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2026 British Fantasy Awards Shortlists

26 May 2026 at 19:37

British Fantasy Society logoThe British Fantasy Society (BFS) has announced the shortlists for the 2026 British Fantasy Awards:

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award)

  • A Song of Legends Lost, M.H. Ayinde (Orbit)
  • The Outcast Mage, Annabel Campbell (Orbit)
  • Magic, Maps, and Mischief, David Green (self-published)
  • Daughters of Nicnevin, Shona Kinsella (Flame Tree)
  • Grave Empire, Richard Swan (Orbit)
  • Upon a Starlit Tide, Kell Woods (Tor US; Titan UK)

Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award)

  • Hungerstone, Kat Dunn (Zando US; Manilla UK)
  • Black Flame, Gretchen Felker-Martin (Tor Nightfire US; Titan UK)
  • The Needfire, MK Hardy (Solaris)
  • Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix (Berkley US; Tor Nightfire UK)
  • Lionhearts, Dan Howarth (Northern Republic UK)
  • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga US; Titan UK)

Best Novella

  • The Nga’phandileh Whisperer: A Sauútiverse Novella, Eugen Bacon (Stars and Sabers)
  • Fate’s Bane, C.L. Clark (Tordotcom)
  • The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom US; Arcadia UK)
  • “Walking A Wounded Land”, Andrew Knighton (Wiz Duos 3)

Best Short Fiction

  • “Down Street”, James Bennett (Blood in the Bricks)
  • “Godzilla as a Young Man Named Mike”, E.M. Faulds, narrated by Eliza Chan (PodCastle 7/29/25)
  • “Shadow Jack”, CL Hellisen (GigaNotoSaurus 5/1/25)
  • “No One Knows the Old Ways Anymore and It Will Be the End of Everything”, LJ McMenemy (Hiding Under the Leaves)

Best Collection

  • Call and Response, Christopher Caldwell (Neon Hemlock)
  • Wolf’s Path, Joyce Chng (Atthis Arts)
  • Dark Crescent, Lyndsey Croal (Luna Press Publishing)
  • Who Will You Save, Gareth L. Powell (Titan)
  • Into Wrack and Ruin, Benjamin Kurt Unsworth (Phantasmagoria)

Best Anthology

  • Lesbians In Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before, J.S. Fields, Heather Tracy & William C. Tracy, eds. (Space Wizard Science Fantasy)
  • This Way Lies Madness, Dave Jeffery & Lee Murray, eds. (Flame Tree)
  • Silk & Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror From the Asian Diaspora, Kristy Park Kulski, ed. (Bad Hand)
  • Blood in the Bricks, Neil Williamson, ed. (NewCon)

Best Independent Press

  • Black Shuck
  • Flame Tree
  • Luna Press Publishing
  • NewCon

Best Non-Fiction

  • “Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: Finding the Self in Other”, Eugen Bacon (Strange Horizons 3/24/25)
  • Nigerian Speculative Fiction: The Evolution, Chukwunonso Ezeiyoke (Routledge India)
  • Writing The Magic: Essays on Crafting Fantasy Fiction, Dan Coxon & Richard V. Hirst (Dead Ink)
  • The Ecological Imaginary in Literature and Other Media: The Nature of Fantasy, Kevan Manwaring (Routledge)
  • Britain’s Folklore Year: A seasonal journey through our customs, celebrations and rituals, Mark Norman (National Trust)
  • The Full Lid, Alasdair Stuart, edited by Marguerite Kenner

Best Magazine / Periodical

  • Ginger Nuts of Horror
  • Mythaxis
  • Phantasmagoria
  • Remains
  • Strange Horizons

Best Artist

  • Ben Baldwin
  • Kelly Chong
  • Vincent Chong
  • Jenni Coutts
  • Mina Ikemoto Ghosh

Best Audio (Fiction)

  • The Shape of Monsters, CL Hellisen, narrated by Omari Douglas (Audible Originals)
  • PodCastle
  • PseudoPod
  • The Tiny Bookcase

Best Audio (Non-Fiction)

  • Breaking The Glass Slipper
  • Fantasy Book Swap
  • The Folklore Podcast
  • Uncanny

Best Newcomer

  • M.H. Ayinde for A Song of Legends Lost (Orbit)
  • Annabel Campbell for The Outcast Mage (Orbit)
  • MK Hardy for The Needfire (Solaris)
  • Ana Sun for Futures to Live By (NewCon)

Winners will be announced during Fantasycon 2026, to be held October 9-11 in Glasgow, Scotland. For more information, see the BFS website.

The post 2026 British Fantasy Awards Shortlists appeared first on Locus.

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