Announcing the 2025 Ignyte Awards Shortlist

The Ignyte Awards Committee is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2025 Igynte Awards. The Awards seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscape of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts towards inclusivity within the genre. To that effect, the committee feels that these creators, creations, entities and perspectives from 2024 present the brightest lights in speculative fiction’s future. We encourage you to seek out the nominees unfamiliar to you on this ballot. Engage with their works of fiction or acts of community, and use those experiences to inform your vote.

OUTSTANDING NOVEL: ADULT

for novel-length work (40k words) Works intended for an adult audience

• BLACKHEART MAN – Nalo Hopkinson (S&S/Saga Press)
• METAL FROM HEAVEN – August Clarke (Erewhon Books)
• THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE – Justinian Huang (Mira)
• THE SENTENCE – Gautam Bhatia (Westland IF)
• WOMB CITY – Tlotlo Tsamaase (Erewhon Books)

OUTSTANDING NOVEL: YOUNG ADULT

for novel-length (40k+ words) works intended for the young adult audience

• HEIR – Sabaa Tahir (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR) 
• MOONSTORM – Yoon Ha Lee (Delacorte Press)
• SHEINE LENDE – Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
• SPELLS TO FORGET US – Aislinn Brophy (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR)
• THE POISONS WE DRINK – Bethany Baptiste (Sourcebooks Fire)

OUTSTANDING MIDDLE GRADE

for works intended for the middle grade audience

• AMARI AND THE DESPICABLE WONDERS – B. B. Alston (Storytide) 
• BENNY RAMÍREZ AND THE NEARLY DEPARTED – Jose Pable Iriarte (Knopf BYR)
• SONA AND THE GOLDEN BEASTS – Rajani Larocca (Quill Tree Books)
• THE CREEPENING OF DOGWOOD HOUSE – Eden Royce (Walden Pond Press)
• THE LAST RHEE WITCH – Jenna Lee-Yun (Disney Hyperion)

OUTSTANDING NOVELLA

for speculative works ranging from 17,500-39,999 words

• FRACTAL KARMA – Arula Ratnakar (Clarkesworld)
• LOST ARK DREAMING – Suyi Okungbowa Davies (Tordotcom)
• THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST – Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
• THE DRAGONFLY GAMBIT – A. D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)
• THE PRACTICE, THE HORIZON, AND THE CHAIN – Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)

OUTSTANDING NOVELETTE

for speculative works ranging from 7,500-17,499 words

• A STRANGER KNOCKS – Tananarive Due (Uncanny Magazine)
• JOANNA’S BODIES – Eugenia Triantafyllou (Psychopomp)
• NEGATIVE SCHOLARSHIP ON THE FIFTH STATE OF BEING – A.W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld)
• ¡SANGRONAS! UN LISTA DE TERROR – M.M. Olivas (Uncanny Magazine)
• WE WHO WILL NOT DIE – Shingai Njeri Kagunda (Psychopomp) 

OUTSTANDING SHORT STORY

for speculative works ranging from 2,000-7,499 words

• AGNI – Nibedita Sen (The Sunday Morning Transport)
• PARTHENOGENESIS – Stephen Graham Jones (Reactor)
• THE SPINDLE OF NECESSITY – B. Pladek (Strange Horizons)
• WE WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO READ | WE WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO READ – Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed Magazine)
• WHALE FALL – J.L. Akagi (Strange Horizons)

OUTSTANDING SPECULATIVE POETRY

• AFTER THEY BLASTED YOUR HOME PLANET TO SHRAPNEL – P.H. Low (Haven Speculative)
• HIJACKED INTERIORS – Leena Aboutaleb (Strange Horizons)
• I SAID | मैंने कहा – Sourav Roy, translated by Carol D’Souza (Samovar) 
• RELIVING: POST TRAUMA OF THE LEKKI TOLLGATE MASSACRE – Fasasi Ridwan (Strange Horizons)
• THE PERSON WHO REMINDS THE OTHER PERSON TO CAST THE SPELL – Bogi Takács (Strange Horizons)

CRITICS AWARD

for reviews and analysis of the field of speculative literature

• Ancillary Review of Books
• Archita Mittra
• BlackGayComicGeek
• Gabino Iglesias
• Maya Gittelman

OUTSTANDING FICTION PODCAST

for excellence in audio performance and production for speculative fiction

• Cast of Wonders
• Khōréō Magazine
• Podcastle
• Pseudopod
• The Nosleep Podcast

OUTSTANDING ARTIST

for contributions in visual speculative storytelling

• Alyssa Winans
• Carly A-F
• Micaela Alcaino
• Tran Nguyen

OUTSTANDING COMICS TEAM

for comics, graphic novels, and sequential storytelling

• LUNAR BOY – Jes and Cin Wibowo (Harper Alley)
• LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY – Gene Luen Yang and Leuyen Pham (First Second)
• THE WORST RONIN – Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaffer (Harper Alley)

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTED WORKS

• A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE – Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Hogarth)
• DEEP DREAM: SCIENCE FICTION EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF ART – Indrapramit Das (The MIT Press)
• THE BLACK GIRL SURVIVES IN THIS ONE – Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell (Flatiron Books)
• THROUGH THE NIGHT LIKE A SNAKE: LATIN AMERICAN HORROR STORIES – Sarah Coolidge (Two Lines Press)
• THYME TRAVELLERS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PALESTINIAN SPECULATIVE FICTION – Sonia Sulaiman (Roseway Publishing)

OUTSTANDING CREATIVE NONFICTION

for works related to the field of speculative fiction

• AFRO-CENTERED FUTURISMS IN OUR SPECULATIVE FICTION – Eugen Bacon, ed. Featuring works by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Dilman Dila, Nerine Dorman, Nuzo Onoh, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Stephen Embleton, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Tobi Ogundiran and Xan van Rooyen (Bloomsbury Academic)
• ALL INSURRECTIONS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL: ON WRITING RESISTANCE AFTER JANUARY 6TH – Micaiah Johnson (Reactor)
• FLAMBOYANTS: THE QUEER HARLEM RENAISSANCE I WISH I’D KNOWN – George M. Johnson, Charley Palmer (FSG BYR)
• IN OTHER WOR(L)DS – Shrinidhi Harasimhan (Strange Horizons)
• WHY A.I. ISN’T GOING TO MAKE ART – Ted Chiang (The New Yorker)

THE EMBER AWARD

for unsung contributions to genre

• Charlie Jane Anders
• Indrapramit Das
• Nisi Shawl
• Renay
• Sonia Sulaiman

THE COMMUNITY AWARD

for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre

WOLE TALABI

AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS

SAMOVAR MAGAZINE

WRITING THE OTHER: WORKSHOPS

The short list is derived from 20 BIPOC+ voters made up of FIYAHCON Staff and previous award winners, of varying genders, sexualities, cultures, disabilities, and locations throughout the world. This year's awards also sourced 12 judges ages 12-18 for the Middle Grade and Young Adult categories. The collected judges are referred to as the Ignyte Awards Committee. The Committee was not limited to selections authored or otherwise created by BIPOC. Public voting on the shortlist does not permit write-in nominations. Each year, we ask winners to be part of the subsequent year’s committee to ensure fresh perspectives and to help prevent repeated nominations of the same popular authors as recognized in many other genre awards. 

This year’s winners will be announced October 12, 2025.