Comments: With two Nebula wins in this year, one for Best Short Story and one for Best Novelette, this was definitely Connie Willis' award ceremony. On the other hand, it was clear that there had been a changing of the guard underway, as both Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein were nominated for Nebulas, but neither won.
Despite Connie's double win, gender inequity still seems to have been ascendant in the world of science fiction, as out of the entire field of nominees, only one other woman, Joanna Russ, received any recognition. Granted, that was more nominations for Willis and Russ each than for any individual man, but that means that out of twenty-three total nominations on the final ballot, only four went to works written by women.
Best Novel
No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop
Other Nominees:
Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K. Dick
Best Novella
Another Orphan by John Kessel
Other Nominees:
Horrible Imaginings by Fritz Leiber
Moon of Ice by Brad Linaweaver
Souls by Joanna Russ
Unsound Variations by George R.R. Martin
Best Novelette
Fire Watch by Connie Willis
Other Nominees:
Burning Chrome by William Gibson
The Mystery of the Young Gentleman by Joanna Russ
Myths of the Near Future by J.G. Ballard
Swarm by Bruce Sterling
Understanding Human Behavior by Thomas M. Disch
Best Short Story
A Letter from the Clearys by Connie Willis
Other Nominees:
Corridors by Barry N. Malzberg
God's Hooks! by Howard Waldrop
High Steel by Jack C. Haldeman II and Jack Dann
Petra by Greg Bear
The Pope of the Chimps by Robert Silverberg
Go to previous year's nominees: 1982
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 1984
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