The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association‘s Dwarf Stars 2022 award winners have been announced.

The award recognizes the best speculative poem of 1–10 lines published in the previous year, and is designed to honor excellent scifaiku, tanka, cinquains, and other types of short poems that examine speculative themes which tend to be overshadowed in SFPA’s Rhysling Award competition.

WINNER

[Tie]

• “Poem with Lines from My Son” by Jen Stewart Fueston
• “What Trees Read” by Mary Soon Lee

SECOND PLACE

• “Colony” by Jamal Hodge

THIRD PLACE

• “Future Portrait of Dark Matter” by Gene Twaronite

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• “Mexico City, 2101 AD” by Juan Manuel Pérez
• “fury” by Lee Murray
• “Mother” by Merie Kirby
• “Past Equinox” by Ann K. Schwader

And a tie between

• “—And They All Lived Together—” by Andrew J. Wilson
• “[cricket song]” by Joshua Gage

The authors who composed the 120 short poems selected from the 1,371 qualifying submissions have reason to celebrate.

The 2022 award chairs Adele Gardner and Greer Woodward, who edited the collection, gave their thanks to each and every poet; Elisabeth Alba, cover artist; the many editors who helped them; all the participants in the Dwarf Stars Zoom readings, including hosts Denise Dumars and Deborah P Kolodji, reader Colleen Anderson, and all the poets and readers; and so many members of SFPA, including Brian Garrison (SFPA Secretary), F. J. Bergmann (anthology layout and website), Deborah P Kolodji (searched mainstream haiku journals); Diane Severson Mori and Jordan Hirsch (publicity); and so many more.
 
“But first and foremost—we honor and celebrate all of these wonderful poets, who made our task so light. We shall trip through the stars together many times, in memory.”