2026 Nebula winners!

[psocoptera]

I came in late to watching the ceremony (perhaps I'll see if I can go back in it) but here's the winners, behind the cut! (Or here on File 770.) (I have now gone back to watch NK Jemisin's speech. So far she has dealt with a small fire with impressive aplomb. ...okay, that was really good. I don't know if the ceremony video is going to stay available but here's the link.) (Also I watched the In Memoriams - oh shit, John Varley died last December? I totally missed that. One reason I always watch the Memoriams!)



Best Novel

WINNER: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK)
When We Were Real, by Daryl Gregory (Saga)
Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz)
The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK)
Sour Cherry, by Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire)
Wearing the Lion, by John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia)

Well, I'm *super* curious now how close it came to the Hugo ballot. I suppose I'll consider reading it (at some point) - I've read the past twelve winners (at some point), not sure I want to break that streak.

Best Novella

WINNER: “The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia)”
“Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle, by Renan Bernardo (Dark Matter INK)”
“The Death of Mountains, by Jordan Kurella (Lethe)”
“Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)”
“But Not Too Bold, by Hache Pueyo (Tordotcom)”
““Descent”, by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld 5/25)”

Strong and strongly political speech, and then they cut off the excerpt reading afterward, not sure what happened there.

Best Novelette

WINNER: ““Uncertain Sons”, by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons)”
““Our Echoes Drifting Through the Marsh”, by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/9/25)”
““We Begin Where Infinity Ends”, by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25)”
“The Name Ziya, by Wen-Yi Lee (Tor)”
““Never Eaten Vegetables”, by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld 1/25)”
““The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends”, by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 3-4/25)”

Sure.

Best Short Story

WINNER: ““Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything”, by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)”
““Through the Machine”, by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed 5/25)”
““Six People to Revise You”, by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny 1-2/25)”
““The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead”, by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)”
““In My Country”, by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)”
““Because I Held His Name Like a Key”, by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)”

Interesting win - I thought it was a good story, but I wouldn't have guessed it for awards - not artsy enough, maybe? too tongue-in-cheek? too superheroes? (A nice intro from Mary Anne Mohanraj about how she started Strange Horizons.) (Also tonight is apparently Seiberg's baby's due date - imagine getting a Nebula and a baby on the same day, if the baby happens to be right on time??)

Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

WINNER: Murderbot: Season One, by Chris Weitz (Apple TV+)
Sinners, by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros Pictures)*
Severance: “Chikhai Bardo”, by Dan Erickson & Mark Friedman (Apple TV+)*
Pluribus: Season One, by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV+)*
Superman, by James Gunn (Warner Bros Pictures)*
KPop Demon Hunters, by Danya Jimenez, Maggie Kang, & Hannah McMechan (Netflix)*

Interesting - we don't have Murderbot (or half of these) on the Hugo Long (there are two Murderbot episodes, a Pluribus episode, and a Severance episode in the Short), so this doesn't predict much there. (I suppose it predicts a Murderbot will win the Short but I would have predicted that anyways.)

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

WINNER: Into the Wild Magic, by Michelle Knudsen (Candlewick)
The Tower, by David Anaxagoras (Recorded Books)
Gemini Rising, by Jonathan Brazee (Semper Fi Press)
Wishing Well, Wishing Well, by Jubilee Cho (Atthis Arts)
Goblin Girl, by K.A. Mielke (self-published)
Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)

Awww, she was so excited and emotional, that was sweet.

Best Game Writing

WINNER: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, by Guillaume Broche, & Jennifer Svedberg-Yen (Kepler Interactive), Developer: Sandfall Interactive, Sandfall S.A.S.
Spire, Surge, and Sea, by Stewart C. Baker (Choice of Games)
Hollow Knight: Silksong, by Ari Gibson & William Pelen (Team Cherry)*
Dispatch, by Ashley Jeffalone, Suzee Matson, Chris Rebbert, Chad Rhiness, & Pierre Shorette (AdHoc Studios)
Hades II, by Greg Kasavin (Supergiant Games)
Blue Prince, by Tonda Ros (Raw Fury, Developer: Dogubomb)

This isn't one of the ones I've seen played in my living room - but maybe I should see if it would like to be? (Also Benjamin Rosenbaum's intro speech was one of the most interesting intro speeches I've ever heard, worth checking out.) (Also I really like that they sent someone and she was really excited to have won, I always think it's a good sign for a category when the winners actually care, and this is still a pretty new category, right?)

Best Comic

WINNER: Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone, by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree)
Second Shift, by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal, by Amy Chu (Berger)
Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King (Dark Horse)
Fishflies, by Jeff Lemire (Image)
Strange Bedfellows, by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
The Flip Side, by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
The Stoneshore Register, by G. Willow Wilson (Berger)

Speaking of new categories! A nice video celebrating comics, and, yay, present winner! I haven't read or heard anything about the book - I look forward to hearing thoughts from my comics friends about this win.

Best Poem

WINNER: “The World To Come”, by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons 12/22/25)
“Though You Always Are”, by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge (Everything Endless)
"They Said Robots Are”, by Casey Aimer (Penumbric 6/25)
“The Mourning Robot”, by Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/25)
“To Be the Change”, by Nico Martinez Nocito (Strange Horizons 3/10/25)
“Care for Lightning”, by Mari Ness (Uncanny 1-2/25)

Heh, Comics got a whole video and Poem is getting... poetical quotes. But hey, winner was there and cared about it, so, yay!