The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association has announced the winners of its annual prize for poetry. Poems were judged in three categories, listed below.

Dwarf Form (10 or fewer lines):

• WINNER: “Unauthorized Territory”, Michael Bailey

• Second Place: “Communication Is Important”, F. J. Bergmann
• Third Place: “Untitled”, Anna Cates
• Honorable Mention: “Disillusioned Tribute”, Joy Donnell

Short Form (10 to 50 lines):

• WINNER: “The Wind Always Returns”, Hinse Mutter

• Second Place: “The Museum of Anomalous Objects”, F. J. Bergmann
• Third Place: “Last Lowcountry Haunt”, Joy Donnell
• Honorable Mention: “Cataloguing Lost Souls”, Colleen Anderson

Long Form (50 or more lines):

• WINNER: “The Abyss Between One and Two”, Izzy Toy Retke

• Second Place: “At the Cosmic Gallery Above Proxima Centauri b: After Dreamworld”, M. Frost
• Third Place: “A Backdrop of Black Velvet and Rhinestones”, F. J. Bergmann
• Honorable Mentions: “Ten Ways to End the World”, Kathleen Bryson         

The winning poems were announced on the SFPA website, along with commentary from contest judge Naomi Simone Borwein. The contest chair was Michael Hessel-Mial. 

The SFPA Contest awards unpublished poems from both SFPA members and non-members. Submissions are $3 a poem. Cash prizes are awarded: $150 for first place, $75 for second place and $25 for third place. See the SFPA Contests page for more details and updates. 

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The winner, finalists, and honorable mentions for the 2026 Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction have been announced.

The winner is “All the Tears from the River Below” by Rida Altaf. Finalists are “Qitmir” by Eman Farhan and “Dreams of Dying and Waking Men” by Shahmeer Mahesar. The honorable mention is “Diesel Raven” by Abdul Kabir Qureshi.

The Salam Award, “a short story award to promote science fiction and related genres of writing in Pakistan,” is an annual prize open to original fiction of 10,000 words or fewer written in English by authors who must be “currently residing in Pakistan, or be of Pakistani birth/descent.” The award is named for Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam.

Judges for this year’s award were Christopher Golden, Robert V.S. Redick, and Karen Joy Fowler. The winner receives Rs 50,000, publication on the Salam Award site, editorial review, and potential publication in a magazine.

For more, see the Salam Award website.

The Empire State Center for the Book has announced Lawrence Block and N.K. Jemisin as two of the three writers in 2026 to be inducted into the New York State (NYS) Writers Hall of Fame, along with Kay Thompson (posthumously). The Hall of Fame is presented alongside the NYS Writers Institute, a literary organization that “enhances and celebrates literature, writing, and performance.”

The 2026 Hall of Fame selection committee included Matthew Baker, John Batteiger, Mildred Bernstein, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Paul Grondahl, Ira B. Matetsky Esq., Susan Polos, and Empire State Center for the Book director Rocco Staino.

Block, Jemisin, and Thompson will be celebrated at an induction ceremony on November 17, 2026 in New York NY.

Earlier this year, on May 15, 2026, Drake surprised everyone by releasing three albums. Instead of releasing one double album, or maybe even a triple, Drake released Habibti and Maid Of Honour alongside Iceman. On the closing track of Iceman, Drake declared, “This album, I’m never submittin’ it,” referring to the Grammy Awards.

It seems Drake stayed true to his word. On October 5, 2026, Billboard reported that Drake did not submit any of the three albums for Grammy consideration. He also didn’t submit any of the singles. This isn’t the first time the rapper has refused to do so. In 2018, Drake declined to submit More Life, and withdrew his submissions of Certified Lover Boy (2022) and Honestly, Nevermind (2023). He did, however, submit his 2024 collaboration album with 21 Savage, though they lost Best Rap Album to Killer Mike’s Michael.

To be included in the 2027 Grammy Awards, artists had to submit their work by August 21, 2026. Only albums and singles released between August 31, 2025, and August 28, 2026, are eligible for submission.

Could Drake’s Beef With Lamar Be the Reason?

Drake’s three new albums were his first since the 2024 feud with Kendrick Lamar. Despite the feud and Lamar’s attempt to tarnish Drake’s image, these three albums were a huge success throughout the summer months of 2026.

In January 2025, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against their shared label, Universal Music Group (UMG). Less than a month later, in February 2025, Lamar won five Grammy Awards for the track “Not Like Us”, which alludes to Drake as being a “certified pedophile.” In the defamation suit, Drake claims the label willingly distributed a track with the false narrative. A judge dismissed the case as “nonactionable opinion” in October 2025, and Drake’s team quickly appealed.

Oral arguments in the defamation case are set for December 2026. Amid the ongoing lawsuit, Drake refused to submit his work to the Grammys. If he had submitted, Drake’s three albums might have won in some major categories.

Upon release in May 2026, Drake made history when all three albums took the top three positions on the Billboard 200. Iceman in particular could’ve been a heavy contender for Album of the Year, as Drake tied Taylor Swift for the most No. 1 albums by a solo artist at 15. It surpasses Drake’s previous record with his 2011 album Take Care, which held the top position on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 12 weeks. Additionally, he set the record with 40 debut songs appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week.

Photo by Simone Joyner/Getty Images for ABA

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Finalists for the National Book Awards (NBA) have been announced. Categories, authors, and books of genre interest include:

Fiction

Young People’s Literature

Translated Literature

The judges for the Fiction award are Matt Bell, Caro De Robertis (chair), Danielle King, Akhil Sharma, and Diane Wilson. Judges for the Young People’s Literature award are Edith Campbell, Brandy Colbert (chair), Tricia Ebarvia, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and Anne Ursu. Judges for the Translated Fiction award are Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Javier García del Moral, John Keene, Christopher Merrill (chair), and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi.

The Poetry and Nonfiction finalists were also announced, and Lifetime Achievement recipients Salman Rushdie and Perri Klass were previously announced. Finalists receive a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a judges’ citation. Winners, who receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture, will be honored at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18, 2026.

For more information, including the complete lists of finalists, see the National Book Foundation website.

“Guardians of the Well” by Rose Strickman (In Another Time 6/25) has been announced as the winner of the 2026 Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) Small Press Award for Short Fiction. Other finalists include:

The Ignyte Awards Committee has announced the winners of the 2026 Ignyte Awards, which “seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.”

Winners of the French-language Prix Boréal have been announced.

Best Novel

The winners of the 2026 Colorado Book Awards were revealed at a ceremony located in Denver CO on September 26, 2026. Titles and authors of genre interest in categories with winners of genre interest include:

“We, the Fleet” by Alex T. Singer (Clarkesworld 5/25) is the winner of the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction story, presented by the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction.

The second-place runner up was “The Sack of Burley Cottage” by Rich Larson (Reactor 6/25/25). The third-place runner up was “The Shadow on the Nest” by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Uncanny 9-10/25).

Other finalists were:

Established in 1987 by James Gunn and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill and Sturgeon’s children, the Sturgeon Award is “a memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.” This year’s jurors were Elizabeth Bear, Kelly Link, Sarah Pinsker, Noël Sturgeon, and Taryne Taylor.

The award will be presented in-person at the fifth annual Sturgeon Symposium at the Hall Center for the Humanities in Lawrence KS. The Sturgeon Award ceremony, to be held on October 15, 2026, will feature a reception, opening remarks, presentation of the award, a reading by Singer, and a Q&A session. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Expanding Speculative Horizons.” The Symposium itself is from October 15-16.

For more information, see the Gunn Center’s website.

The longlists for the Singapore Literature Prize (SLP) have been announced. Titles and authors of genre interest in the Prose category include:

The Bookseller has announced the shortlists for the second annual British Audio Awards, also called the Speakies, “a prestigious new awards dedicated to celebrating excellence in audiobooks and audio drama, brought to you by The Bookseller and The Stage.” Categories, titles, and authors of genre interest include:

The six-title shortlist for the 2026 Booker Prize has been announced, with works and writers of genre interest including The End of Everything by M. John Harrison (Serpent’s Tail) and The Disappearers by Marlon James (Riverhead).

Harrison, James, and other shortlisted authors receive £2,500. The winner, to receive £50,000, will be announced November 9, 2026.

For previous titles of genre interest listed for the Booker, see past Locus coverage of the award.

Longlists for the National Book Awards (NBA) have been announced. Categories, authors, and books of genre interest include:

Fiction

Young People’s Literature

Translated Literature

The judges for the Fiction award are Matt Bell, Caro De Robertis (chair), Danielle King, Akhil Sharma, and Diane Wilson. Judges for the Young People’s Literature award are Edith Campbell, Brandy Colbert (chair), Tricia Ebarvia, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and Anne Ursu. Judges for the Translated Fiction award are Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Javier García del Moral, John Keene, Christopher Merrill (chair), and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi.

The Poetry and Nonfiction longlists were also announced, and Lifetime Achievement recipients Salman Rushdie and Perri Klass were previously announced. Finalists, who receive a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a judges’ citation, will be announced October 6, 2026. Winners, who receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture, will be honored at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18, 2026.

For more information, including the complete longlists, see the National Book Foundation website.

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Long derided for putting just about anything on a pizza, California has two pizzerias in the world's top 5, according to the Italian culinary guide "Top 50 Pizza."

BBQ chicken pizza ain't so funny now, is it?

On Tuesday, Italy-based culinary guide 50 Top Pizza released its global rankings for 2026 — and three pizzerias with California ties scored spots in the top five.

— Read the rest

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The National Book Foundation has announced that it will present Salman Rushdie with the 2026 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (DCAL) at this year’s National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18, 2026. Author Kiran Desai will present the award.

The DCAL Medal was created in 1988 “to recognize a lifetime of literary achievement.” Prior recipients of genre interest include Ursula K. Le Guin, Toni Morrison, and Walter Mosley. The recipient receives a solid brass medal, as well as $10,000.

For more information, see the official announcement.

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The Sunburst Award Society has announced Helen Marshall, author of The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death (Titan) [amazon / bookshop], as the winner of this year’s Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic.

Other shortlisted works include:

Marshall receives a medallion with the Sunburst logo and a cash prize of CAD $3,000. The jurors for the 2026 Award were A.G. Pasquella, Daniel Perry, and A.C. Wise.

For more information, see the Sunburst Award Society website.

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The Indiana Authors Awards have announced the 2026 winners. The awards “celebrate the best books by Indiana authors written in eight different categories and published during the previous two years.” Works from the Genre category follow.

Genre

• WINNER: Departure 37, Scott Carson (Artia/Emily Bestler)

• Breath of Oblivion, Maurice Broaddus (Tor)
• Sisters of Fortune, Anna Lee Huber (Kensington)
• Veil, Jonathan Janz (Blackstone)
• The Lost Heiress, Elizabeth Klehfoth (Lake Union)

Winners receive $5000 and are invited to participate in an Indiana speakers program. Winners and shortlisted authors are chosen by a panel of judges, including “former winners, writers, educators,  scholars,  local bookstore owners and librarians.” Nominations for the 2028 awards are to be opened Fall 2027. For more information, including the other winners and the complete shortlist, see the awards website.

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Dream Foundry, a “non-profit dedicated to bolstering the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts,” has announced the winners for its 2026 contests.

Writing Contest

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Baen Books, an independent publisher of military science fiction and fantasy, has announced the creation of a new short story award, named in honor of the author David A. Drake. The reward is in addition to their currently sponsored awards, the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award and Jim Baen Memorial Award.

Baen hopes to “find new writing talent and will reward winners with professional publication contracts for their stories as well as a lovely trophy.” They will be searching for “works of great science fiction or fantasy with strong military themes central to the characters and plot, not mere window dressing.” The reward is judged by a board of Baen editors and “a widely published military science fiction author.”

Baen indicates, “Submissions of original, unpublished short stories of up to 8,000 words will be accepted from 24 September 2026 until 10 December 2026.” They hope to announce the finalists February 2027 and present the award at LibertyCon, Chattanooga TN.

For more information on the award, see the Baen press release.

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