Ignyte Awards

The Ignyte Awards are an annual literary award for the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror works and achievements of the previous year. Established in 2020 by writers L. D. Lewis and Suzan Palumbo as an off-shoot of FIYAH Literary Magazine, the awards aim to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the speculative fiction genre, and are presented in 15 categories spanning fiction, non-fiction and community service. Trophies are awarded to winners at FIYAHCON, an annual speculative fiction convention focused on black, indigenous and people-of-color perspectives in the genre.^[1][2]

Ignyte Award
Awarded for	Best science fiction, fantasy and horror works of the previous year.
Country	United States
Presented by	FIYAH Literary Magazine
First awarded	2020
Website	theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/the-ignyte-awards/

The Ignyte Awards are part-juried and part-public vote: finalists are selected by the convention committee, and winners are then determined in an online ballot.^[3] The 2021 finalists were announced in April,^[4] and winners were announced at a virtual edition of the convention in September.^[2]

Winners

Best Novel – Adult

Year	Work	Author(s)	Ref.
2020	Gods of Jade and Shadow	Silvia Moreno-Garcia	[5]
2021	Black Sun	Rebecca Roanhorse	[6]
2022	A Master of Djinn	P. Djèlí Clark	[7]
2023	The Blood Trials	N. E. Davenport	[8]

Best Novel – YA

Year	Work	Author(s)	Ref.
2020	We Hunt the Flame	Hafsah Faizal	[5]
2021	Legendborn	Tracy Deonn	[6]
2022	A Snake Falls to Earth	Darcie Little Badger	[7]
2023	Bloodmarked	Tracy Deonn	[8]

Best in Middle Grade

Year	Work	Author(s)	Ref.
2020	Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky	Kwame Mbalia	[5]
2021	Ghost Squad	Claribel A. Ortega	[6]
2022	Root Magic	Eden Royce	[7]
2023	Witchlings	Claribel Ortega	[8]

Best Novella

Year	Work	Author(s)	Ref.
2020	This is How You Lose the Time War	Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar	[5]
2021	Riot Baby	Tochi Onyebuchi	[6]
2022	And This Is How to Stay Alive	Shingai Njeri Kagunda	[7]
2023	Into the Riverlands	Nghi Vo	[8]

Best Novelette

Year	Work	Author(s)	Publisher	Ref.
2020	Emergency Skin	N. K. Jemisin	Amazon Forward Collection	[5]
2021	The Inaccessibility of Heaven	Aliette de Bodard	Uncanny Magazine	[6]
2022	The Future Library	Peng Shepherd	Tor Books	[7]
2023	If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God With the Informal You	John Chu	Uncanny Magazine	[8]

Best Short Story

Year	Work	Author(s)	Publisher	Ref.
2020	"A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy"	Rebecca Roanhorse	Gallery/Saga Press	[5]
2021	"You Perfect, Broken Thing"	C. L. Clark	Uncanny Magazine	[6]
2022	"If the Martians Have Magic"	P. Djèlí Clark	Uncanny Magazine	[7]
2023	"The Lady of the Yellow Painted Library"	Tobi Ogundiran	Tordotcom	[8]

Best in Speculative Poetry

Year	Work	Author(s)	Publisher	Ref.
2020	"A Conversation Between the Embalmed Heads of Lampião and Maria Bonita on Public Display at the Baiano State Forensic Institute, Circa Mid-20th Century"	Woody Dismukes	Strange Horizons	[5]
2021	"The Harrowing Desgarrador"	Gabriel Ascencio Morales	Strange Horizons	[6]
2022	"Post Massacre Psyche Evaluation"	Abu Bakr Sadiq	Uncanny Magazine	[7]
2023	"We Smoke Pollution"	Ai Jiang	STAR*LINE	[8]

Critics Award

Year	Work	Ref.
2020	Alex Brown of Tor.com	[5]
2021	Stitch @ Stitch's Media Mix	[6]
2022	Alex Brown of Tor.com	[7]
2023	Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together	[8]

Best Fiction Podcast

Year	Work	Author(s)	Ref.
2020	LeVar Burton Reads	LeVar Burton	[5]
2021	Nightlight Podcast	Tonia Ransom	[6]
2022	Khōréō	Aleksandra Hill, Lian Xia Rose, Isaree Thatchaichawalit, Marie Croke, Carla B. Estruch, Rowan Morrison, P.H. Low, Elaine Ho, Katarzyna Nowacka, Zhui Ning Chang, Katalina Watt, Ysabella Maglanque, Lauren Bajek, M.L. Krishnan, Jei D. Marcade, Oshon Ize-Iyamu, Justine Teu, Sanam Akhlagh, Nuna Fariha	[7]
2023	Black Women Are Scary		[8]

Best Artist

Year	Name	Ref.
2020	Grace P. Fong	[5]
2021	Odera Igbokwe	[6]
2022	Morgan Madeline	[7]
2023	Aimee Campbell	[8]

Best Comics Team

Year	Work	Author(s)	Publisher	Ref.
2020	These Savage Shores	Ram V, Sumit Kumar, Vitorio Astone, Aditya Bidikar, and Tim Daniel	Vault Comics	[5]
2021	Parable of the Sower	Written by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings	Abrams ComicArts	[6]
2022	Nubia: Real One	Written by L.L. McKinney , illustrated by Robyn Smith	DC Comics	[7]
2023	Where Black Stars Rise	Marie Enger & Nadia Shammas	Tor Nightfire	[8]

Best Anthology/Collected Works

Year	Work	Author(s)	Publisher	Ref.
2020	New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color	Edited by Nisi Shawl	Rebellion	[5]
2021	A Phoenix First Must Burn	Edited by Patrice Caldwell	Viking Books for Young Readers	[6]
2022	We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction	Edited by Charles Payseur & C.L. Clark	Neon Hemlock Press	[7]
2023	Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms and Space	Edited by Zoraida Córdova	Wednesday Books	[8]

Best in Creative Nonfiction

Year	Work	Author(s)	Publisher	Ref.
2020	Black Horror Rising	Tananarive Due	Uncanny Magazine	[5]
2021	"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream: The Duty of the Black Writer During Times of American Unrest"	Tochi Onyebuchi	Tor.com	[6]
2022	"We Are the Mountain: A Look at the Inactive Protagonist"	Vida Cruz	Fantasy Magazine	[7]
2023	The H Word: Horror in a Country that Is Not Afraid of Death	Dante Luiz	Nightmare Magazine	[8]

The Ember Award

Year	Person	Ref.
2020	LeVar Burton	[5]
2021	Dhonielle Clayton	[6]
2022	Tananarive Due	[7]
2023	Afronauts Podcast	[8]

The Community Award

Year	Work	Author(s)	Ref.
2020	Strange Horizons	Gautam Bhatia, Vajra Chandrasekera, Joyce Chng, Kate Cowan, Tahlia Day, William Ellwood, Rebecca Evans, Ciro Faienza, Lila Garrott, Dan Hartland, Amanda Jean, Lulu Kadhim, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Catherine Krahe, Anaea Lay, Dante Luiz, Heather McDougal, AJ Odasso, Vanessa Rose Phin, Clark Seanor, Romie Stott, Aishwarya Subramanian, Fred G. Yost, the Strange Horizons copyediting team, and first readers.	[5]
2021	#PublishingPaidMe	L.L. McKinney and Tochi Onyebuchi	[6]
2022	The Submission Grinder	David Steffen, Anthony W. Sullivan, and Andrew Rucker Jones	[7]
2023	Flights of Foundry		[8]

References

1. Stubby the Rocket (August 7, 2020). "FIYAH Announces Creation of Ignyte Awards As Part of the First FIYAHCON". Tor.com. Macmillan. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
2. Millanzi, Riziki (4 October 2021). Levontin, Polina (ed.). "FiyahCon 2021 report by Riziki Millanzi". Vector. British Science Fiction Association. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
3. Tejada, Andrew (17 October 2020). "Announcing the Winners of the Inaugural Ignyte Awards!". Tor.com. Macmillan. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
4. Glyer, Mike. "2021 Ignyte Awards Shortlist". File 770. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
5. "Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus Magazine. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
6. "2021 Ignyte Awards Winners". Locus Magazine. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
7. Asher-Perrin, Emmet (17 September 2022). "Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Ignyte Awards!". Tor.com. Macmillan. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
8. "2023 RESULTS - The Ignyte Awards". ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com. 2023-10-21. Retrieved 2023-10-21.