Clarkesworld 2021 Reader’s Poll Finalists

Editor Neil Clarke has announced the finalists for the 2021 Clarkesworld Magazine Reader’s Poll for best story and cover art.  

Clarke commented, “This year, it was never apparent which works were destined to become finalists. Everything was in flux right down to the final hours. In the end, ties in the fiction category yielded eight finalists. As in the past, we’ve chosen not to implement a tie-breaker and have passed all eight stories into the final round. We missed having a similar situation happen in the art category by one vote, placed in the final minutes of voting.”

Best Story

  1. “Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma” by R.S.A. Garcia (Novella, 1/2021)
  2. “Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self” by Isabel J. Kim (Short Story, 3/2021)
  3. “The Failed Dianas” by Monique Laban (Short Story, 2/2021)
  4. “You Are Born Exploding” by Rich Larson (Novelette, 12/2021)
  5. “Sarcophagus” by Ray Nayler (Novelette, 4/2021)
  6. “Yesterday’s Wolf” by Ray Nayler (Short Story, 9/2021)
  7. “The Cold Calculations” by Aimee Ogden (Short Story, 12/2021)
  8. “Bots of the Lost Ark” by Suzanne Palmer (Novelette, 6/2021)

Best Cover Art

The public is invited to pick the winners. Go to:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/clarkesworld2021poll

Voting will close on February 15 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The winners will be announced in Clarkesworld’s March issue.