Dwarf Stars guidelines: submissions open April 1; deadline May 1
Voting deadline August 31
This award is given by the Science Fiction Poetry Association to recognize the best speculative poem of 1–10 lines published in the previous year. Nomination guidelines
Although hundreds of excellent very short science fiction, fantasy, and horror poems are regularly published each year, they seem to be mostly overlooked in the Rhysling Award process. In the history of the Rhysling Award, few poems of 10 lines or fewer (stanza breaks excluded from line count) have been nominated, and none has won. Yet, there seems to be a surge of interest in short forms. It is not uncommon to find excellent scifaiku, tanka, cinquains, and other speculative short poems in poetry journals. The Dwarf Stars Award acknowledges excellence in this specialized field.
Unlike the annual Rhysling Anthology, Dwarf Stars is an edited anthology. All poets are encouraged to submit short-short poems published in the previous year for consideration. Poets, poetry readers, and editors are also encouraged to send suggestions of eligible poems to the current Dwarf Stars editor(s). Deborah P Kolodji was named the first Dwarf Stars editor by former SFPA president Mike Allen.
You may submit individual poems for consideration throughout the year using the following link: https://bit.ly/dwarfstars
If you are submitting a large number of poems, or if the reading period is open, please follow the directions on the guidelines page to submit work, instead.
2025 Dwarf Stars Editor:
Miguel O. Mitchell, PhD(he/his/him) is a Black speculative poet, SFF author, visual artist, and retired chemist. His poems have appeared in Amazing Stories, Dreams & Nightmares, Eye to the Telescope, FIYAH, Sauúti Terrors anthology, Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Scifaikuest, Star*Line, and the anthology Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2022). He has also published two poetry collections, Surrealia (Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 2024) and Periodic Table of Alien Species (Elements 1-86) (Barnes & Noble Press, 2021). Two of Miguel's poems, "A Descendant's Gift" and "Becoming," were nominated for the 2022 Rhysling Award in the Long Poem category, and "Max Returns to His Homeworld" (from Surrealia) was nominated for the same award in 2025. His poem “Wine Tasting on the Planet Ufahamu” (FIYAH, 2025) received Honorable Mention in the 2024 SFPA Poetry Contest.
In editorial roles, Miguel was 2023 Dwarf Stars Co-Editor (with David C. Kopaska-Merkel) and is also founder and Editor-in-Chief of SpecPoVerse: An International Journal of Speculative Poetry, https://specpoverse.org/
The 2025 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Miguel O. Mitchell
Cover art: "Running Man" by Pamela Gordimer
The 2024 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Brittany Hause
2024 Dwarf Stars Anthology Table of Contents
2024 Dwarf Stars Award winner:
关于树的无数可能/"the infinite possibilities of trees" • Xiao Xi, translated from the Chinese by Yilin Wang from 《风不止》 (The Ceaseless Wind) • Prism International 61:3
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
The 2023 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by David C. Kopaska-Merkel & Miguel O. Mitchell
2023 Dwarf Stars Anthology Table of Contents
2023 Dwarf Stars Award winners (tie):
“Believe the Graves” • Rasha Abdulhadi • The Deadlands 16
“In Perpetuity” • Bruce Boston • Analog, July/August
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2022 Dwarf Stars Award winners (tie):
Poem with Lines from my Son • Jen Stewart Fueston • Bracken VIII
What Trees Read • Mary Soon Lee • Uppagus 48
The 2022 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Adele Gardner & Greer Woodward
2022 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2021 Dwarf Stars Award winner:
“Yes, Antimatter Is Real” • Holly Lyn Walrath • Analog Science Fiction and Fact, September/October 2020
The 2021 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Charles Christian
2021 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2020 Dwarf Stars Award winner:
“Standing Up” • John C. Mannone • Nadwah: Poetry in Translation, December 2019.
The 2020 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Robin Mayhall
2020 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2019 Dwarf Stars Award winner:
“embalmed,” Sofía Rhei (translated by Lawrence Schimel), Multiverse: An International Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry, eds. Rachel Plummer & Russell Jones (Shoreline of Infinity, 2018).
The 2019 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by John C. Mannone
2019 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2018 Dwarf Stars Award winner:
The Green, Kath Abela Wilson, Carrying the Branch: Poets in Search of Peace, eds. Diane Frank, Lois P. Jones, Ami Kaye, Rustin Larson, Gloria Mindock & Melissa Studdard (Glass Lyre Press, 2017)
The 2018 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Deborah P Kolodji
2018 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
.pdf available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2017 Dwarf Stars Award winner:
“aster than the speed of lightf” • LeRoy Gorman • Scifaikuest, November 2016
The 2017 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Robin Mayhall
2017 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2016 Dwarf Stars Award winner: We Begin This Way • Stacey Balkun • Gingerbread House 16
The 2016 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Jeannine Hall Gailey & Lesley Wheeler
2016 Dwarf Stars Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) to the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2015 Dwarf Stars Award winner: “abandoned nursing home” • Greg Schwartz • Tales of the Talisman 9:3
The 2015 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by John Amen
2015 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2014 Dwarf Stars Award winner: Mat Joiner, “And Deeper than Did Ever Plummet Sound,” Strange Horizons, 2 September 2013
The 2014 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Sandra J. Lindow
2014 Dwarf Stars Award eligible poems and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50 per extra copy—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2013 Dwarf Stars winner: Basho After Cinderella (iii) • Deborah P Kolodji • Rattle 38
The 2013 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Stephen M. Wilson & Linda D. Addison
2013 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2012 Dwarf Stars winner: “Blue Rose Buddha” • Marge Simon • The Mad Hattery (Elektrik Milk Bath Press, 2011)
The 2012 Dwarf Stars anthology
edited by Geoffrey A. Landis & Joshua Gage
2012 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $5 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2011
Dwarf Stars Award Winner: “Comet” • Julie Bloss Kelsey
The 2011 Dwarf Stars Anthology
edited by Joshua Gage
2011 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $3 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
PDF available for $1.00
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) to the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2010
Dwarf Stars Award Winner: "Bumbershoot" by Howard V. Hendrix
The 2010 Dwarf Stars Anthology
edited by Joshua Gage
2010 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $3 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2009
Dwarf Stars Award Winner: "Fireflies" by Geoffrey A. Landis
The 2009 Dwarf Stars Anthology
edited by Deborah P Kolodji and Stephen M. Wilson
2009 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $3 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) to the PO Box listed on the officers page.
2008
Dwarf Stars Award Winner: "Place Mat by Moebius" by Greg Beatty
The 2008 Dwarf Stars Anthology
edited by Deborah P Kolodji and Stephen M. Wilson
2008 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $3 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2007
Dwarf Stars Award Winner: "Last Unicorn" by Jane Yolen
The 2007 Dwarf Stars Anthology
edited by Deborah P Kolodji and Stephen M. Wilson
2007 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $3 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) tothe PO Box listed on the officers page.
2006
Dwarf Stars Award Winner: "Knowledge Of" by Ruth Berman
The 2006 Dwarf Stars Anthology
edited by Deborah P Kolodji
2006 Dwarf Stars Award winners and Anthology
Table of Contents and Winners
Available for $3 (+ $2 USA/$4 international postage)
(SFPA members pay only $2.50—no postage)
Payable by PayPal to: SFPATreasurer@gmail.com
or by check (made out to SFPA in US$) the PO Box listed on the officers page.
