The 2023 Dwarf Stars Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Short Poetry of 2022
David C. Kopaska-Merkel won the 2006 Rhysling award (long poem, written with Kendall Evans), and edits Dreams & Nightmares magazine (since 1986). His poems have been published in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and more than 200 other venues. Some Disassembly Required, a collection of dark poetry, was published in 2022. @DavidKMresists on CS. Blog:
https://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/
Miguel O. Mitchell, PhD (he/him) is a Black speculative poet, SFF author, visual artist, and retired chemistry professor fond of adding chemical imagery and neologism to his poems. He has published his poems in Dreams and Nightmares, Eye to the Telescope, Scifaikuest, and Star*Line. He is also author of an illustrated book of very short poems, Periodic Table of Alien Species (Elements 1–86) (Barnes & Noble).
Cover Art: Milky Way Dreams © 2019 Pamela Gordimer
pamelagordimerart.com/artist-blog/f/milky-way-dreams
Layout: F. J. Bergmann
Publisher: Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association
Email sfpatreasurer@gmail.com for international
shipping cost.
2023 Award Winners
TBAAnthology Table of Contents
(106 poems)
| [abducted by aliens now I feel needed] • Ken Slaughter • failed haiku 74 |
| [absentmindedly] • Nick Hoffman • Scifaikuest, February print |
| AI can't believe it's not human • Ken Slaughter • failed haiku 74 |
| [ancient archives] • Helen Ogden • failed haiku 74 |
| Another Day, Another Year • Ann Christine Tabaka • American Diversity Report, 3/20 |
| As Slow as Starlight • Kim Whysall-Hammond • Frozen Wavelets 7 |
| Aurum • Mariel Herbert • The Sirens Call 60 |
| [bedtime story…] • Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta • horror senryu journal, 12/12 |
| Believe the Graves • Rasha Abdulhadi • The Deadlands 16 |
| A Bird in Hand • Shelly Jones • Octavos, 2/21 |
| Bureaucratic • Mahaila Smith • Long Con Magazine, October |
| Bury Me Under Fallen Stars • Victoria Nations • Autumnal Equinox: Harvest, 9/14 |
| [butterfly effect] • Colleen Anderson • Utopia, June/July |
| Cancer Surgery on Half a Shell • Mariel Herbert • Carmina Magazine, September |
| The Changing Face of Fear • Lisa Timpf • Eccentric Orbits 3, ed. Wendy Van Camp (Dimensionfold Publishing) |
| [charged particles] • Deborah P Kolodji • Eccentric Orbits 3, ed. Wendy Van Camp (Dimensionfold Publishing) |
| [chill Halloween evening] • xeno-unit (teri santitoro) • Scifaikuest November online |
| [cocktail hour] • Greg Schwartz • Star*Line 45.4 |
| [a corpse] • Anna Cates • Five Fleas, 10/9 |
| The Cosmologist Dreams of Venus • Aaron Sandberg • Space & Time Magazine 142 |
| The Cover-Up • Randall Andrews • Star*Line 45.4 |
| Curse of the Clock • Joe Haldeman • Asimov's SF, November/December |
| Dark Secret Garden • Max Bindi • The Horror Zine, October |
| Date Night • Melissa Ridley Elmes • Spectral Realms 16 |
| [deep-space mission] • Ngo Binh Anh Khoa • Scifaikuest, May print |
| [a derecho] • Debbie Strange • Prune Juice 38 |
| [diameter pi the lake solves for moon] • Kat Lehman • Frogpond 45 |
| [discarded pie] • Keith Evetts • horror senryu journal, 10/4 |
| Dreamcaster • Angel Leal • Space & Time Magazine 142 |
| The Dwelling • Lorraine Schein • Space & Time Magazine 141 |
| Earthlings Among Us • Michael McCormick • Star*Line 45.2 |
| Eldritch Mother • Melodie Bolt • Under Her Skin: A Women in Horror Poetry Showcase Vol. 1 (HWA) |
| Excerpt from a Proposal for the New City • Alyssa Lo • Strange Horizons, 11/14 |
| The Explorers Return • Goran Lowie • Utopia, October/November |
| Fifth Tongue • Eva Papasoulioti • Silver Blade 53 |
| [finally able] • Matthew Wilson • Dreams and Nightmares 121 |
| Finest particles' dance • Yuliia Vereta • Star*Line 45.1 |
| For Khione • Shelly Jones • Trouvaille Review, 3/14 |
| [Four-faced doll] • PS Cottier • Antipodean SF 290 |
| Frankenstein • Eavonka Ettinger • Five Fleas, 10/4 |
| The Garden of Night • Andrew White • Spectral Realms 17 |
| [Glastonbury] • Helen Buckingham • Blithe Spirit 32.2 |
| Globular Cluster • F. J. Bergmann • The Space Cadet Science Fiction Review 1 |
| [golem] • Marisca Pichette • Star*Line 45.2 |
| [her leafy blush] • Tyler McIntosh • Scifaikuest, August |
| Holocene Park: AIs • Denise Dumars • Cajuns in Space |
| In Perpetuity • Bruce Boston • Analog, July/August |
| [interstellar flight] • Eva Joan • failed haiku 74 |
| Kyoka • Debbie Strange • Prune Juice 38 |
| [leafy alien] • Herb Kauderer • Star*Line 45.3 |
| [locking eyes] • Barun Saha • the cherita 5:12 |
| [long after…] • Roberta Beary • Blithe Spirit, 2/22 |
| [long story short] • Richard Magahiz • Five Fleas, 9/21 |
| Masquerade • Rachel Tyle • The Sirens Call 57 |
| Maxime • Meg Smith • The Chamber, 10/7 |
| mea culpa • Eugen Bacon • African Literature Today 40 |
| [meteor sizzling] • Anna Cates • Five Fleas, 9/20 |
| [midnight the sun moonlighting] • Tim Cremin • tiny words, 7/12 |
| [mission to Titan] • Lisa Timpf • Eccentric Orbits 3, ed. Wendy Van Camp (Dimensionfold Publishing) |
| [months after his death] • Joseph P. Wechselberger • horror senryu journal, 12/14 |
| [morning newspaper] • Ngo Binh Anh Khoa • Scifaikuest, May print |
| Most highly honored • Richard Magahiz • Eye to the Telescope 44 |
| [mourning] • Colleen M. Farrelly • failed haiku 74 |
| [multiverse…] • A. J. Wentz • Dreams and Nightmares 122 |
| [mushroom cloud] • Joshua St. Claire • Star*Line 45.4 |
| My Daughter, in Her Silver Sky • Meg Smith • Aphelion, March |
| [my robot boyfriend] • Jenny Thompson • Scifaikuest, August |
| Never Was a Princess Girl • Melissa Ridley Elmes • Star*Line 45.1 |
| Night at Ithaca • Federica Santini • Carmina Magazine, September |
| [no price is too high] • Randall Andrews • Star*Line 45.4 |
| Nor Am I Out of It • Noah Berlatsky • Asses of Parnassus, 12/2 |
| Ode to Harriet • Alicia Hilton • AvantAppal(achia) 12 |
| [parallel worlds] • Ken Slaughter • failed haiku 74 |
| [planetarium] • John Hawkhead • Poetry Pea, September |
| Questions for the Fallen • Omodero David Oghenekaro • Strange Horizons, 8/1 |
| [rain shadow] • C. R. Harper • Haiku Dialogue, 8/17 |
| [rereading] • Peggy Hale Bilbro • Haiku Dialogue, 2/23 |
| [sawdust protected our torsos] • Richard Magahiz • Five Fleas, 9/23 |
| Shelter • Koji A. Dae • Octavos, 2/21 |
| Shore Leave • James Arthur Anderson • The Fifth Dimension, December |
| [show me, I said] • Lauren McBride • Dreams and Nightmares 120 |
| [skeleton eyes] • Greer Woodward • Haiku Dialogue, 1/19 |
| [sky memorial] • Akua Lezli Hope • Scifaikuest, February |
| [snakeskin tote glistens] • Gary W. Davis • Star*Line 45.1 |
| [sometimes a wish] • Anna Cates • Cold Moon Journal, 10/19 |
| [spaceship window…] • Mark Gilbert • Five Fleas, 12/5 |
| [a stack of turtles] • Mahaila Smith • Ribbons, 10/15 |
| [star gazing] • John Hawkhead • tiny words, 4/1 |
| [the sudden chill] • Deborah P Kolodji • failed haiku 74 |
| Sunlight Loves A Crystalline Structure • Robert Frazier • Asimov’s SF, May/June |
| Surviving • Sumiko Saulson • The Rat King: A Book of Dark Poetry (Dooky Zines) |
| Tasty • Greg Fewer • Polar Starlight 7 |
| Tea Dragon • Herb Kauderer • Scifaikuest, August |
| [termination shock] • Deborah P Kolodji • Eccentric Orbits 3, ed. Wendy Van Camp (Dimensionfold Publishing) |
| Thanks for Nothing • Randall Andrews • Star*Line 45.2 |
| [thinning] • Akua Lezli Hope • ubu, small absurdist poems 4 |
| Time and Again • Greg Schwartz • Abyss & Apex 82 |
| Time Travel II • Akua Lezli Hope • Star*Line 45.4 |
| Trichotillomania • Warsan Shire • Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head (Random House) |
| [two hearts] • Valentina Ranaldi-Adams • failed haiku 74 |
| [the universe] • Greer Woodward • Star*Line 45.2 |
| Vampire Therapist • Alan Ira Gordon • Star*Line 45.4 |
| A Vision of the Future • J. Y. T. Kennedy • Polar Starlight 5 |
| What Fairy Godmothers Read • Mary Soon Lee • Kaleidotrope, Summer |
| [wishing this] • C. K. Petro • Haikuniverse, 10/31 |
| [wolf moon…] • Greg Schwartz • Dreams and Nightmares 122 |
Nominations per publication: (49 venues)
| 1 | Abyss & Apex | |
| 1 | African Literature Today | |
| 1 | American Diversity Report | |
| 1 | Analog | |
| 1 | AntipodeanSF | |
| 1 | Aphelion | |
| 2 | Asimov's Science Fiction | |
| 1 | Asses of Parnassus | |
| 1 | Autumnal Equinox | |
| 1 | AvantAppal(achia) | |
| 2 | Blithe Spirit | |
| 1 | Cajuns in Space | |
| 2 | Carmina Magazine | |
| 1 | The Chamber | |
| 1 | the cherita | |
| 1 | Cold Moon Journal | |
| 1 | The Deadlands | |
| 4 | Dimensionfold Publishing | |
| 1 | Dooky Zines | |
| 3 | Eye to the Telescope | |
| 8 | failed haiku | |
| 5 | Five Fleas | |
| 1 | The Fifth Di… | |
| 1 | Frogpond | |
| 3 | Haiku Dialogue | |
| 1 | Haikuniverse | |
| 3 | horror senryu journal | |
| 1 | Horror Writers Association | |
| 1 | The Horror Zine | |
| 1 | Kaleidotrope | |
| 1 | Long Con Magazine | |
| 2 | Octavos | |
| 1 | Penumbric | |
| 1 | Poetry Pea | |
| 2 | Polar Starlight | |
| 1 | Random House | |
| 1 | Ribbons | |
| 8 | Scifaikuest | |
| 1 | Silver Blade | |
| 2 | The Sirens Call | |
| 3 | Space & Time Magazine | |
| 1 | The Space Cadet Science Fiction Review | |
| 2 | Spectral Realms | |
| 14 | Star*Line | |
| 2 | Strange Horizons | |
| 2 | tiny words | |
| 1 | Trouvaille Review | |
| 1 | ubu, small absurdist poems | |
| 2 | Utopia |
