__NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. The award name was dubbed by Andrew Joron in reference to a character in a science fiction story: the blind poet Rhysling, in Robert A. Heinlein's short story "The Green Hills of Earth".David Langford, "Rhysling Award." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 3rd edition (online). Ed. John Clute, David Langford, and Peter Nicholls. 2013. Accessed 19 February 2013 The award is given in two categories: "Best Long Poem", for works of 50 or more lines, and "Best Short Poem", for works of 49 or fewer lines.
The nominees for each year's Rhysling Awards are chosen by the members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA). Each member may nominate one work for each of the categories. Until 2022, all nominated works were compiled into an anthology called The Rhysling Anthology, and members of the Association would then vote on the final winners. In 2022, the process was changed such that the nominees are instead presented to a jury, who select no more than 50 finalists for the short award, and no more than 25 for the long award. Now only these finalist are compiled into the anthology and put to a final vote by the SFPA membership. From 2005 to 2011, the Awards were presented in July at a ceremony at Readercon. In 2022, eligibility guidelines were changed to exclude poems that qualify for the Dwarf Stars Award or the Elgin Awards.
In 2005, the SFPA published an anthology of the winning poems, The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase.Elizabeth Barrette, Review: The Alchemy of Stars: Rhysling Award Winners Showcase, edited by Roger Dutcher and Mike Allen, Strange Horizons, 8 February 2006 (accessed 16 Sept. 2016)
Winners and runners-up From 1978 to 1994, only a first-place winner was awarded. In 1995, a number of runners up were named and in 1996, a number of "Honorable Mentions" were given. Since 1997, 2nd and 3rd place have also been honored, and from 2020 onward, "Honorable Mentions" have been mentioned once again.
1970s
+YearCategoryPoemAuthor(s)PublicationRef.1978LongThe Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps*Speculative Poetry ReviewShortCorruption of Metals*2076: The American Tricentennial, Pyramid BooksAsleep in the Arms of Mother Night*Speculative Poetry ReviewThe Starman*Cthulhu Calls1979LongFor the Lady of a Physicist*Black Holes, Fawcett BooksShortFatalities*The Eggplant and Other Absurdities, Confluence PressStory Books and Treasure Maps*Equinox 1980s +YearCategoryPoemAuthor(s)PublicationRef.1980LongThe Sonic Flowerfall of Primes*New WorldsShortThe Migration of Darkness*Asimov's Science FictionEncased in the Amber of Eternity*The Future at War1981LongOn Science Fiction*TriquarterlyShortMeeting Place*Asimov's Science Fiction1982LongThe Well of Bain*Hard Words & Other Poems, Harper & RowShortOn the Speed of Sight*Uranus1983LongYour Time and You: A Neoprole's Dating Guide*VelocitiesShortIn Computers*Science 821984LongSaul's Death: Two Sestina's*OmniShortTwo Sonnets*Science 831985LongA Letter from Caroline Herschel (1750-1848)*Science 84ShortFor Spacers Snarled in the Hair of Comets*Asimov's Science Fiction1986LongShipwrecked on Destiny Five*Asimov's Science FictionShortThe Neighbour's Wife*Amazing Stories1987LongDaedalus*Star*LineShortA Dream of Heredity*Tales of the UnanticipatedBefore the Big Bang: News from the Hubble Large Space Telescope*Star*Line1988LongWhite Trains*Night CryShortThe Nightmare Collector*Night CryRocky Road to Hoe*Star*Line1989LongIn the Darkened Hours*The Nightmare Collector, 2AMWinter Solstice, Camelot Station*Invitation to Camelot, Ace BooksShortSalinity*Fantasy & Science Fiction 1990s +YearCategoryPoemAuthor(s)PublicationRef.1990Longdear spacemen*Vice VersaShortEpitaph for Dreams*Narcopolis & Other Poems, Hell's Kitchen Productions1991LongThe Aging Cryonicist in the Arms of His Mistress Contemplates the Survival of the Species While the Phoenix Is Consumed by Fire*The Magazine of Speculative PoetryShortEighteen Years Old, October Eleventh*Asimov's Science Fiction1992Longthe button, and what you know*Amazing StoriesShortSong of the Martian Cricket*Asimov's Science Fiction1993LongTo Be from Earth*XizquilShortWill*The Magazine of Speculative Poetry1994LongBasement Flats*Air Fish, Catseye BooksShortSpacer's Compass*Specula, TalismanFlight Is for Those Who Have Not Yet Crossed Over*The Silver Web1995LongPilot, Pilot*Star*LineA Life, Considered in Thirds, Set Against a Galactic CollapseStar*LinePartial PeopleBears Discover Fire, Tor BooksHomeflightStar*LineBetween Test PatternsAntepenult, Dark Regions PressFire, IceOmniDreaming SaturnDark Destiny, White Wolf PublishingShortSkin of Glass*The KoreIn These HillsStar*LineDinosaur HighwayAsimov's Science FictionElements of LoveSpace and Time1996LongVariants of the Obsolete*Eonian Variations, The Selected Poetry of Marge Simon, Dark Regions PressThe WestfarerDark Destiny: Proprietors of Fate, White Wolf PublishingShortFuture Present: A Lesson in Expectation*Asimov's Science FictionSatan is a MathematicianOnce Upon a Midnight, Unnameable PressBilateral SymmetrySpace and Time1997LongSpotting UFOs While Canning Tomatoes*Serve It Forth, Warner AspectMemories of My MistressMindsparks SF Poetry AnthologyCanto (Evocare!)Dante's Disciples, White Wolf PressShortDay Omega*Asimov's Science FictionDashTales of the UnanticipatedSpeaking BonesSpeaking Bones, Dark Regions Press1998Longwhy goldfish shouldn't use power tools*Asimov's Science FictionGhost ShipsAsylums and LabyrinthsMedusa's DaughterStar*LineShortExplaining Frankenstein to His Mother*Star*LineShamanThe Catbird SeatIt's All Time-Machines, She SaidStar*LineOn Reading BradburyTesseracts 6, Tesseract Books1999LongConfessions of a Body Thief*TalismanShortegg horror poem*Asimov's Science Fiction 2000s +YearCategoryPoemAuthor(s)PublicationRef.2000LongChristmas (after we all get time machines)*Asimov's Science FictionHandworkWomen of Other Wolds, University of Western Australia PressSalem TownGathering DarknessImpressions from Giger's "Necronomicons"Dreams & NightmaresShortGrimoire*Tales of the UnanticipatedClark the RipperDreams & NightmaresThe Au Pair from Out ThereStar*LineBrigitCalyxSilicon Trade AgreementTales of the UnanticipatedThe Unfinished Map of the SkyFantasqueA Picture Postcard of the Cerne Abbas GiantAsimov's Science FictionThe Language of RainDreams & Nightmaressong of a last duckbillStar*Line2001LongJanuary Fires*Asimov's Science FictionMayaStrange Attraction, Bereshith/Shadowlands PressValley of YearsResults of a Preliminary Investigation of Electrochemical Properties of Some Organic Matrices, Eraserhead PressThe Lesions of Genetic SinMiniature Sun PressEvent HorizonsSnow MonkeyShortMy Wife Returns As She Would Have It*Asimov's Science FictionOf Dance Steps and DistancesIcarus AscendingReflections in a Fading "Mir"Mythic DeliriumPersephone WakeningThe Magazine of Speculative Poetry2002LongHow to Make a Human*Half-Human, ScholasticPavane for a Cyber-PrincessPavane for a Cyber-Princess, Miniature Sun PressIn BubastisStar*LineTrouble With MathStar*LineA Crash Course in Lemon PhysicsStrange HorizonsShortWe Die as Angels*Asimov's Science FictionThrenody at SeaStrange HorizonsTrue LoveWeird Tales2003LongEpochs in Exile: A Fantasy Trilogy*EOTU EzineMatlacihuatl's Gift*Dreams & NightmaresMedusa's TaleMythic DeliriumNot One of UsSex and the Single Alien, Writer's Club PressShortPotherb Gardening*Asimov's Science FictionA Ghost StoryWeird Talesmeteor showerThe Magazine of Speculative Poetry2004LongOctavia Is Lost in the Hall of Masks*Mythic DeliriumA Portrait of the ArtistStrange HorizonsHugo SchizofrenicaMiniature Sun PressShortJust Distance*Tales of the Unanticipated"Observe the Month of Spring"The Magazine of Speculative PoetryHow I Will Outwit the Time ThievesStrange HorizonsNursery GhostsRaven Electrick2005LongSoul Searching*Strange HorizonsMaking MonstersStrange HorizonsThe Night Watchman Dreams His Rounds at the REM Sleep FactoryDreams & NightmaresShortNo Ruined Lunar City*Abyss & ApexThe Clockmaker's WifeStar*LineRich & StrangeStrange Horizons2006LongThe Tin Men*The Magazine of Speculative PoetryOld Twentieth: a century full of yearsReadercon 16 Souvenir BookFirst Cross of MarsIllumenShortThe Strip Search*Strange HorizonsTsunami ChildStar*LineSouthIllumen2007LongThe Journey to Kailash*Strange HorizonsThe Eight Legs of Grandmother SpiderMythicSleepersDreams & NightmaresShortThe Graven Idol's Godheart*The Shantytown Anomalygod is dead short live godMythicThirteen Ways of Looking at a Black HoleHelix2008LongThe Seven Devils of Central California*Farrago's WainscotIn Deepspace ShadowsIn Deepspace Shadows, Mythic Delirium BooksThe EngineerIsotopeShortEating Light*Mythic DeliriumIce PalaceThe Door, McClelland & StewartThe Oracle on River StreetGoblin Fruit2009LongSearch*HelixHungry: Some Ghost StoriesLone Star StoriesDamascus Divides the Lovers by Zero; or, The City Is Never FinishedLone Star StoriesShortSongs to an Ancient City*Mythic DeliriumSpellGoblin FruitThe FutureThe New Yorker 2010s