WSFA celebrates Naomi Kritzer’s ‘The Dragon Project’ with 2023 Small Press Award at Capclave (award news).

The Washington Science Fiction Association has declared Naomi Kritzer the winner of the 2023 WSFA Small Press Award for Best Short Fiction. The announcement was made on Saturday, September 30th 2023, during the Capclave science fiction convention.

Kritzer’s winning entry, “The Dragon Project”, was published in the March 2022 edition (Issue 186) of Clarkesworld Magazine, edited by Neil Clarke. This accolade recognizes exemplary short fiction published by small press in the preceding year (2022) within the speculative fiction genre.

Capclave Chair, Aaron Pound, announced the award, underscoring the organization’s commitment to spotlighting outstanding original short fiction provided by small presses, a platform for the speculative fiction community.

Besides Kritzer’s “The Dragon Project”, the finalists for the 2023 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction included:

• “Ashes of a Cinnamon Fire” by R. Z. Held, published in Shattering The Glass Slipper and edited by Crystal Sarakas and Rhondi Salsitz (Zombies Need Brains, LLC, June 2022);
• “At the Lighthouse, Out by the Othersea” by Juliet Kemp, featured in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 47 (July/August 2022), edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas;
• “In the Belly of the Whale” by Angus McIntyre, part of Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales, edited by Rhonda Parrish (World Weaver Press, January 2022);
• “Not the Youngest, Nor the Prettiest, But Someone Else” by Alyse Winters, also published in Shattering The Glass Slipper and edited by Crystal Sarakas and Rhondi Salsitz (Zombies Need Brains, LLC, June 2022);
• “Possession” by Taylor Jones, found in Reckoning, #6 (September 25, 2022), edited by Aicha Martine Thiam and Gabriela Santiago;
• “Simons, Far and Near” by Ana Gardner, in Cast of Wonders, episode 485 (February 6, 2022), edited by Katherine Inskip;
• “This Living Hand” by Marie Brennan, showcased in Sunday Morning Transport (February 13, 2022), edited by Julian Yap and Fran Wilde.

A distinctive feature of the WSFA Small Press Award selection process is the anonymous voting system; the identity of authors and publishers remains concealed, ensuring that selections are based solely on the merit and quality of the submitted stories. The winner and finalists were chosen by members of the Washington Science Fiction Association. For further information, WSFA can be reached through their official website, www.wsfa.org.

This year’s Capclave convention took place from September 29th to October 1st, 2023, at the Rockville Hilton in Rockville, MD. Details about the event can be found on the convention’s official website over at www.capclave.org.