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The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for the best science-fiction novel of the year
is one of the three major annual awards for book-length science fiction, and the only juried
award of its history and stature.
History
Selection and jury
Winners
Finalists
Conference
Campbell Award trophy
Campbell Award
history article by Harry Harrison and Sam J. Lundwall
DVD imprint of the John W. Campbell's Golden Age of Science Fiction
John W.
Campbell: The Man Who Invented Modern Fantasy and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
History
Authors and scholars Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss established the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel of the year
as a way of continuing Campbell's efforts to encourage writers to produce their
best possible work: "to carry on and expand the tradition that Campbell had
started, that of assuring the literary growth and development of science
fiction." Campbell, who edited Astounding
Science Fiction magazine, now named Analog from 1937 until his death in 1971,
is called by many writers and scholars the father of modern science
fiction, as it guided the evolution of SF during our Golden Age.
In 1977,
Harrison wrote this about the award's inception:
"When John died it was a blow to all of us. After the memorial service a number of his writers were talking,
and out of the talk came the Astounding anthology, what has been called the last issue of the Campbell magazine.
It was a good tribute to a good editor. There is another tribute I think of just as highly, the award for the
best SF novel of the year presented in his name and memory. An award I am sure he would have loved because it
instantly became involved in controversy when the first prizes was presented. How John enjoyed a good argument
and a good fight! That this fight sprawled through the letter columns of Analog for some months would have cheered him even more."
The first Campbell Memorial Award was presented at the Illinois Institute of
Technology in 1973. Since then the Award has been presented in
various parts of the world: California State University at
Fullerton in 1974; St. John's College, Oxford, England, in 1975; the First
World SF Writers
Conference in Dublin, Ireland, in 1976;
Stockholm, Sweden in 1977; the World SF meeting in Dublin
again in 1978; the Conference and Awards in
Lawrence, KS, starting in 1979; a joint Conference/ SFRA Conference
event in
Kansas City in 2007; and as part of the special "Conference Academic Programming" track of MidAmeriCon II (WorldCon 2016) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Since 1979, the Campbell Award has often been presented during the
Conference Awards Banquet, usually held on the campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as the focal point of a weekend
of discussions about the writing, editing, illustration, publishing, teaching, and
criticism of science fiction.
For a fuller discussion about the founding of the award, see
this article by Harry Harrison and Sam J.
Lundwall, and for more about Campbell and his legacy, see this article by Christopher McKitterick.
Selection Process and Committee
The Campbell Award differs from most other major awards in the field by being
restricted to the novel and by its method of selection. The Hugo Awards are
voted on by some thousand of the several thousand members who pay advance fees
to attend the World Science Fiction Convention, which meets annually at
different locations on Labor Day weekend. The Nebula Awards are voted on by a
few hundred of about two thousand members of the Science Fiction Writers of America and
presented at the annual Nebula Award meeting usually held late in
the Spring.
The Campbell Award is selected by a distinguished committee
small enough to discuss among its members all of the nominated novels. The current jury:
The jury has been honored to have some of the most distinguished
members of the SF world, including authors, scholars, and academics from the
field. Former jurors include:
- Kingsley Amis
-
Paul A. Carter
retired in 2009 after serving almost since the Award's inception
-
Paul Di Filippo
from 2009-2015
- James Gunn served the jury since its earliest days
until his death in December, 2020, and
was committee Chair from 1978-2018
- Elizabeth Anne Hull
until her death in 2021
- Sam Lundwall until 1996
- Farah Mendlesohn from 2006-2008
- Eric Rabkin
- T.A. Shippey served the Campbell Award for 40 years. He joined the panel of judges in its
second year, which looked at the novels for 1974, and retired in 2015.
- Brian Stableford
- Robert H. Wilcox
- Originating jury (1972 - 1973): Brian W. Aldiss, Tom
Clareson, Harry Harrison, Willis McNelly, and Leon Stover
Starting in 2004, winners of the Campbell Award began receiving personalized
trophies.
The permanent Award, beside the new trophies in this photo, bears the names of
every winner.
Nominations come from the science-fiction publishers as well as individual
jurors. Nominations are usually requested from the committee and publishers in November-December by Chris McKitterick, and the jurors read and debate the merits of these books through
late April or early May. This process produces a list of finalists based
on jurors' rankings, published in May. Only books that have received votes for
1st, 2nd, or 3rd (or on some occasions, Honorable Mention) make it onto the list
of finalists, so this serves as a great "recommended reading" list. After vigorous debate on the
merits of the finalists, the final decision arises from a vote by the jurors. The winning author is usually contacted in May and
invited to attend the Conference
at SF Center's expense, and often attends the last day or two of
McKitterick's Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop
and Kij Johnson's SF/F/H
Novel Writing Workshop as well.
Occasionally, when an author cannot attend, we invite the work's editor or a
representative to accept the award on their behalf.
Eligible novels are those published (or only available) in English during the previous calendar
year (for example, the 2016 Campbell Award went to a novel first published in
English in 2015). We are beginning to see more foreign novels that were
published in prior years make it onto our list of finalists, and welcome
international publishers to submit nominations to better represent the best in
book-length SF.
How to Nominate a Work
for the Campbell Memorial Award
If you are a science-fiction publisher interested in participating in the
Award nominations process or for more information, please contact McKitterick in
November:
cmckit.sf@gmail.com
We also consider self-published work of merit. Most jurors read only print
books.
Campbell Award Winners
The Award has honored an wide diversity of authors from around
the world, including a number of first-time novelists, as listed below from
most-recent to the first in
1973.
Click here to see all the Campbell Award finalists back to 2003.
2019
1st
Blackfish City,
by Sam J. Miller
2nd
The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
3rd
Theory of Bastards, by Audrey Schulman
2018
1st The Genius Plague, by
David Walton
2nd (tie)
The Moon and the Other, by John Kessel
2nd (tie)
The People's Police, by Norman Spinrad
3rd
The Rift, by Nina Allen
2017
1st Central Station, by Lavie Tidhar
2nd Rosewater, by Tade Thompson
3rd (tie)
The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
3rd (tie) Underground Airlines, by Ben Winters
2016
1st Radiomen, Eleanor Lerman
2nd (tie) Going Dark,
Linda Nagata
2nd (tie) The Thing Itself,
Adam Roberts
3rd The
Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi
2015
1st
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North
2nd A Darkling Sea, James L. Cambias
3rd The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu (Ken Liu, translator)
2014
1st Strange Bodies, Marcel Theroux
2nd Evening's Empires, Paul McAuley
3rd The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata
2013
1st Jack Glass: The Story of a Murderer, Adam Roberts
2nd Any Day Now, Terry Bisson
3rd (tie) Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson
3rd (tie) Empty Space, M. John Harrison
2012
1st (tie) The Islanders, Christopher Priest
1st (tie) The Highest Frontier, Joan Slonczewski
3rd Embassytown, China Miéville
Honorable Mention Osama, by Lavie Tidhar
2011
1st The Dervish House, Ian McDonald
2nd How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, Charles Yu
3rd The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi
2010
1st The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
2nd Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson
3rd The City & the City, China Miéville
2009
1st (tie) Song of Time, Ian MacLeod
1st (tie) Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
3rd The Philosopher's Apprentice, James Morrow
2008
1st In War Times, Kathleen Ann Goonan
2nd The Yiddish Policeman's Union, Michael Chabon
3rd The Execution Channel, Ken MacLeod
2007
1st Titan, Ben Bova
2nd The Last Witchfinder, James Morrow
3rd (tie) Farthing, Jo Walton
3rd (tie) Blindsight, Peter Watts
2006
1st Mindscan, Robert J. Sawyer
2nd Spin, Robert Charles Wilson
3rd The Summer Isles, Ian R. Macleod
2005
1st Market Forces, Richard Morgan
2nd Air, Geoff Ryman
3rd The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
2004
1st Omega, Jack McDevitt
2nd Natural History, Justina Robson
3rd The X President, Philip Baruth
2003
1st Probability Space, Nancy Kress
2nd Kiln People, David Brin
3rd Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer
2002
1st (tie) Terraforming Earth, Jack Williamson
1st (tie) The Chronoliths, Robert Charles Wilson
2nd (no award due to tie)
3rd Probability Sun, Nancy Kress
2001
1st Genesis, Poul Anderson
2000
1st A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge
2nd Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear
3rd Greenhouse Summer, Norman Spinrad
1999
1st Brute Orbits, George Zebrowski
2nd Starfarers, Poul Anderson
3rd Distraction, Bruce Sterling
1998
1st Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman
2nd Slant, Greg Bear
3rd Secret Passages, Paul Preuss
1997
1st Fairyland, Paul McAuley
2nd Blue Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
3rd The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
1996
1st The Time Ships, Stephen Baxter
2nd The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson
3rd Chaga, Ian McDonald
1995
1st Permutation City, Greg Egan
2nd Brittle Innings, Michael Bishop
3rd No award
1994
1st No award
2nd Beggars in Spain, Nancy Kress
3rd Moving Mars, Greg Bear
1993
1st Brother to Dragons, Charles Sheffield
2nd Sideshow, Sheri S. Tepper
3rd A Fire Upon the Deep, Vernor Vinge
1992
1st Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede, Bradley Denton
2nd The Difference Engine, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
3rd (tie) A Woman of the Iron People, Eleanor Arnason;
3rd (tie) Stations of the Tide, Michael Swanwick;
3rd (tie) The Silicon Man, Charles Platt
1991
1st Pacific Edge, Kim Stanley Robinson
2nd Queen of Angels, Greg Bear
3rd Only Begotten Daughter, James Morrow
1990
1st The Child Garden, Geoff Ryman
2nd Farewell Horizontal, K. W. Jeter
3rd Good News from Outer Space, John Kessel
1989
1st Islands in the Net, Bruce Sterling
2nd The Gold Coast, Kim Stanley Robinson
3rd Dragonsdawn, Anne McCaffrey
1988
1st Lincoln's Dreams, Connie Willis
2nd The Sea and Summer, George Turner
3rd The Unconquered Country, Geoff Ryman
1987
1st A Door into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski
2nd This Is the Way the World Ends, James Morrow
3rd Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card
1986
1st The Postman, David Brin
2nd Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut
3rd (tie) Kiteworld, Keith Roberts;
3rd (tie) Blood Music, Greg Bear
1985
1st The Years of the City, Frederik Pohl
2nd Green Eyes, Lucius Shepherd
3rd Neuromancer, William Gibson
1984
1st The Citadel of the Autarch, Gene Wolfe
2nd The Birth of the People's Republic of the Antarctic, John Batchelor
3rd Tik-Tok, John Sladek
1983
1st Helliconia Spring, Brian W. Aldiss
2nd No Enemy But Time, Michael Bishop
3rd None awarded
1982
1st Riddley Walker, Russell Hoban
2nd None awarded
3rd None awarded
1981
1st Timescape, Gregory Benford
2nd The Dreaming Dragons, Damien Broderick
3rd The Shadow of the Torturer, Gene Wolfe
1980
1st On Wings of Song, Thomas M. Disch
2nd Engine Summer, John Crowley
3rd The Unlimited Dream Company, J. G. Ballard
1979
1st Gloriana, Michael Moorcock
2nd And Having Writ..., Donald Benson
3rd Altered States, Paddy Chayefski
1978
1st Gateway, Frederik Pohl
2nd Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
3rd A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick
1977
1st The Alteration, Kingsley Amis
2nd Man Plus, Frederik Pohl
3rd Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilhelm
1976
1st The Year of the Quiet Sun, Wilson Tucker*
2nd The Stochastic Man, Robert Silverberg
3rd Orbitsville, Bob Shaw
*The committee felt that no truly outstanding original novel was published in 1975.
1st place, therefore, was a "special retrospective award" made to a truly outstanding
original novel that was not adequately recognized in the year of its publication (1970).
1975
1st Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, Philip K. Dick
2nd The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
3rd None awarded
1974
1st (tie) Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke;
1st (tie) Malevil, Robert Merle
2nd (tie) The Embedding, Ian Watson;
2nd (tie) The Green Gene, Peter Dickinson
Special non-fiction award: The Cosmic Connection, Carl Sagan
To the right is the poster from the second-ever Campbell Award presentation (held at Fullerton
in 1974). The Campbell Award is now presented
each year during the Conference, usually held in Lawrence, KS.
Click the image to see a larger size.
1973
1st Beyond Apollo, Barry N. Malzberg
2nd The Listeners, James Gunn
3rd Darkening Island (Fugue for a Darkening Plain), Christopher Priest
Special award for excellence in writing: Dying Inside, Robert Silverberg
Campbell Award finalists
Campbell Award trophy
Conference
Campbell Award history article by Harry
Harrison and Sam J. Lundwall
DVD imprint of the John W. Campbell's Golden Age of Science Fiction
John W.
Campbell: The Man Who Invented Modern Fantasy and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
updated 8/10/2025
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