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Donald Sidney-Fryer (1934–2026)

13 May 2026 at 20:07

Speculative poet and critic Donald Sidney-Fryer, 91, died May 2, 2026 in Chatham MA. He was in palliative care for bone cancer.

Sidney-Fryer was born September 8, 1934. He published well over 100 works of speculative poetry, starting as early as 1968 with “Connaissance Fatale” and publishing in periodicals including Macabre, Spectral Realms, Weird Tales, and Witchcraft & Sorcery; anthologies including Off the Coastal Path (2010); and collections including The Atlantis Fragments (2008), Not Quite Atlantis (2010), and his three Songs and Sonnets Atlantean books in 1971, 2003, and 2010. His collection A King Called Arthor and Other Morceaux (2020) includes novel A King Called Arthor, an Arthurian legend retelling. He also wrote the short story “The Minor Chronicles of Atlantis” (1976) and many essays and multiple associational works of nonfiction, including Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography (1978).

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2026 BSFS Poetry Contest Winners

13 May 2026 at 19:11

Baltimore Science Fiction Society blue and yellow logoWinners of the 2026 Steve Miller Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) Annual Poetry Contest have been announced.

  • 1st Place: “Terracotta Warrior”, Y.M. Pang
  • 2nd Place: “Starlight Bathing”, Vivian McInerny
  • 3rd Place: “The Planet that Learned our Fear”, Ayesha Mansoor
  • Youth Award: “Faster Than Light”, Madame Reeds-A-Lot
  • Honorable Mention: “The Witch of Dark Matter”, Kristin5689
  • Honorable Mention: “The River Remembers”, Hashim Quraishi

The first place winner receives $100, second place receives $75, third place receives $50, and the youth winner receives $25, with all winners also receiving Balticon membership, an invitation to read their poems at the convention, and publication in BSFAN, the Balticon convention souvenir book. The contest was renamed in honor of the late Steve Miller. For more information, see the BSFS website.

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2026 Kurd Laßwitz Preis Winners

12 May 2026 at 21:40

Blue Kurd Laßwitz Preis logoThe winners have been announced for the 2026 Kurd Laßwitz Preis. The prize is awarded to German-language SF works published in the previous year.

Best German SF Novel

  • WINNER: Lyneham, Nils Westerboer (Klett-Cotta)
  • We Burn the Sun, Anika Beer (Piper)
  • The Deniables: Gestohlene Vergangeheit, Stefan Cernohuby (Leseratten)
  • Skyrmionen oder: A Fucking Army, Dietmar Dath (Matthes & Seitz)
  • Der Himmel wird zur See, Sven Haupt (Eridanus)
  • Ein Übermaß von Welt, Sven Haupt (Eridanus)
  • Thanatopia, Tom Hillenbrand (Kiepenheuer & Witsch)
  • Im Kosmischen Bermuda-Dreieck / Wenn Topsid fällt, Kai Hirdt (VPM)
  • Denial of Service, Aiki Mira (Fischer Tor)
  • Mars Genesis: Die Ietzte Reise, Brandon Q. Morris (Fischer Tor)

Best German SF Story 

  • WINNER: “Nano Godt”, Yvonne Tunnat (Weltenportal 6)
  • “Hope”, Moritz Boltz (Exodus 49)
  • “Hochzeitsglocken”, Antares Bottlinger (Leben in Scherben)
  • “Sabotage”, Patricia Eckermann (Andymonaden)
  • “Smarte Tränen”, Christian Endres (c’t 18/2025)
  • “Die Flucht der Saugroboter”, Erik Hauser (Zwielicht 22)
  • “Ausreißende Sterne”, Aiki Mira (Andymonaden)
  • “Es gibt keinen besseren Ort als die Pein”, Maria Orlovskaya (Weltenportal 6)
  • “Blumen für Lisa-9”, Uwe Post (Exodus 49)
  • “Kinderladen”, Jol Rosenberg (Queer*Welten 15)
  • “Briefe an die DNA”, Annika Rothenicher & Maximilian Wust (Tales of Science II)
  • “Hypostasis”, Michaela Schrimpf & Maximilian Wust (Weltenportal 6)
  • “Geschichten im Sand”, Nele Sickel (Trümmer am Milchstraßenrand)

Best Non-German SF Work translated, first time

  • WINNER: Und Hoffentlich zu lernen [To Be Taught If Fortunate], Becky Chambers (Carcosa)
  • Das Ministerium der Zeit [The Ministry of Time], Kaliane Bradley (Penguin)
  • Arborealität [Arboreality], Rebecca Campbell (Carcosa)
  • Dr. No, Percival Everett (Hanser)
  • Wie die Karnickel [The Constant Rabbit], Jasper Fforde (Satyr)
  • Wir haben keine Antimemetik-Abteilung [There is No Antimemetics Division], Sam Hughes (Heyne)
  • Toward Eternity [Toward Eternity], Anton Hur (S. Fischer)
  • “Das Jahr ohne Sonnenschein [The Year Without Sunshine]”, Naomi Kritzer (Ihr Körper, das Schiff)
  • Was wir wissen können [What We Can Know], Ian McEwan (Diogenes)
  • Das Schiff der flüsternden Träume [Eversion], Alastair Reynolds (Heyne)
  • All Better Now, Neal Shusterman (Sauerländer)

Best Translation of SF into German

  • WINNER: Der Tag vor der Revolution [The Day Before the Revolution], Ursula K. Le Guin, tr. Karen Nölle (Fischer Tor)
  • Das Ministerium der Zeit [The Ministry of Time], Kaliane Bradley, tr. Sophie Zeitz (Penguin)
  • Arborealität [Arboreality], Rebecca Campbell, tr. Barbara Slawig (Carcosa)
  • Und Hoffentlich zu lernen [To Be Taught If Fortunate], Becky Chambers, tr. Karin Will (Carcosa)
  • Dr. No, Percival Everett, tr. Nikolaus Stingl (Hanser)
  • Ihr Körper, das Schiff [Her Body, the Ship], Yvonne Tunnat & Chriss Witt, eds., tr. Sharyn Wegmann (A7L Books)

Best SF Cover Art or Illustration related to a German edition

  • WINNER: Jan Hoffman for the cover of phantastisch! 98, Klaus Bollhöfener, ed. (Atlantis)
  • Lothar Bauer for the cover art of Delter, Frank Lauenroth (p. machinery)
  • Cuculum AKA Axel Kuckuk for the cover art of Exodus 49, Hans Jürgen Kugler, René Moreau & Heinz Wipperfürth, eds. (Selbstverlag)
  • Mario Franke for the interior art of “Innovation mit Nebenwirkungen”, Hubert Hug & Michael Schmidt (Tales of Science II)
  • Detlef Klewer for the cover art of Weltenportal 6, Christoph Grimm & Sarah Lutter, eds. (Selbstverlag)
  • Günter Puschmann for the cover art of SOL 117, Christina Hacker, ed. (PRFZ)

Best German Non-fiction Texts related to SF

  • WINNER: Lexikon der deutschsprachigen Science Fiction 1933–1945, Wolfgang Both, Klaus Geus, Horst Illmer & Klaus Scheffler (Memoranda)
  • “Wer sind Sie? Und wenn ja, wie viele? Über welche Figuren schreiben wir in der deutschen Science Fiction?”, Jamie-Lee Campbell (!Time Machine 9)
  • Picknick auf der Autobahn: Wie wir in Zukunft unterwegs sein werden, Katja Diehl & Mario Sixtus (S. Fischer)
  • Nerd Girl Magic: Fandom aus marginalisierter Perspektive, Simoné Goldschmidt-Lechner (Verbrecher)
  • Science Fiction Futurologien: Die spannungsreiche Beziehung zwischen Zukunftsforschung und Spekulativer Literatur, Julia Grillmayr (Transcript)
  • Zukunft ohne Angst: Wie Anti-Dystopien neue Perspektiven eröffnen oekom, Isabella Hermann (Oekom)
  • “Utopische Körper: Africanfuturism und Queer*SF als utopische Praxis”, Aiki Mira (Das Science Fiction Jahr 2025)
  • “Kann Phantastik progressiv sein, wenn sie keine Infragestellung des Status Quo beinhaltet?”, Jol Rosenberg (Weltenportal 6)
  • Rückblick auf das lichte Morgen: Essays zu SF und Phantastik in der DDR, Angela & Karlheinz Steinmüller (Memoranda)
  • Jules Verne und die Entdeckung der Meeresforschung, Bettina Wurche (Hirnkost)

Special Achievement Award for SF activities

  • WINNER: Olaf Brill & Michael Vogt
  • Galax Acheronian, Stefan Junghanns & Achim Stößer
  • Dirk Berger
  • Katja Diehl & Mario Sixtus
  • Brandon Q. Morris, Yvonne Tunnat & Chris Witt
  • Michael Wehren

Special Achievement Award for Long-Term Activities

  • WINNER: Klaus Bollhöfener and the team of phantastisch!
  • benSwerk / S. Beneš
  • Christoph Grimm & Sarah Lutter
  • Birgit Fischer
  • Michael Marrak
  • Ingrid Pointecker
  • Thomas Recktenwald
  • Peter Schmitz
  • Friedhelm Schneidewind
  • Rainer Schorm
  • Jörg Weigand

Special Achievement Award: Critical, Committed, Intersectional

  • WINNER: Jamie-Lee Campbell
  • Aşkın-Hayat Doğan
  • Patricia Eckermann
  • Florence Gaub
  • Ingrid Pointecker
  • Michael Wehren
  • The Phantastik-Bestenliste team and jury

Winners were selected by a jury and honored in a ceremony on July 4, 2026 at Metropol Con Berlin in Germany. For more information, see the official website.

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