2021 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award Finalists

The finalists for the 2021 Jim Baen Memorial Award competition have been announced. The Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest has been held annually since 2007 and is focused on stories of space exploration and discovery, with an optimistic spin on those activities for the human race.

These are the ten finalists, in alphabetical order.

  • Gustavo Bondoni
  • Deborah L. Davitt
  • C. Stuart Hardwick
  • Scott Huggins
  • José Pablo Iriarte
  • William Paul Jones
  • Leigh Kimmel
  • Wendy Nikel
  • Kurt Pankau
  • Russell Pike

Four of these writers have made it to the finals before. C. Stuart Hardwick has been a finalist every year since 2015 (placing second in 2018 and third in 2020). Gustavo Bondoni was a finalist in 2019 (placing second). William Paul Jones was a finalist in 2020. Wendy Nikel was a finalist in 2018 (placing third) and again in 2019.

Judges for the award were celebrity author Les Johnson, and the editors of Baen Books . Stories were judged anonymously.

The Jim Baen Memorial Award will be presented May 27, 2021 in a ceremony at the annual International Space Development Conference (held virtually this year.) The winner receives a distinctive award and professional publication of the story in June 2021 at the Baen.com web site.

“The National Space Society and Baen Books applaud the role that science fiction plays in advancing real science and have teamed up to sponsor this short fiction contest in memory of Jim Baen, the founder of Baen Books,” said William Ledbetter, contest administrator.

The contest occurs annually and looks for stories that demonstrate the positive aspects of space exploration and discovery. This year, in addition to the United States, entrants hailed from Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, Algeria, Spain, Morocco. France, Kazakhstan, India, Canada, Libya, Nigeria, Romania, Kosovo, Sudan, Netherlands, Tunisia, Bolivia, Germany, Iraq, Indonesia, Japan, and Switzerland.

[Based on a press release.]