Clarkesworld Magazine

Clarkesworld Magazine is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine edited by Neil Clarke. It released its first issue October 1, 2006, and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabeth Bear, Kij Johnson, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Sarah Monette, Catherynne M. Valente, Jeff VanderMeer and Peter Watts.

Clarkesworld Magazine

Cover of Clarkesworld Magazine's 200th issue, May 2023
Editor	Neil Clarke
Categories	Fantasy, science fiction, and science fantasy
Frequency	Monthly
First issue	October 2006 (2006-10)
Company	Wyrm Publishing
Country	United States
Based in	Stirling, New Jersey
Language	English
Website	clarkesworldmagazine.com
ISSN	1937-7843

Formats

Clarkesworld Magazine is published or collected in a number of formats:

• All fiction is collected annually in print anthologies published by Wyrm Publishing
• Apps are available for Android, iPad and iPhone devices
• EPUB, Amazon Kindle, and Mobipocket ebook editions of each issue are available for purchase
• All content is available online via the magazine website
• All fiction is available in audio format via podcast or direct download
• Ebook subscriptions for the Kindle and EPUB readers
• Print issues are sold on Amazon and also available as a Patreon subscription option

History

Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace founded Clarkesworld Magazine in July 2006, originally as a companion to Clarkesworld Books, a now defunct online bookstore.^[1] The magazine published its first issue three months later.^[2]

In February 2007, Clarkesworld announced the first in a series of annual print anthologies starting with Realms: The First Year of Clarkesworld Magazine.^[3] It was published in June 2008 by Wyrm Publishing.^[4]

In January 2015, Clarkesworld began a relationship with Storycom to regularly translate and publish works of Chinese science fiction in their issues.^[5]

In February 2019, editor Neil Clarke announced that the magazine had received a grant from LTI Korea for the purposes of translating and publishing nine Korean science fiction stories in upcoming issues of Clarkesworld.^[6]

In January 2020, its editor Neil Clarke withdrew a short story by Isabel Fall at Fall's request, "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter", after Fall had been harassed by people who suspected the story of trolling or transphobia.^[7]

In November 2022, editor Neil Clarke announced that the magazine would be opening a submission period for science fiction written in Spanish.^[8]

In December 2022, Amazon declared that they would stop selling magazine subscriptions. Clarke called the announcement "devastating", and noted that they had been offered a chance to continue in Kindle Unlimited for less money.^[9]

On 20 February 2023, Clarkesworld temporarily closed submissions due to a sudden increase in AI-generated stories sent to the magazine.^[10] During the first weeks of 2023, the magazine received 35 times as many fake spam submissions (the magazine categorizes AI-generated stories as spam) as it did last year during the same time frame.^[11]

Awards and recognition

Awards to magazine and editors

Award	Category	Year	Nominee	Result	Ref
Hugo Award	Semiprozine	2009	Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas, Sean Wallace, eds.	Nominated	[12]
		2010	Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace, eds.	Won	[13]
		2011	Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace, eds.; podcast directed by Kate Baker	Won	[14]
		2013	Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace, eds.; podcast directed by Kate Baker	Won	[15]
	Professional Editor (Short Form)	2012	Neil Clarke	Nominated	[16]
		2013		Nominated	[15]
		2014		Nominated	[17]
		2016		Nominated	[18]
		2017		Nominated	[19]
		2018		Nominated	[20]
		2019		Nominated	[21]
		2020		Nominated	[22]
		2021		Nominated	[23]
		2022		Won	[24]
		2023		Won
		2024		Pending	[25]
World Fantasy Award	Non-Professional	2009	Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas, Sean Wallace, eds.	Nominated	[26]
		2010	Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace, eds.	Nominated	[27]
		2012	Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace, eds.; podcast directed by Kate Baker	Nominated	[28]
		2014	Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, eds.; podcast directed by Kate Baker	Won	[29]
British Fantasy Award	Magazine/Periodical	2014	Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, eds.; podcast directed by Kate Baker	Won	[30]
Locus Awards	Magazine	2007	Clarkesworld Magazine	Nominated–20th	[31]
		2008		Nominated–14th	[32]
		2009		Nominated–9th	[33]
		2010		Nominated–4th	[34]
		2011		Nominated–6th	[35]
		2012		Nominated–3rd	[36]
		2013		Nominated–4th	[37]
		2014		Nominated–4th	[38]
		2015		Nominated–3rd	[39]
		2016		Nominated–4th	[40]
		2017		Nominated–5th	[41]
		2018		Nominated–5th	[42]
		2019		Nominated–5th	[43]
		2020		Nominated–5th	[44]
		2021		Nominated–6th	[45]
		2022		Nominated–6th	[46]
		2023		Nominated–3rd	[47]
		2024		Nominated–2nd	[48]

Other honors

• Winner 2006 Million Writers Award for "Best New Online Magazine"^[49]
• Named SciFi.com Site of the Week: August 29, 2007^[50]

Art

• Winner 2009 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Floating Fish", Mats Minnhagen (April 2008)^[51]
• Finalist 2010 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Brain Tower", Kazuhiko Nakamura (November 2009)
• Finalist 2011 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Warm", Sergio Rebolledo (January 2010)
• Finalist 2011 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Honeycomb", Julie Dillon (September 2010)
• Finalist 2011 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Soulhunter", Andrey Lazarev (November 2010)
• Finalist 2012 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Off Road", Facundo Diaz (June 2011)
• Winner 2013 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "New World", Ken Barthelmey (November 2012)^[51]
• Finalist 2013 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Space Journey", Martin Faragasso (August 2012)
• Finalist 2013 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Breaking Through", Julie Dillon (October 2012)
• Finalist 2014 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Elliptic", Julie Dillon (December 2013)
• Finalist 2015 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Hollow", Matt Dixon (March 2014)
• Winner 2016 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, Neil Clarke
• Finalist 2016 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "A-boushi-ya", shichigoro-shingo (October 2015)
• Finalist 2017 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, Neil Clarke
• Winner 2018 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, Neil Clarke
• Finalist 2018 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Jungle Deep", Sergei Sarichev (March 2017)
• Finalist 2018 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Darkess", Julie Dillon (May 2017)
• Finalist 2018 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Genetics Lab", Eddie Mendoza (July 2017)
• Winner 2019 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Meeting", Arthur Haas (May 2018)^[51]
• Winner 2019 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, Neil Clarke
• Finalist 2019 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "The Storkfriars", Sean Andrew Murray (June 2018)
• Finalist 2020 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Vertigo", Matt Dixon (May 2019)
• Winner 2021 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Ancient Stones", Francesca Resta (October 2020)^[51]
• Finalist 2021 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, Neil Clarke
• Finalist 2021 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "51", Rodion Shaldo (September 2020)
• Finalist 2021 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, "Alien Scout", Arjun Amky (November 2020)
• Finalist 2023 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, “Return to Heaven 7”, Zezhou Chen (January 2022)
• Finalist 2023 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, “Art Block”, Daniel Conway (October 2022)
• Finalist 2023 Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover, “Talk”, JC Jongwon Park (February 2022)
• Winner 2023 Chesley Award for Best Art Director, Neil Clarke

Content

Award	Category	Year	Nominee	Nominated Work	Issue	Result	Ref
Nebula Award	Nebula–Novella	2012	Catherynne M. Valente	"Silently and Very Fast"	#61 (Oct 2011)	Nominated	[52]
	Nebula–Novelette	2013	Catherynne M. Valente	"Fade to White"	#71 (Aug 2012)	Nominated
		2015	Tom Crosshill	"The Magician and Laplace's Demon"	#99 (Dec 2014)	Nominated
		2018	Vina Jie-Min Prasad	"A Series of Steaks"	#124 (Jan 2017)	Nominated
	Nebula–Short Story	2010	N. K. Jemisin	"Non-Zero Probabilities"	#36 (Sep 2009)	Nominated
			Kij Johnson	"Spar"	#37 (Oct 2009)	Won
		2012	E. Lily Yu	"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees"	#55 (Apr 2011)	Nominated
		2013	Aliette de Bodard	"Immersion"	#69 (Jun 2012)	Won
			Helena Bell	"Robot"	#72 (Sep 2012)	Nominated
			Tom Crosshill	"Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes"	#67 (Apr 2012)	Nominated
		2015	Matthew Kressel	"The Meeker and the All-Seeing Eye"	#92 (May 2014)	Nominated
		2016	Naomi Kritzer	"Cat Pictures Please"	#100 (Jan 2015)	Nominated
			Martin L. Shoemaker	"Today I Am Paul"	#107 (Aug 2015)	Nominated
			Sam J. Miller	"When Your Child Strays from God"	#106 (Jul 2015)	Nominated
		2017	Sam J. Miller	"Things With Beards"	#117 (Jun 2016)	Nominated
		2020	A. T. Greenblatt	"Give the Family My Love"	#149 (Feb 2019)	Won	[53]
		2025	Isabel J. Kim	"Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole"	#209 (Feb 2024)	Won	[54]
Hugo Award	Hugo–Novella	2012	Catherynne M. Valente	"Silently and Very Fast"	#61 (Oct 2011)	Nominated	[55]
	Hugo–Novelette	2013	Catherynne M. Valente	"Fade to White"	#71 (Aug 2012)	Nominated	[56]
		2017	Carolyn Ives Gilman	"Touring with the Alien"	#115 (Apr 2016)	Nominated	[57]
		2018	Suzanne Palmer	"The Secret Life of Bots"	#132 (Sep 2017)	Won	[58]
			Vina Jie-Min Prasad	"A Series of Steaks"	#124 (Jan 2017)	Nominated
		2019	Simone Heller	"When We Were Starless"	#145 (Oct 2018)	Nominated	[59]
		2021	Isabel Fall	"Helicopter Story"	#160 (Jan 2020)	Nominated	[60]
			Naomi Kritzer	"Monster"	#160 (Jan 2020)	Nominated
		2022	Suzanne Palmer	"Bots of the Lost Ark"	#177 (Jun 2021)	Won	[61]
		2023	S. L. Huang	"Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness"	#195 (Dec 2022)	Nominated
			Marie Vibbert	"We Built This City"	#189 (Jun 2022)	Nominated
		2023	Gu Shi Emily Jen (translator)	"Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition"	#197 (Feb 2023)	Nominated
	Hugo–Short Story	2010	N. K. Jemisin	"Non-Zero Probabilities"	#36 (Sep 2009)	Nominated	[62]
			Kij Johnson	"Spar"	#37 (Oct 2009)	Nominated
		2011	Peter Watts	"The Things"	#40 (Jan 2010)	Nominated	[63]
		2012	E. Lily Yu	"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees"	#55 (Apr 2011)	Nominated	[55]
		2013	Aliette de Bodard	"Immersion"	#69 (Jun 2012)	Nominated	[56]
			Kij Johnson	"Mantis Wives"	#71 (Aug 2012)	Nominated
		2016	Naomi Kritzer	"Cat Pictures Please"	#100 (Jan 2015)	Won	[64]
		2023	Naomi Kritzer	"Better Living Through Algorithms"	#200 (May 2023)	Won
		2024	Isabel J. Kim	"Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole"	#209 (Feb 2024)	Pending	[65]
World Fantasy Award	WFA–Novella	2012	Catherynne M. Valente	"Silently and Very Fast"	#61 (Oct 2011)	Nominated	[66]
		2019	Kij Johnson	"The Privilege of the Happy Ending"	#143 (Aug 2018)	Won	[67]
	WFA–Short Story	2009	Catherynne M. Valente	"A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica"	#20 (May 2008)	Nominated	[68]
		2012	E. Lily Yu	"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees"	#55 (Apr 2011)	Nominated	[66]
		2014	Yoon Ha Lee	"Effigy Nights"	#76 (Jan 2013)	Nominated	[69]
Bram Stoker Award	BSA–Short Fiction	2008	Paul G. Tremblay	"There's No Light Between Floors"	#8 (May 2007)	Nominated	[70]
Shirley Jackson Award	SJA–Short Fiction	2008	Carrie Laben	"Something in the Mermaid Way"	#6 (Mar 2007)	Nominated	[71]
			Jeff VanderMeer	"The Third Bear"	#7 (Apr 2007)	Nominated
		2011	Peter Watts	"The Things"	#40 (Jan 2010)	Won	[72]
		2017	Sam J. Miller	"Things With Beards"	#117 (Jun 2016)	Nominated	[73]
BSFA Award	BSFA–Short Story	2011	Peter Watts	"The Things"	#40 (Jan 2010)	Nominated	[74]
		2013	Aliette de Bodard	"Immersion"	#69 (Jun 2012)	Nominated	[75]
		2016	Aliette de Bodard	"Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight"	#100 (Jan 2015)	Won	[76]
		2019	Nina Allan	"The Gift of Angels: An Introduction"	#146 (Nov 2018)	Nominated	[77]
Aurora Award	Aurora–Novella/Novelette	2020	L. X. Beckett	"The Immolation of Kev Magee"	#167 (Aug 2020)	Nominated	[78]
			Rebecca Campbell	"An Important Failure"	#167 (Aug 2020)	Nominated
			A. C. Wise	"To Sail the Black"	#170 (Nov 2020)	Nominated
	Aurora–Short Fiction	2013	Suzanne Church	"Synch Me, Kiss Me, Drop"	#68 (May 2012)	Nominated	[79]
Eugie		2016	Catherynne Valente	"The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild"	#100 (Jan 2015)	Won	[80]
			Aliette de Bodard	"Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight"	#100 (Jan 2015)	Nominated	[81]
		2019	Simone Heller	"When We Were Starless"	#145 (Oct 2018)	Won	[82]
Theodore Sturgeon Award		2010	Kij Johnson	"Spar"	#37 (Oct 2009)	Finalist	[83]
		2011	Peter Watts	"The Things"	#40 (Jan 2010)	3rd	[84]
		2012	Yoon Ha Lee	"Ghostweight"	#52 (Jan 2011)	Finalist	[85]
			Catherynne M. Valente	"Silently and Very Fast"	#61 (Oct 2011)	Finalist
		2013	Aliette de Bodard	"Immersion"	#69 (Jun 2012)	Finalist	[86]
			Aliette de Bodard	"Scattered Along the River of Heaven"	#64 (Jan 2012)	Finalist
			E. Catherine Tobler	"(To See the Other) Whole Against the Sky"	#74 (Nov 2012)	Finalist
		2014	Robert Reed	"Mystic Falls"	#86 (Nov 2013)	Finalist	[87]
			E. Lily Yu	"The Urashima Effect"	#81 (Jun 2013)	Finalist
		2016	Kelly Robson	"The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill"	#101 (Feb 2015)	Finalist	[88]
		2017	Carolyn Ives Gilman	"Touring with the Alien"	#115 (Apr 2016)	2nd	[89]
			Sam J. Miller	"Things With Beards"	#117 (Jun 2016)	3rd
		2018	Suzanne Palmer	"The Secret Life of Bots"	#132 (Sep 2017)	Finalist	[90]
			Vina Jie-Min Prasad	"A Series of Steaks"	#124 (Jan 2017)	Finalist
			Kelly Robson	"We Who Live in the Heart"	#128 (May 2017)	Finalist
		2019	Carolyn Ives Gilman	"Umbernight"	#137 (Feb 2018)	Finalist	[91]
			Simone Heller	"When We Were Starless"	#145 (Oct 2018)	Finalist
		2020	A. T. Greenblatt	"Give the Family My Love"	#149 (Feb 2019)	Finalist	[92]
			Suzanne Palmer	"The Painter of Trees"	#153 (Jun 2019)	Finalist
		2021	Rebecca Campbell	"An Important Failure"	#167 (Aug 2020)	Won–1st	[93]
			Sameem Siddiqui	"AirBody"	#163 (Apr 2020)	Finalist
			Vajra Chandrasekera	"The Translator, at Low Tide"	#164 (May 2020)	Finalist
		2022	Suzanne Palmer	"Bots of the Lost Ark"	#177 (Jun 2021)	Nominated	[94]
			R. S. A. Garcia	"Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma"	#172 (Jan 2021)	Nominated
			Ray Nayler	"Sarcophagus"	#175 (Apr 2021)	Nominated
Locus Awards	Locus–Novella	2012	Catherynne M. Valente	"Silently and Very Fast"	#61 (Oct 2011)	Won–1st	[95]
		2019	Carolyn Ives Gilman	"Umbernight"	#137 (Feb 2018)	Nominated–10th	[96]
	Locus–Novelette	2010	Sarah Monette	"White Charles"	#36 (Sep 2009)	Nominated–35th	[97]
		2011	Tobias Buckell	"A Jar of Goodwill"	#44 (May 2010)	Nominated–13th	[98]
		2012	Nnedi Okorafor	"The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from The Great Book)"	#54 (Mar 2011)	Nominated–9th	[95]
			Yoon Ha Lee	"Ghostweight"	#52 (Jan 2011)	Nominated–27th
		2013	Carrie Vaughn	"Astrophilia"	#70 (Jul 2012)	Nominated–19th	[99]
		2015	Yoon Ha Lee	"Wine"	#88 (Jan 2014)	Nominated–9th	[100]
			Tom Crosshill	"The Magician and Laplace's Demon"	#99 (Dec 2014)	Nominated–20th
		2021	JY Neon Yang	"A Stick of Clay, in the Hands of God, is Infinite Potential"	#164 (May 2020)	Nominated–8th	[101]
		2022	Suzanne Palmer	"Bots of the Lost Ark"	#177 (Jun 2021)	Nominated–9th	[102]
	Locus–Short Story	2008	Jeff VanderMeer	"The Third Bear"	#7 (Apr 2007)	Nominated–12th	[103]
			Elizabeth Bear	"Orm the Beautiful"	#4 (Jan 2007)	Nominated–18th
			Barth Anderson	"Clockmaker's Requiem"	#6 (Mar 2007)	Nominated–39th
		2009	Catherynne M. Valente	"A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica"	#20 (May 2008)	Nominated–11th	[104]
			Jay Lake	"The Sky That Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue and into the Black"	#18 (Mar 2008)	Nominated–15th
		2010	Kij Johnson	"Spar"	#37 (Oct 2009)	Nominated–2nd	[97]
			Catherynne M. Valente	"The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew"	#35 (Aug 2009)	Nominated–11th
		2011	Peter Watts	"The Things"	#40 (Jan 2010)	Nominated–2nd	[98]
			Catherynne M. Valente	"Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time"	#47 (Aug 2010)	Nominated–3rd
			Robert Reed	"The Cull"	#48 (Sep 2010)	Nominated–28th
			Nina Kiriki Hoffman	"Futures in the Memories Market"	#45 (Jun 2010)	Nominated–34th
		2012	E. Lily Yu	"The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees"	#55 (Apr 2011)	Nominated–3rd	[95]
			Ken Liu	"Tying Knots"	#52 (Jan 2011)	Nominated–30th
		2013	Aliette de Bodard	"Immersion"	#69 (Jun 2012)	Won–1st	[105]
			Kij Johnson	"Mantis Wives"	#71 (Aug 2012)	Nominated–4th
			Aliette de Bodard	"Scattered Along the River of Heaven"	#64 (Jan 2012)	Nominated–10th
			Theodora Goss	"England Under the White Witch"	#73 (Oct 2012)	Nominated–24th
			Xia Jia	"A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight"	#65 (Feb 2012)	Nominated–31st
			Genevieve Valentine	"A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones"	#73 (Oct 2012)	Nominated–33rd
		2014	Yoon Ha Lee	"Effigy Nights"	#76 (Jan 2013)	Nominated–13th	[106]
			James Patrick Kelly	"The Promise of Space"	#84 (Sep 2013)	Nominated–20th
			James Patrick Kelly	"Soulcatcher"	#80 (May 2013)	Nominated–23rd
		2015	Michael Swanwick	"Passage of Earth"	#91 (Apr 2014)	Nominated–10th	[107]
			Ken Liu	"The Long Haul..."	#98 (Nov 2014)	Nominated–16th
			Yoon Ha Lee	"The Contemporary Foxwife"	#94 (Jul 2014)	Nominated–20th
			Robert Reed	"Pernicious Romance"	#98 (Nov 2014)	Nominated–25th

• Winner 2006 Million Writers Award for "Urchins, While Swimming" by Catherynne M. Valente (12/2006 Issue)^[108]
• Finalist 2007 WSFA Small Press Award, "The Third Bear" by Jeff VanderMeer (04/2007 Issue)
• Finalist 2007 WSFA Small Press Award, "Orm the Beautiful" by Elizabeth Bear (01/2007 Issue)
• Finalist 2010 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form), "The Things", Peter Watts (01/2010 Issue)

Current staff

• Neil Clarke, publisher, editor-in-chief
• Sean Wallace, editor, October 2006 – present
• Kate Baker, Podcast Director, October 2009 – present, non-fiction editor, January 2013 – present

Former staff

• Gardner Dozois, reprint editor, April 2013 – May 2018
• Jeremy L.C. Jones, interviewer, September 2010 – December 2014
• Jason Heller, non-fiction editor, January 2012 – December 2012
• Cheryl Morgan, non-fiction editor, January 2009 – December 2011
• Nick Mamatas, editor, October 2006 – July 2008^[109]
• Ekaterina Sedia, interim non-fiction editor, August 2008 – December 2008

See also

• Fantasy podcast