The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is pleased to announce that on October 8th at the Capclave science fiction convention, Martin L. Shoemaker won the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for best short fiction published by a small press in 2015.

The winner is “Today I Am Paul,” by Martin L. Shoemaker, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (August 2015).

Neil Clarke, publisher of Clarkesworld Magazine, accepted on behalf of Martin Shoemaker, who was unable to attend Capclave.

The other finalists for the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction were:

“The Art of Deception,” by Stephanie Burgis in Insert Title Here, ed. by Tehani Wessely, published by Fablecroft Publishing, (April 2015);

“Burn Her,” by Tanith Lee in Dancing Through The Fire, ed. by Ian Randal Strock, published by Fantastic Books (September 2015);

“Cat Pictures Please,” by Naomi Kritzer, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (January 2015);

“The Empress in Her Glory,” by Robert Reed, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (April 2015);

“The Haunting of Apollo A7LB,” by Hannu Rajaniemi in Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction published by Tachyon Publications, (May 2015);

“Headspace,” by Beth Cato in Cats In Space, ed. by Elektra Hammond, published by Paper Golem LLC, (December 2015);

“Leashing the Muse,” by Larry Hodges, published in Space and Time Magazine, ed. by Hildy Silverman, (May 2015); and

“Leftovers,” by Leona Wisoker in Cats In Space, ed. by Elektra Hammond, published by Paper Golem LLC, (December 2015);

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2015). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.