Announcing The 2022 Ignyte Awards Shortlist

The Ignyte Awards Committee Is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2022 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 2021 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. 

 

BEST NOVEL: ADULT

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

• A MASTER OF DJINN – P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom)
• BLACK WATER SISTER – Zen Cho (Ace Books)
• LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS – Ryka Aoki (Tor Books)
• SORROWLAND – Rivers Solomon (MCD)
• THE UNBROKEN – C. L. Clark (Orbit) 

 

BEST NOVEL: YOUNG ADULT

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

• A SNAKE FALLS TO EARTH – Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
• REDEMPTOR – Jordan Ifueko (Harry N. Abrams)
• THE WILD ONES – Nafiza Azad (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
• THIS POISON HEART – Kalynn Bayron (Bloomsbury YA)
• WHITE SMOKE – Tiffany D. Jackson (Katherine Tegen Books)

 

BEST IN MIDDLE GRADE

for works intended for the middle grade audience

• AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS – B.B. Alston (Balzer & Bray/Harperteen)
• JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA –  Shakirah Bourne (Scholastic Inc.)
• ROOT MAGIC – Eden Royce (Walden Pond Press)
• THE INSIDERS – Mark Oshiro (HarperCollins)
• TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING – Kwame Mbalia (Rick Riordan Presents)

 

BEST NOVELLA

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

• AND THIS IS HOW TO STAY ALIVE – Shingai Njeri Kagunda (Neon Hemlock)
• FIREHEART TIGER – Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
• FLOWERS FOR THE SEA – Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
• NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH – Cassandra Khaw (Tor Nightfire)
• PHILIA, EROS, STORGE, AGÁPE, PRAGMA – R.S.A. Garcia (Clarkesworld)

 

BEST NOVELETTE

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

• COLORS OF THE IMMORTAL PALETTE – Caroline M. Yoachim ( Uncanny)
• THE BADGER’S DIGESTION; OR THE FIRST FIRST-HAND DESCRIPTION… OF DENESHAN BEASTCRAFT BY AN AOUWAN RESEARCHER – Malka Older (Constelacion Magazine)
• THE EQUATIONS OF THE DEAD – An Owomyela (Lightspeed Magazine)
• THE FUTURE LIBRARY – Peng Shepherd (Tordotcom)
• THE MUSIC OF THE SIPHOROPHENES – CL Polk (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

 

BEST SHORT STORY

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

• CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE – Nadia Shammas (Strange Horizons)
• DELETE YOUR FIRST MEMORY FOR FREE – Kel Coleman (FIYAH Literary Magazine)
• IF THE MARTIANS HAVE MAGIC – P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Magazine)
• THE FIFTH HORSEMAN – Martin Cahill (Fireside Fiction)
• THE TALE OF JAJA AND CANTI – Tobi Ogundiran (Lightspeed)

 

BEST IN SPECULATIVE POETRY

• APPEAL TO THE DOPPELGANGER – Terese Mason Pierre (Fantasy Magazine)
• DRAGONSLAYER – Priya Chand (Fantasy Magazine)
• KUALA LUMPUR URBAN LEGENDS – Jack Kin Lim (Strange Horizons)
• NONE OF THE STAR TREK SHIPS ARE NAMED AFTER CONFEDERATE GENERALS – Arden Eli Hill (Strange Horizons)
• POST-MASSACRE PSYCHE EVAL – Abu Bakr Sadiq (Uncanny Magazine)

 

CRITICS AWARD

for reviews and analysis of the field of speculative literature

• Akilah White
• Arley Sorg
• Thistle & Verse
• Alex Brown
• Rich in Color

 

BEST FICTION PODCAST

for excellence in audio performance and production for speculative fiction

• Escape Pod
• Khōréō Magazine
• Gallery of Curiosities
• Podcastle
• Pseudopod

 

BEST ARTIST

for contributions in visual speculative storytelling

• Tommy Arnold
• Paul Kellam
• Morgan Madeline
• John Picacio
• Raymond Sebastien

 

BEST COMICS TEAM

for comics, graphic novels, and sequential storytelling

• ABBOTT: 1973 – Saladin Ahmed & Sami Kivelä  (Boom! Studios)
• COUNT – Ibrahim Moustafa, Brad Simpson, & Hassan Otsame-Elhaou (Humanoids, Inc.)
• NUBIA: REAL ONE – L. L. McKinney & Robyn Smith (DC Comics)
• SHADOW LIFE – Hiromi Goto & Ann Xu (First Second)
• SQUAD – Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle (Green Willow Books)

 

BEST ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTED WORKS

• MIDNIGHT DOORWAYS: FABLES FROM PAKISTAN – Usman T. Malik (Kitab (Pvt) Ltd.)
• NEVER HAVE I EVER – Isabel Yap (Small Beer Press)
• RECONSTRUCTION: STORIES – Alaya Dawn Johnson (Small Beer Press)
• SPECULATIVE FICTION FOR DREAMERS: A LATINX ANTHOLOGY – Alex Hernandez, Matthew David Goodwin, & Sarah Rafael García, eds. (Mad Creek Books)
• WE’RE HERE: THE BEST QUEER SPECULATIVE FICTION 2020 – C.L. Clark, Charles Payseur, eds. (Neon Hemlock)

 

BEST CREATIVE NONFICTION

for works related to the field of speculative fiction

• ROUND TABLE PALESTINIAN PERSPECTIVES – Fargo Tbakhi, N.A. Mansour, Rasha Abdulhadi (Strange Horizons)
• WE ARE THE MOUNTAIN: A LOOK AT THE INACTIVE PROTAGONIST – Vida Cruz (Fantasy Magazine)
• WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED – Arley Sorg (Uncanny Magazine)
• THE NECESSITY OF SLAVERY STORIES – Troy L. Wiggins (Uncanny Magazine)
• WHERE WILL YOU PLACE US WHEN WE ARE DEAD? – Monte Lin (Strange Horizons)

 

THE EMBER AWARD

for unsung contributions to genre

• Maurice Broaddus
• Tananarive Due
• Malinda Lo
• Julia Rios
• Sheree Renée Thomas

 

THE COMMUNITY AWARD

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

• Anathema: Spec from the Margins – Michael Matheson, Andrew Wilmot, Chinelo Onwualu
• dave ring
• Khōréō Magazine – Aleksandra Hill, Founder & Editor-in-Chief and Team
• The Submission Grinder – David Steffen
• We Need Diverse Books 

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Voting is now open to the public here and closes June 10th, 2022 at 11:59PM EDT.

The short list is derived from 15 BIPOC+ voters made up of FIYAHCON Staff and previous award winners, of varying genders, sexualities, cultures, disabilities, and locations throughout the world. They 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 ceremony will be live broadcast on September 17th and will be hosted by Brent Lambert.