The winners of the annual World Fantasy Awards were announced over the weekend, with Kacen Callender, Maria Dahvana Headley, and Brian Evenson among the writers taking home prizes.
Callender won the novel award for Queen of the Conquered, their debut novel for adults. Kirkus called the book “a fascinating exploration of how power corrupts and drives a person toward self-betrayal.”
The novella prize went to Emily Tesh for Silver in the Wood, while Headley took home the short fiction award for “Read After Burning,” which appeared in the anthology A People’s Future of the United States, edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams.
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color, edited by Nisi Shawl, won the award for best anthology, and Evenson was named the winner in the collection category for his Song for the Unraveling of the World.
Two lifetime achievement award winners were named: artist Rowena Morrill and author Karen Joy Fowler.
The World Fantasy Awards are given out by the World Fantasy Convention, which was held online this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The prizes date back to 1975, and past winners have included Dan Simmons for Song of Kali, Peter Straub for Koko, and Nnedi Okorafor for Who Fears Death.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
