poetry Contest, and “Dinner Plans with Baba Yaga” by Stephanie M. Wytovich from Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga. In the Long Poem category, honorable mentions were given to “Herbaceous Citadel” by Avra Margariti in The Fairy Tale Magazine January 4, “Living in Rubble” by Gerri Leen from Eccentric Orbits 3, and “The Thing About Stars” by Avra Magariti from The Saint of Witches (Weasel Press).
Maxwell I. Gold was this year’s Rhysling chair. 102 short poems were nominated, and 70 long poems were nominated from across 94 publications and collections. 114 members voted.
Dwarf Stars
The 2023 Dwarf Stars were tied for first place with “Believe the Graves” by Rasha Abdulhadi from The Deadlands 16 and “In Perpetuity” by Bruce Boston in Analog, July/August 2022. The second place award went to “Excerpt from a Proposal for the New City” by Alyssa Lo from Strange Horizons, 11/14. The third place was tied between “As Slow as Starlight” by Kim Whysall-Hammond in Frozen Wavelets 7, “Surviving” by Sumiko Saulson in The Rat King: A Book of Dark Poetry (Dooky Zines), and “Trichotillomania” by Warsan Shire in Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (Random House). This year’s chairs were David C. Kopaska Merkel and Miguel O. Mitchell, PhD. This year 120 members reviewed 105 poems across 54 venues.
SFPA Poetry Contest
Judge Michael Arnzen selected the winners of this year’s SFPA Poetry Contest. Prizes were offered in three divisions: Dwarf (≤10 lines), Short, and Long (50+ lines). Contest chair R. Thursday received 439 entries (114 dwarf-length, 253 short, and 72 long poems) from around the world.
Dwarf Form:
First place “Calcination” by Colleen Anderson
Second place “What Ghosts Didn’t Do” by Mary Soon Lee
Third Place [open window] by Michael Nickels-Wisdom
Dwarf Form Honorable Mentions:
“All Sales Final!” by Alan Vincent Michaels
“Starstruck” by S. Iya Iya
“My Mother’s Eyes” by Chad Stanke
“Poisoned Gold Sprinkles” by Greer Woodward
“Black Sea” by Anna Cates
Short Form:
First place “Abraham Lincoln Addresses the Nation Before He is Executed by Interstellar Invaders” by Kate Boyes
Second place “Embryo Warehouse” by Amber Winter and Joshua St. Claire
Third Place “A Jar of Cherries” by Jay Caselberg
Short Form Honorable Mentions:
“Hovering Free” by Hamant Sing
“In Which I Tell You Speculative Fiction is the Trans Body” by West Ambrose
“Charming” by Anna Cates
“Considering Fuseli’s ‘The Nightmare’” by Frank Coffman
“Enceladus Elegy” by Bradley Earle Hoge
Long Form:
First place “Metamorfish” by Randall Andrews
Second place “Nightmare in Blue” by Kurt Newton
Third Place “Wake Unto Death” by Lori R. Lopez
Long Form Honorable Mentions:
“This Body Isn’t Mine” by Christina Connerton
“The Odd Couple” by Anna Cates
“The Origin of ‘The Steamster’” by Jerri Hardesty
“Panopticon” by F.J. Bergmann
“An Eschaton of Ice” by John Bell