The Washington (DC) Science Fiction Association (WSFA) announced the winner of the 2024 WSFA Small Press Award for best short fiction published by a small press in 2023 on September 28 at Capclave.

“A Bowl of Soup on the 87th Floor” by Kai Holmwood, Dreamforge Magazine, Issue 10 (March 2023) ed. by Scot Noel is the winning story.

In her acceptance speech, Holmwood said:

“Sometimes it feels like the world is doing its best to insist that things are hopeless, and that the future is inevitably bleak and dark. While I’ll never claim there are easy solutions, I believe any chance for a better future depends on hope—not only hope for the big picture, but also hope that even our small actions can matter. I’m honored beyond measure that my story about a bowl of soup making a tangible difference in a solarpunk future won this award, not only because I’m personally delighted—and of course I am! — but because it means that vision of hope resonated with others. Thank you to the brilliant DreamForge for giving my first published story the perfect home, and for filling each issue with stories that offer glimpses of light. Here’s to working together to create a future where even a simple bowl of soup can change the world.” 

The other finalists for the 2024 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction were:

• “Baby Golem” by Barbara Krasnoff, Jewish Futures: Science Fiction from the World’s Oldest Diaspora, ed. by Michael A Burstein, Fantastic Books (2023);
• “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer, Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 200 (May 2023) ed. by Neil Clarke
• “By the Works of Her Hands” by LaShawn M Wanak, Never Too Old to Save the World: A Midlife Calling Anthology, ed. by Alana Joli Abbott & Addie King, Outland Entertainment (February 2023);
• “Interstate Mohinis” by M. L. Krishnan, Diaboloical Plots, Issue 100B (June 2023) ed. by Kel Coleman; and
• “Machines” by Jennifer R. Povey, Game On!, ed. by Stephen Kotowych & Tony Pi, Zombies Need Brains (July 2023);
• “Nothing But the Gods on Their Backs” by Alex T. Singer, Metaphorosis, (June 2023) ed. by B. Morris Allen;
• “Six Meals at Fanelli’s” by Annika Barranti Klein, Fusion Fragment, Issue 16 (April 2023) ed. by Cavan Terrill.

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction, and showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2023). An unusual feature of the selection process is that the voting is done with the identity of the author and publisher hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

[Based on a press release.]