Once again, the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Story Writing was bestowed at the Conference on the Fantastic in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Each year, Asimov Award Administrator and co-judge Rick Wilber, removes all names from the submissions to the contest. Gardner Dozois and I give the finalists a blind read and then we choose the top stories. Thus, we were surprised to discover that we were quite familiar with this year’s winner. Two years ago, Lena DeTar of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, was both an honorable mention and the second runner-up for the award. Last year, Lena was an honorable mention and the first runner-up. This year she told Rick that she was worried about hogging the award, but he assured her that each of her stories would stand anonymously on its own merits. The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, which co-sponsors the award with Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, flew the author in for an all-expense paid weekend. At a banquet on Saturday, March 23, 2002, I presented Lena with a certificate and a check for $500 from the magazine for her story "Making Waves." In addition, as this year’s second runner-up (for her story "The Dying of the Light"), Lena received a one-year subscription to Asimov’s.

Thomas Seay was our first runner-up. A senior at Georgia Tech studying science, technology, and culture, and a 2001 graduate of Clarion, he received his award for his tale "Self-Defense." Thomas will receive a two-year complimentary subscription to Asimov’s for the story.

We had three honorable mentions. One, Gary R. Porter of St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, received his award for "Judge and Jury." Gary is working on a degree in education, and is an avid reader of Joe Haldeman and other hard SF writers. At the banquet he was delighted to share his table with his favorite author.

Another honorable mention, Karina Sumner-Smith, was also a Canadian. Karina is a English major at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and a 2001 Clarion graduate. She received her certificate for "Loving the Bomb."

Amy Beth Forbes, an English major at Michigan State University and another 2001 Clarion grad, received an honorable mention for her story "Fire Water." Amy recently founded a lit zine, Turbo Charged Fortune Cookie, with our 2000 Asimov Award winner, Beth Adele Long. We were pleased to see Beth, along with all of this year’s finalists, at the conference.

Authors in attendance included Joan Aiken, Brian Aldiss, Suzy McKee Charnas, Molly Gloss, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Elizabeth Hand, Nalo Hopkinson, John Kessel, Daniel Keyes, David Lunde, Patricia McKillip, Peter Straub, and Tim Sullivan.

Last year’s winning story by Mark Jacobsen, "Conquering Europa," is up on on our website–www.asimovs. com.

Please join Lena, Mark, Beth, and many of our past winners at an online chat at www.scifi.com on July 9, 2002, at 9 pm EST.

Asimov’s is proud to support these academic awards with IAFA. The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts is a worldwide network of scholars, educators, writers, artists, filmmakers, critics, editors, publishers, and performers who share an interest in studying and celebrating the fantastic in all art forms, disciplines, and media. The award is also supported by the School of Mass Communications at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.

We are actively looking for next year’s winner. The deadline for submissions is December 16, 2002. All full-time undergraduate students at any accredited university or college are eligible. Stories must be in English, and should run from 1,000 to 10,000 words. No submission can be returned, and all stories must be previously unpublished and unsold. There is a $10 entry fee, with up to three stories accepted for each fee paid. Checks should be made out to the Asimov Award. There is no limit to the number of submissions from each writer. Each submission must include the writer’s name, address, phone number, and college or university on the cover sheet, but please remove your name from each story.

Before entering the contest, please contact Rick Wilber for more information, rules, and manuscript guidelines. Rick can be reached care of:

Next year’s winner will be announced at the 2003 Conference on the Fantastic, in the pages of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, and on our website.