Overview

The Rhysling Awards recognize excellence in speculative poetry—poems that engage with science fiction, fantasy, or horror themes. Administered by the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA), the awards honor two categories of work each year and celebrate poems that explore imaginative, futuristic, or uncanny subjects. The award name comes from Rhysling, the blind space-poet in Robert A. Heinlein's short story The Green Hills of Earth, and the prize has become a central marker of achievement in the community of speculative poets and readers.

Eligibility and categories

The Rhysling Awards are presented in two size-based categories. "Best Short Poem" covers works of 49 lines or fewer, while "Best Long Poem" recognizes pieces of 50 lines or more. Eligible works are those that fall within the broad speculative genres—science fiction (science fiction), fantasy (fantasy), and related fantastic or horrific modes—and that have been published during the award year in print or electronic venues. The awards accept a wide variety of forms, from sonnets and short lyric pieces to narrative and epistolary poems, as long as the work engages the imagination in ways associated with speculative writing.

Nomination and voting process

Members of the SFPA play an active role in selecting nominees and winners. Each member may nominate works in both categories; the collection of member nominations yields a ballot of finalists. These finalists are gathered and published so that SFPA members can read the nominated poems before voting. The membership then casts votes to choose the winners for the short and long categories.

  • Members nominate works published during the eligibility year.
  • Nominees are compiled into a ballot and the Rhysling Anthology.
  • Members vote to select the final winners.

Rhysling Anthology and presentation

All nominated poems are collected in an annual Rhysling Anthology that serves both as a record of the year's best speculative poetry and as a way to introduce readers to contemporary practitioners. Winners are traditionally announced at a public ceremony. Since 2005 the awards ceremony has commonly taken place in July at Readercon, though presentation details can vary; the SFPA organizes the nomination and voting regardless of the venue.

Relation to other awards and significance

The Rhysling Awards occupy a distinctive niche within genre literature by focusing on poetic forms rather than prose. They coexist alongside the Dwarf Stars Award, also run by the SFPA, which specifically recognizes the best very-short poems of one to ten lines, and other genre honors that celebrate short fiction or novels. Together, these prizes help sustain a community of writers and readers interested in the poetic dimensions of speculative ideas, raise the profile of individual poets, and preserve an annual snapshot of styles and themes prevalent in imaginative verse. The awards thus function as both recognition and archival resource for speculative poetry.

For additional historical context and details about administration, see materials and notices published by the Science Fiction Poetry Association and the annual Rhysling Anthology; the award's literary lineage traces back to the figure of Rhysling in Robert A. Heinlein's work (Robert A. Heinlein), whose character helped inspire the award's name and its association with poetic imagination in speculative settings.