Locus Award Winners for Best Short Story

The Locus Award for Best Short Story honors works of fiction of less than 7,500 words in length. Of all the Locus categories, this award has shown the most variance from the Hugo and Nebula Award winners, which one might take an an indication that the Locus awards have failed in their avowed intention to provide recommendations for the Hugo voters. It seems that this category demonstrates the popularity contest that the Locus awards have become, illustrated by Neil Gaiman's run of eight out of ten wins for the years 2003-2012. I like Gaiman's writing, and think he's one of the better genre writers working today, but does anyone really think that he wrote the best science fiction or fantasy short story in eight of the last ten years? It seems to me that this winning streak represents Gaiman's popularity among the fans as opposed to writing excellence, and while this is a nice honor for Gaiman, it seems to be a shameful snub of the other authors who were writing during those years.

1971: The Region Between by Harlan Ellison

1972: The Queen of Air and Darkness by Poul Anderson (reviewed in The Hugo Winners: Volume 3, Book 1)

1973: Basilisk by Harlan Ellison

1974: The Deathbird by Harlan Ellison (reviewed in The Hugo Winners: Volume 3, Book 2)

1975: The Day Before the Revolution by Ursula K. Le Guin
1976: Croatoan by Harlan Ellison
1977: Tricentennial by Joe Haldeman
1978: Jeffty Is Five by Harlan Ellison
1979: Count the Clock that Tells the Time by Harlan Ellison
1980: The Way of Cross and Dragon by George R.R. Martin
1981: Grotto of the Dancing Deer by Clifford D. Simak
1982: The Pusher by John Varley
1983: Sur by Ursula K. Le Guin
1984: Beyond the Dead Reef by James Tiptree, Jr.
1985: Salvador by Lucius Shepard
1986: With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole by Harlan Ellison
1987: Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov (reviewed in Robot Dreams)
1988: Angel by Pat Cadigan
1989: Eidolons by Harlan Ellison
1990: Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card
1991: Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson
1992: Buffalo by John Kessel
1993: Even the Queen by Connie Willis
1994: Close Encounter by Connie Willis
1995: None So Blind by Joe Haldeman
1996: The Lincoln Train by Maureen F. McHugh
1997: Gone by John Crowley
1998: Itsy Bitsy Spider by James Patrick Kelly
1999: Maneki Neko by Bruce Sterling
2000: macs by Terry Bisson
2001: The Missing Mass by Larry Niven
2002: The Bones of the Earth by Ursula K. Le Guin
2003: October in the Chair by Neil Gaiman
2004: Closing Time by Neil Gaiman

2005: Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire by Neil Gaiman

2006: Sunbird by Neil Gaiman
2007: How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman
2008: A Small Room in Koboldtown by Michael Swanwick
2009: Exhalation by Ted Chiang
2010: An Invocation of Incuriosity by Neil Gaiman
2011: The Thing About Cassandra by Neil Gaiman
2012: The Case of Death and Honey by Neil Gaiman
2013: Immersion by Aliette de Bodard
2014: The Road of Needles by Caitlín R. Kiernan

2015: The Truth About Owls by Amal El-Mohtar

2016: Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer (reviewed in Clarkesworld: Issue 100 (January 2015))

2017: Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal el-Mohtar
2018: The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata

2019: The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by Phenderson Djèlí Clark

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