2019 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 50 in San Diego, California.

Comments: This year's crop of Mythopoeic Award nominees features three different trilogies. Based on this, one might think that the selection committee has a hard time making up its mind, and consequently simply punted the decision by giving nominations to groups of books. This may be to offset the extremely narrow focus of some of the other categories, which seem to have the same collection of nominees show up year after year. For example, three of the nominees in the Scholarship in Inklings Studies category are returning nominees from 2018, as are three of the nominees in the Myth and Fantasy Studies category. The limited focus of the award is somewhat worrying, as it results in a very restricted, and consequently somewhat less than interesting range of nominees.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Other Nominees:
The Arcadia Project: Borderline, Phantom Pains, Impostor Syndrome by Mishell Baker
Circe by Madeline Miller
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Innsmouth Legacy: The Litany of Earth, Winter Tide, Deep Roots by Ruthanna Emrys

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead

Other Nominees:

The Chronicles of Claudette: Giants Beware!, Dragons Beware!, Monsters Beware! by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado

The Stone Girl’s Story by Sarah Beth Durst
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier
Tiger vs. Nightmare by Emily Tetri

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: More Essays on Tolkien by Verlyn Flieger

Other Nominees:

The Flame Imperishable: Tolkien, St. Thomas, and the Metaphysics of Faërie by Jonathan S. McIntosh

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth by Catherine McIlwaine
Tolkien, Self and Other: This Queer Creature by Jane Chance

Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-Earth by Lisa Coutras

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology by Dimitra Fimi

Other Nominees:

Genres of Doubt: Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Victorian Crisis of Faith by Elizabeth M. Sanders

Gods and Humans in Medieval Scandinavia: Retying the Bonds by Jonas Wellendorf
Race and Popular Fantasy Literature: Habits of Whiteness by Helen Young
The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds edited by Mark J.P. Wolf

Go to previous year's nominees: 2018
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2020

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2018 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 49 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Comments: Once again in 2018, the incredibly narrow focus of some of the categories in the Mythopoeic Award is readily apparent. Although the Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies category is nominally about scholarship concerning all of the Inklings, in practice it is mostly about honoring books about Tolkien. Sure, there is occasionally a book about C.S. Lewis or Charles Williams, but by and large the books nominated have been about Tolkien. This year is no different, with four of the five nominees in the category being exclusively about Tolkien or his work, and the fifth being about Tolkien in conjunction with a couple of the other Inklings (including Owen Barfield). There is nothing wrong with having an award with this narrow of a focus: My only objection is that name of the award makes it seem to have a broader range than it actually does in practice.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley

Other Nominees:
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Snow City by G.A. Kathryns

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Frogkisser by Garth Nix

Other Nominees:
The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
The Song from Somewhere Else by A.F. Harrold
Tumble and Blue by Cassie Beasley

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Inklings and King Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain by Sørina Higgins

Other Nominees:
Beren and Luthien edited by Christopher Tolkien
There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: More Essays on Tolkien by Verlyn Flieger
Tolkien, Self, and Other: This Queer Creature by Jane Chance

Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-Earth by Lisa Coutras

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction by Michael Levy and Farah Mendelsohn

Other Nominees:

Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology by Dimitra Fimi

Genres of Doubt: Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Victorian Crisis of Faith by Elizabeth M. Sanders

Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature by Aisling Byrne
The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds edited by Mark J.P. Wolf

Go to previous year's nominees: 2017
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2019

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2017 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 48 in Champaign, Illinois.

Comments: As usual, the fiction categories for the Mythopoeic Award are full of good books - most notably Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal and Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip. Once again the Myth and Fantasy Studies category looks to be populated by a collection of interesting books on a wide range of topics. And once again, the Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies feels cramped and limited - to such an extent that J.R.R. Tolkien's own translation of Beowulf was nominated in this category for the third year in a row.

I know that the Mythopoeic Society exists in large part to promote awareness of the works of the Inklings, and that promoting works of scholarship about the Inklings is seen as integral to that objective. The only problem is that year after year the nominees for the Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies show that there really doesn't seem to be sufficient depth to support such an award. Maybe there is some vast reservoir of books about the inklings out there that aren't apparent to most people, but based on the nominations in this category, I rather doubt it. It seems to me that the Mythopoeic Society would probably do best to fold the Inklings Studies category together with the Myth and Fantasy Studies category and strengthen the field of both, but I doubt they will, which is kind of a pity.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip

Other Nominees:
Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
Thessaly Trilogy by Jo Walton
Will Do Magic For Small Change by Andrea Hairston

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

Other Nominees:
The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman
The Mapmakers Trilogy by S.E. Grove
The Rat Prince by Bridget Hodder
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski

Other Nominees:

Approaches to Teaching Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Other Works edited by Leslie Donovan

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

The Chapel of the Thorn, Charles Williams edited by Sørina Higgins

Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle Earth by Lisa Coutras

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church by Richard Firth Green

Other Nominees:
Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction by Michael Levy and Farah Mendlesohn
Grimm Legacies: The Magic Spell of the Grimms’ Folk and Fairy Tales by Jack Zipes
Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature by Aisling Byrne
The Tropes of Fantasy Fiction by Gabrielle Lissauer

Go to previous year's nominees: 2016
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2018

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2016 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 47 in San Antonio, Texas.

Comments: As usual for the Mythopoeic Award, the nominees in the two fiction categories are a strong set of fantasy works that are both varied and interesting. The collection of fiction works does highlight one of the persistent oddities of the Mythopoeic Award by making the Inkling Studies category look quite limited in its horizons: Two of the nominated works in that category are revisions of works originally written by J.R.R. Tolkien, while two others are books about C.S. Lewis. To a certain extent, a category devoted to scholarship about the Inklings - a group that consisted of (depending on who is counted as being a "member") a dozen to just over two dozen men - is going to be quite focused in the works it chooses to honor. When one considers that the bulk of academic interest in the group is probably limited to four subjects (Tolkien, Lewis, Williams, and Green), the limited range of works is even more apparent. This creates a strange dichotomy, where most of the categories of the award feature works that are diverse and sometimes experimental, while the Inklings Studies category is stuck rehashing the same very limited aspect of the past over and over again.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Other Nominees:
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

Other Nominees:
Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley
The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst
Serafina and The Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Tiffany Aching series (Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight, and The Shepherd’s Crown) by Terry Pratchett

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Charles Williams: The Third Inkling by Grevel Lindop

Other Nominees:

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary Together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien

C.S. Lewis - A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alistair E. McGrath
Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis by Abigail Santamaria
The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Verlyn Flieger

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Evolution of Modern Fantasy: From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series by Jamie Williamson

Other Nominees:
English Poetry and Old Norse Myth: A History by Heather O’Donoghue
George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity by Daniel Gabelman
Here Be Dragons: Exploring Fantasy Maps and Settings by Stefan Ekman
Science in Wonderland: The Scientific Fairy Tales of Victorian Britain by Melanie Keene

Go to previous year's nominees: 2015
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2017

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2015 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 46 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Comments: As has become the norm for the Mythopoeic Awards, this year's set of nominees is strong in all four categories. In addition, the set of nominees is predominantly comprised of works by women, especially in the fiction categories where eight of the ten nominated works were penned by female authors. While the nonfiction categories are not quite so dominated by women, there are four nominated works either written or co-written by women. Given this, one might suppose it somewhat apropos that one of the most interesting nominees in the Inklings Studies category is a series about C.S. Lewis and gender. One can only step back and observe that this year's nominees continue the tradition of the Mythopoeic Awards being one of the most reliably intriguing of all the genre related awards.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Tales from Rugosa Coven by Sarah Avery

Other Nominees:

The Angel of Losses by Stephanie Feldman

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris
Locke & Key series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
Songs for Ophelia by Theodora Goss

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

Other Nominees:

The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell

His Fair Assassin series by Robin LaFevers
The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula Jones
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

C.S. Lewis and the Middle Ages by Robert Boenig

Other Nominees:

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, Together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien; edited by Christopher Tolkien

Tolkien at Exeter College: How an Undergraduate Created Middle-earth by John Garth

C.S. Lewis and Gender series (The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy, and Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender) by Monika B. Hilder

Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom Shippey edited by John William Houghton, Janet Brennan Croft, Nancy Martsch, John D. Rateliff, and Robin Anne Reid

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Stories About Stories: Fantasy and the Remaking of Myth by Brian Attebery

Other Nominees:

As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality by Michael Saler

From the Forest: The Hidden Roots of our Fairy Tales by Sara Maitland
George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity by Daniel Gabelman
Peter Pan’s Shadows in the Modern Literary Imagination by Kristen Stirling

Go to previous year's nominees: 2014
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2016

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2014 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 45 in Norton, Massachusetts.

Comments: In 2014, both of the fiction categories in the Mythopoeic Awards were won by works authored by women. While this is not that unusual for the Mythopoeic Awards, sadly, this is still something that is notable in the wider world. in better news, Holly Black is slated to be a guest of honor at CapClave this year. I mention this in conjunction with noting her win in the Best Children's Fantasy Literature Award category here so as to make everyone jealous of the fact that I am probably going to be able to meet her this autumn. I can tell you are all jealous.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Other Nominees:

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Sleepless Knights by Mark H. Williams
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Doll Bones by Holly Black

Other Nominees:

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Ghoulish Song by William Alexander
Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac
Shadows by Robin McKinley

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays edited by Jason Fisher

Other Nominees:

C.S. Lewis and the Middle Ages by Robert Boening

C.S. Lewis - A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Alister McGrath
Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit by Corey Olsen
There and Back Again: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Origins of the Hobbit by Mark Atherton

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North by G. Ronald Murphy

Other Nominees:

As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality by Michael Saler

The Book of Legendary Lands by Umberto Eco, translated by Alastair McEwan
Critical Discourses of the Fantastic, 1712-1831 by David Sandner
Dancing the Tao: Le Guin and Moral Development by Sandra J. Lindow

Go to previous year's nominees: 2013
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2015

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2013 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 44 in East Lansing, Michigan.

Comments: In 2013, the Adult Fantasy Literature category was won by Digger, an omnibus graphic novel collecting the entire series by Ursula Vernon. The fact that a graphic novel won a Mythopoeic Award is not surprising - after all there have been several excellent graphic novels that have featured fantasy themes, such as Phil Foglio's Girl Genius series, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, and Alan Moore's Watchmen. The unusual thing is that when Digger won, the Mythopoeic Society, unlike some other award distributing organizations, didn't have a conniption and change their rules to prevent a graphic novel from winning in the future, or relegate graphic novels to their own subcategory so they wouldn't sully "real" literature.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Digger (Volumes 1-6) by Ursula Vernon

Other Nominees:

Death and Resurrection by R.A. MacAvoy

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Hide Me Among the Graves Tim Powers

Weirdstone trilogy (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, and Boneland) by Alan Garner

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Other Nominees:

Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy
The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell
The Spy Princess by Sherwood Smith

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on J.R.R. Tolkien by Verlyn Flieger

Other Nominees:

C.S. Lewis and the Middle Ages by Robert Boening

C.S. Lewis, Poetry, and the Great War 1914-1918 by John Bremer
Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit by Corey Olsen
Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays edited by Jason Fisher

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths by Nancy Marie Brown

Other Nominees:

As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality by Michael Saler

The Christian Goddess: Archetype and Theology in the Fantasies of George MacDonald by Bonnie Gaarden

Critical Discourses of the Fantastic, 1712-1831 by David Sandner

Fairy Tale Queens: Representations of Early Modern Queenship by Jo Eldridge Carney

Go to previous year's nominees: 2012
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2014

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2012 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 43 in Berkeley, California.

Comments: In 2012 Catherynne M. Valentine pulled off the fairly impressive accomplishment of having a book nominated in both the Adult Fantasy Literature and Children's Fantasy Literature categories. Valente's individual accomplishment also serves to highlight the fact that in recent year fantasy literature has been pretty much dominated by female authors. Women seem to make up the majority of authors producing adult fantasy literature, but they have absolutely dominated young adult fantasy literature. I'm not entirely sure what this indicates about the book publishing industry other than we are lucky to have such a broad base of prolific female fantasy authors, although the fact that young adult fiction appears to have been cordoned off as a space to relegate female authors into seems to me to be somewhat troubling.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein

Other Nominees:

Among Others by Jo Walton

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
The Heavenly Fox by Richard Parks
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman

Other Nominees:

Beka Cooper trilogy (Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff) by Tamora Pierce

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Théâtre Illuminata series (Eyes Like Stars, Perchance to Dream, and So Silver Bright) by Lisa Mantchev

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Tolkien and Wales: Language, Literature and Identity by Carl Phelpstead

Other Nominees:

The Art of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

C.S. Lewis on the Final Frontier: Science and the Supernatural in the Space Trilogy by Sanford Schwartz

The Power of Tolkien's Prose: Middle-earth's Magical Style by Steve Walker
Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays by Jason Fisher

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films by Jack Zipes

Other Nominees:

Cheek by Jowl: Essays by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Christian Goddess: Archetype and Theology in the Fantasies of George MacDonald by Bonnie Gaarden

Fairy Tales: A New History by Ruth B. Bottigheimer
The Fantastic Horizon: Essays and Reviews by Darrell Schweitzer

Go to previous year's nominees: 2011
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2013

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2011 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 42 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Comments: The two fiction categories in the Mythopoeic Awards have always accepted nominations consisting of the aggregate of an entire series of books, as opposed to a single discrete work. But while this rule has only occasionally been invoked in the Adult Fantasy Literature category, it seems to result in at least one series nomination in the Children's Fantasy Literature category in almost every year. This seems to reflect the seemingly currently accepted wisdom in the book publishing industry that young adult books, especially young adult fantasy books, should be published in series format, with publishers more or less chasing after the same audience that made Harry Potter a worldwide phenomenon. These sorts of trends come and go, but I always wonder what gems publishers are skipping over while trying to chase the mirage of a cyclone that has come and gone.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

Other Nominees:

The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia A. McKillip

A Cup of Normal by Devon Monk
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Queen's Thief series (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings) by Megan Whalen Turner

Other Nominees:

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Incarceron and Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward

Other Nominees:

Arda Reconstructed: The Creation of the Published Silmarillion by Douglas Charles Kane

Middle-Earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien by Bradford Lee Eden
The Power of Tolkien's Prose: Middle-Earth's Magical Style by Steve Walker

Tolkien on Fairy-stories: Expanded Edition, with Commentary and Notes by Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Victorian Press and the Fairy Tale by Caroline Sumpter

Other Nominees:

Cheek by Jowl: Essays by Ursula K. Le Guin

Metamorphoses of the Werewolf: A Literary Study from Antiquity Through the Renaissance by Leslie A. Sconduto

Out of My Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman by Don W. King
Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn

Go to previous year's nominees: 2010
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2012

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2010 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon 41 in Dallas, Texas.

Comments: From a certain perspective, the two scholarship categories look a little bit like a figure skating competition. Every year it seems that one or both of the winners are works that appeared on the list of final nominees in a previous year, creating the impression that in order to win, a work has to "wait its turn" before being selected. This also creates the impression that the nominees are of progressively declining quality. If, One Earth, One People, the current winner in the Myth and Fantasy Studies category, was the second or third best nominee in 2009, does that mean that all of the nominees in 2010 are worse than a work that was at best the second-best nominee of 2009? If one of the also-rans from 2010 wins in 2011, does that mean that all of the other 2011 nominees are no better than the second best option from 2010, and compare even more unfavorably to the nominees from 2009? I'm sure this isn't impression that the Mythopoeic Society wants outside observers to take away from their process, but it is the impression that their process gives nonetheless.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Lifelode by Jo Walton

Other Nominees:

Avilion Robert Holdstock

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales Greer Gilman
Palimpsest Catherynne M. Valente
Trickster's Game trilogy (Heartwood, Bloodstone, and Foxfire) by Barbara Campbell

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Other Nominees:

Ash by Malinda Lo

Books of Bayern (The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born) by Shannon Hale

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits by Dimitra Fimi

Other Nominees:

Arda Reconstructed: The Creation of the Published Silmarillion by Douglas Charles Kane

Charles Williams: Alchemy and Imagination by Gavin Ashenden

The Evolution of Tolkien's Mythology: A Study of the History of Middle-Earth by Elizabeth A. Whittingham

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L'Engle and Orson Scott Card by Marek Oziewicz

Other Nominees:

Lilith in a New Light: Essays on the George MacDonald Fantasy Novel by Lucas H. Harriman

Metamorphoses of the Werewolf: A Literary Study from Antiquity Through the Renaissance by Leslie A. Sconduto

Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn
The Victorian Press and the Fairy Tale by Caroline Sumpter

Go to previous year's nominees: 2009
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2011

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2009 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XL in Los Angeles, California.

Comments: The roster of authors with works nominated for the 2009 Mythopoeic Awards include two amazing female authors - Patricia A. McKillip and Ursula K. Le Guin. Both women have had prolific careers that have combined substantial longevity and consistently high quality writing, resulting in nominations for this award and others across multiple decades. In a way, it was the writing of these two women that shaped me as a fantasy fiction fan, as I read several of their works when I was growing up, and because of their continued production of excellent fantasy fiction, they continue to shape my as a fantasy fiction fan.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone by Carol Berg

Other Nominees:

The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia A. McKillip

An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Other Nominees:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Savvy by Ingrid Law

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The History of the Hobbit (Part One, Mr Baggins and Part Two, Return to Bag-End) by John D. Rateliff

Other Nominees:

Charles Williams: Alchemy and Imagination by Gavin Ashenden

The Evolution of Tolkien's Mythology: A Study of the History of Middle-Earth by Elizabeth A. Wittingham

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward

Tolkien on Fairy-Stories: Expanded Edition, with Commentary and Notes by Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper by Charles Butler

Other Nominees:

Folklore and the Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction by Jason Marc Harris

One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L'Engle and Orson Scott Card by Marek Oziewicz

Oz in Perspective: Magic and Myth in the Frank L. Baum Books by Richard Carl Tuerk
Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn

Go to previous year's nominees: 2008
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2010

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2008 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XXXVIX in New Britain, Connecticut.

Comments: Under the rules of the Mythopoeic Awards works of scholarship in both the Inklings Studies category and Myth and Fantasy Studies category are eligible for a period of three years after they have been published. This means that works can, and often are, nominated to the final list several years in a row. Given this regular recurrence of titles on the finalist lists, I am convinced that this rule exists to make sure that there is a reasonably fleshed out set of finalist lists every year, as otherwise it would seem that there would be a paucity of nominees, especially in the Inklings Studies category.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Orphan's Tales series (In the Night Garden and In the Cities of Coin and Spice) by Catherynne M. Valente

Other Nominees:

Chronicles of Chaos series (Orphans of Chaos, Fugitives of Chaos, and Titans of Chaos) by John C. Wright

In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) by J.K. Rowling

Other Nominees:

Dussie by Nancy Springer

The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Modern Tale of Faerie series (Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, and Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale) by Holly Black

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer, appendix by David Bratman

Other Nominees:

The History of the Hobbit (Part One, Mr Baggins and Part Two, Return to Bag-End by John D. Rateliff

Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology by Verlyn Flieger
Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth by Marjorie Burns

The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, and Edmund Weiner

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Shadow-Walkers: Jacob Grimm's Mythology of the Monstrous edited by T.A. Shippey

Other Nominees:

Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper by Charles Butler

From Asgard to Valhalla: The Remarkable History of the Norse Myths by Heather O'Donoghue

The Lure of the Vampire: Gender, Fiction and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy by Milly Williamson

Oz in Perspective: Magic and Myth in the Frank L. Baum Books by Richard Carl Tuerk

Go to previous year's nominees: 2007
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2009

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2007 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XXXVIII in Berkeley, California.

Comments: Although the Mythopoeic Society's primary mission is to promote the works of and scholarship about the members of the Inklings, in most years the Myth and Fantasy Studies category is comprised of a set works that appear to be far more interesting than the set of works nominated for the Inklings Studies category. The cause is, I think, the narrowness of the Inklings Studies category which in 2007 consisted of four works about Tolkien, which seems quite limited when compared with the breadth of topics addressed by the nominees in the Myth and Fantasy category - Arthurian mythology, Vampires, Beauty and the Beast, Owen Barfield, and a foursome of English fantasy authors.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip

Other Nominees:

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

The Line Between by Peter S. Beagle
The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Three Days to Never by Tim Powers

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

Corbenic by Catherine Fisher

Other Nominees:

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones
Spirits that Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide by Christina Schull and Wayne G. Hammond

Other Nominees:
Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology by Verlyn Flieger
Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth by Marjorie Burns

The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, and Edmund Weiner

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival by G. Ronald Murphy

Other Nominees:

Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper by Charles Butler

The Lure of the Vampire: Gender, Fiction, and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy by Milly Williamson

The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook by Jerry Griswold
Owen Barfield: Romanticism Come of Age: A Biography by Simon Blaxland-de Lange

Go to previous year's nominees: 2006
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2008

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2006 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XXXVII in Norman, Oklahoma.

Comments: In 2006 the date and location of the Mythopoeic Awards finally became permanently publicly available. As I have noted before, I suspect that  the Mythopoeic Awards were handed out at the annual Mythcon run by the Mythopoeic Society in previous years, but as I cannot find any confirmation of this, I am hesitant to list the annual ballot of nominees with this information. However, in 2006 and later years, this fact has been made explicit, and as a result, I can include the data.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Other Nominees:

The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold

Metallic Love by Tanith Lee
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:

The Bartimaeus Trilogy (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate) by Jonathan Stroud

Other Nominees:

By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle

Valiant by Holly Black
Wizards at War by Diane Duane

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

Other Nominees:
Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology by Verlyn Flieger
The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs
Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth by Marjorie Burns
Smith of Wootton Major: Expanded Edition edited by Verlyn Flieger

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England by Jennifer Schacker

Other Nominees:

The Dharma of Dragons and Daemons: Buddhist Themes in Modern Fantasy by David R. Loy and Linda Goodhew

The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook by Jerry Griswold

Readers in Wonderland: The Liberating Worlds of Fantasy Fiction from Dorothy to Harry Potter by Deborah O'Keefe

Go to previous year's nominees: 2005
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2007

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2005 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: The rules of the Mythopoeic Awards allow for an entire series to be nominated for the award in the year that the last installment in that series is published. Given the fact that the primary works of fiction produced by the two most famous Inklings were published as series, this eligibility rule seems fitting. But in some years, like 2005, in which three of the five nominees in the Best Children's Fantasy Literature category were trilogies, this rule can seem to be the root cause of some rather ridiculous looking results.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Other Nominees:

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand
The Wizard Knight (The Knight and The Wizard) by Gene Wolfe

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

Other Nominees:

The Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen) by Garth Nix

Arthur Trilogy (The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing Places, and King of the Middle March) by Kevin Crossley-Holland

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

Wise Child Trilogy (Wise Child, Juniper, and Colman) by Monica Furlong

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Janet Brennan Croft

Other Nominees:
Bareface: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's Last Novel by Doris T. Myers

Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings edited by Matthew Dickerson

Tolkien in the Land of Heroes by Anne C. Petty

Tolkien the Medievalist edited by Jane Chance

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography by Stephen Thomas Knight

Other Nominees:

Diana Wynne Jones: An Exciting and Exacting Wisdom edited by Teya Rosenberg

The Meanings of "Beauty and the Beast": A Handbook by Jerry Griswold

Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture: What Becomes a Legend Most by William Patrick Day

Go to previous year's nominees: 2004
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2006

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2004 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In many years the most interesting set of nominees for the Mythopoeic Award are the ones in the Myth and Fantasy Studies category, and 2004 was not exception to this. The element that stands out in the category is the sheer diversity of topics that the nominees cover. Despite all sharing the topic of "myth and fantasy", the nominated works could not be more different. The winner in the category was an analysis of the mythology of super-heroes and how that relates to American culture. One on the non-winning nominees is about spirituality in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Another is an analysis of the works of Beatrix Potter. A third is about vampires in American fiction. A fourth discusses the evolution of fairy tales in nineteenth century England. Quite simply, the eclectic nature of the topics covered by these books serves as a reminder as to why the Mythopoeic Awards are among the best genre awards out there.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Other Nominees:

Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin

Fudoki by Kij Johnson
In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

Other Nominees:

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth by John Garth

Other Nominees:
C.S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse by Don W. King

Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings edited by Matthew Dickerson

Tolkien the Medievalist edited by Jane Chance

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Myth of the American Superhero by John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett

Other Nominees:

Algernon Blackwood: An Extraordinary Life by Mike Ashley

Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit: A Children's Classic at 100 edited by Margaret Mackey
A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld by Francis Bridger

National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England by Jennifer Schacker

Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture: What Becomes a Legend Most by William Patrick Day

Go to previous year's nominees: 2003
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2005

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2003 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Unknown.

Comments: In 2003, the data concerning where and when the Mythopoeic Awards seems to have gone missing again. For 2002, the information is readily available, but seems to have vanished once more by 2003. I suspect that the 2003 Mythopoeic Awards were handed out on or about July 25 through July 28 at Mythcon 34, but I can't find any confirmation of that. In fact, I suspect that all of the Mythpoeic Awards since the inception of the award have been handed out at the Mythopoeic Society's own convention Mythcon, but since I have no way to confirm this suspicion, I can't in good faith do anything more than speculate that this was the case.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip

Other Nominees:

The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman

A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
Summerland by Michael Chabon

Other Nominees:

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Beowulf and the Critics by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Michael D.C. Drout

Other Nominees:
C.S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse by Don W. King

Imagination and the Arts in C.S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and Other Worlds by Peter J. Schakel

J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances edited by George Makana Clark and Daniel Timmons

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

Fairytale in the Ancient World by Graham Anderson

Other Nominees:

A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld by Francis Bridger

The Christian Imagination: G.K. Chesterton on the Arts by Thomas C. Peters
Vast Alchemies: The Life and Work of Mervyn Peake by G. Peter Winnington

Go to previous year's nominees: 2002
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2004

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2002 Mythopoeic Award Nominees

Location: Mythcon XXXIII in Boulder, Colorado.

Comments: 2002 is the first year for which we have actual data concerning the actual location and date for the Mythopoeic Awards. It seems almost unbelievable that this sort of information was simply not preserved for all of the previous years, but the simple fact is that until very recently most organizations handing out genre awards seem to have been exceptionally poor at keeping records, at least until the pervasiveness of the internet made such sloppiness almost impossible to get away with. The result is that so much information about many genre awards, even awards that have always been controlled by a single organization like the Mythopoeic Society, has simply been lost in the mists of time, and will likely never be recovered.

Best Adult Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Other Nominees:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Declare by Tim Powers
Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt
The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin

Best Children's Fantasy Literature

Winner:
The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson

Other Nominees:

Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson

The Two Princess of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
The Wizard's Dilemma by Diane Duane

Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

Winner:

Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-Earth edited by Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter

Other Nominees:
C.S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse by Don W. King

J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances edited by George Makana Clark and Daniel Timmons

Women Among the Inklings: Gender, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams by Candice Fredrick and Sam McBride

Myth and Fantasy Studies

Winner:

The Owl, the Raven & the Dove: The Religious Meaning of the Grimms' Magic Fairy Tales by G. Ronald Murphy

Other Nominees:

Fairytale in the Ancient World by Graham Anderson

The Quest for the Grail: Arthurian Legend in British Art 1840-1920 by Christine Poulson

Twice Upon a Time: Women Writers and the History of the Fairy Tale by Elizabeth Wanning Harries

Go to previous year's nominees: 2001
Go to subsequent year's nominees: 2003

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