The 2019 Rhysling Anthology & Awards

The 2019 Rhysling Awards

Short Poem Category

First Place
“After Her Brother Ripped the Heads from Her Paper Dolls”
Beth Cato • Mythic Delirium 4.3

Second Place
“What Loves You”
Jeff Crandall • Fantasy & Science Fiction
September/October

Third Place (tie)
“A City Built on Bones“
Ann K. Schwader • Abyss & Apex 66

“3D-Printed Brother”
Millie Ho • Strange Horizons 9/25/18,

spacer Long Poem Category

First Place
“Ursula Le Guin in the Underworld”
Sarah Tolmie • On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic, April

Second Place
“The Fairies in the Crawlspace”
Beth Cato • Uncanny 21

Third Place
“3-Minute Future”
F. J. Bergmann • Unlikely Stories V

124 members voted
Winner Biographies and Photos

The 2019 Rhysling Anthology:
The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2018

2019 Rhysling Anthology cover spacer

Editor and Rhysling Chair:
David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Book Design: F.J. Bergmann
Cover Image: Outpost
by Robert Frazier
Publisher: Science Fiction Poetry Association

$15.95 + $4 U.S. shipping; $11 Canada; $17 international). E-mail the treasurer for postage costs on multiple copies. $4 .pdf.

Payable by PayPal to SFPATreasurer@gmail.com


Short Poems (85 poems)
3D-Printed Brother • Millie Ho • Strange Horizons 9/25/18
Acceptable Documentation • Sonya Taaffe • Sycorax Journal 1
After Her Brother Ripped the Heads from Her Paper Dolls • Beth Cato • Mythic Delirium 4.3
Alien Interview Questions • Mary Soon Lee • Dreams and Nightmares 109
An Alien Visits an Earth Psychiatrist • John Grey • The Pedestal Magazine 82
“as if …” • LeRoy Gorman • Atlas Poetica: 25 Science Fiction Tanka & Kyoka, eds. Julie Bloss Kelsey & Susan Burch
beseeching the kitchen gods • M. C. Childs • Grievous Angel 5/20/18
Cardiad • Virginia M. Mohlere • Mythic Delirium 4.4
A City Built on Bones • Ann K. Schwader • Abyss & Apex 66
Colorless Reflection • Cindy O’Quinn • Poppy Road Review 8/29/18
Concerning President Carter and the UFO Sighting • August Huerta • Strange Horizons 3/19/18
Consumption •  Jennifer Ruth Jackson • Eye to the Telescope 29
The Crimson Witch • K. A. Opperman • Eye to the Telescope 30
Curse of Waccasassa Lagoon • John Reinhart • Dreams and Nightmares 109
Data Value • Patricia Gomes • Star*Line 41.2
Dead-Eye Girl • Holly Lyn Walrath • Liminality 17
Dear Creator • Mary Soon Lee • Fantasy & Science Fiction, January/February
The Dissolution of Icarus • Michelle Muenzler • Liminality 18
Divinatory • Rose Lemberg • Sycorax Journal 1
Down in Windy Hollow • Jenny Blackford • The School Magazine, June
drop some amens • Brandon O’Brien • Uncanny 21
Echoes of Light from Orbit • Megan Engelhardt • Asimov’s SF, November/December
Engineered •  Bruce McAllister • Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March/April
Entanglement • David C. Kopaska-Merkel & Kendall Evans • Entanglement (diminuendo press)
Esprit d'escalier • May Chong • Apparition Lit 1
Excalibur’s Lament • P.S. Cottier • Eye to the Telescope 27
Flat Dyson • Francis W. Alexander • Spaceports & Spidersilk, July
Forest Mother • Christina Sng • The Ladies of Horror Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge
Fortune Favors the Cold • Katherine Inskip • Abyss & Apex 68
From Her Tower, the Lady of Shalott Sees the Ice Age Come • R. Mac Jones • Eye to the Telescope 27
Galahad Returns from the Holy Wars • David E. Cowen • Bleeding Saffron (Weasel Press)
Generation Ship • David Barber • Kaleidotrope, Summer
The Girl and Her Wolf Dog • Christina Sng • Spectral Realms 8
Golgothan (Shit Demon's Sonnet) • David F. Shultz • Deadman's Tome Shit Fest, ed. Jesse Dedman (?)
Heart’s Desire • Lynn White • The Sirens Call 41
Hey Man, Nice Shot • Gretchen Tessmer • Strange Horizons 2/26/18
Intruders • Cindy O’Quinn • Star*Line 41.2
The Ladies of Lancashire • Clay F. Johnson • Eye to the Telescope 30
Laika • Holly Day • Dreams and Nightmares 109
Lament of the Four Moons • Kendall Evans & John Philip Johnson • Asimov’s SF, ?
Lost Memories • Bruce Boston • The Literary Hatchet 19
The Maenad to Her Artist Friend • Amal El-Mohtar • Strange Horizons 2/12/18
Mars Must Remember • Denise Dumars • The Pedestal Magazine 82
Mining Time • P.S. Cottier • Not Very Quiet 2
Monster, Creature, Human • Herb Kauderer • Dreams and Nightmares 109
My Little Vampire • Adele Gardner • Dreams and Nightmares 110
The Mysterious Hermit • Krystal Volney • krystalvolneyfanssite
Neuraweb • Logan Thrasher Collins • Abyss & Apex 67
The Nightmare Thing • Sandra Kasturi • Eye to the Telescope 29
O Siren • Ashley Dioses • Liquid Imagination 38
Ode to the Gorgon • K. A. Opperman • Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer Solstice
Okuri Inu, or the sending-off dog demon • Betsy Aoki • Uncanny 22
Our Lady of the Winter Squash • Jenny Blackford • Polu Texni 10/29/18
Pan’s Descent • Bruce Boston • Artifacts (Independent Legions Publishing)
Past Is Present • Deborah L. Davitt • Modern Poetry Review 8
The Patron Saint of Alien Abductees • Noel Sloboda • Evansville Review XXVIII
Pinocchio Plays the Cotton Club • Alan Ira Gordon • Star*Line 41.3
Planck Length • David F. Shultz • Dreams and Nightmares 108
Planetary Lensing • Herb Kauderer • Dreams & Nightmares 109
Planktivorous Fish and the Structure of Pelagic Plankton • David Clink • Juniper 2:2
Pouring the Pennyroyal • Andrea Blythe & Laura Madeline Wiseman • Priestess & Hierophant 5
Quetzalcoatlus roboti Heads Home • Vince Gotera • Multiverse, ed. Russell Jones (Shoreline of Infinity)
Relic • Kari Flickinger • Riddled with Arrows 2.3
The Sea Horse Isles • Michael H. Hanson • Untimely Frost: Poetry Unthawed, eds. Suzie & Bruce Lockhart (Lycan Valley Press)
The Sea Never Says It Loves You • Fran Wilde • Uncanny 21
Seraphima • Hal Y. Zhang • Liminality 15
Son of Aswang • Vince Gotera • The Philippines Graphic, October
The Southern Lady • Marge Simon • War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
Spatial Arrangement • David F. Shultz • Abyss & Apex 65
Stand and Wait • Herb Kauderer • Scifaikuest print, August
Station Rain • Erik Burdett • Apparition Lit 4
Stephen Hawking • Greer Woodward • Haikuniverse 3/24/18
That's one small step for (a) man … • Russell Jones • Dark Matters (Tapsalteerie Press)
Things That Go Bump & Smile in the Night • Kathleen A. Lawrence • Altered Reality Magazine ?
This Sacred Earth • Deborah L. Davitt • Abyss & Apex 67
Thunderstorm in Glasgow, July 25 2013 • Amal El-Mohtar • Fireside Fiction broadside
Trips to Impossible Cities • Sandra Kasturi • Amazing Stories Magazine 2
Try the Veal • Robert Beveridge • Vastarien 1:1
Universal Immigrants • Ann K. Schwader • Star*Line 41.1
Unstole It • Jim Davies • Altered Reality Magazine ?
Venusian Arachnoids • David F. Shultz • Star*Line 41.1
Waterworld • Terry Persun • Space & Time Magazine 131
What Is Dead • Kristin Garth • Luna Luna Magazine 4/13/18
What Loves You • Jeff Crandall • Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October
Wraiths • Wade German • Vastarien 1:1

Long Poems (54 poems)
3-Minute Future • F. J. Bergmann • Unlikely Stories V
After the Wolf • Jeff Crandall • Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April
Alima among the Trees • T. D. Walker • Projector Magazine 1
Atomic Numbers • D. A. Xaolin Spires • Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January/February
Cassini’s Mini-Packets Home • Jessy Randall • Strange Horizons 7/2/18
Cataclysm Days: Arizona Conservatives Revert to Old Forms of Worship • Chuck Von Nordheim • Liquid Imagination 37
The Cat’s Daughters • Nitoo Das • Uncanny 20
Cinderella's Pumpkin • Colleen Anderson • Polu Texni 5/28/18
The Collaborator • Cassandra Rose Clarke • Illumen, Spring
Commemoration of the Divine Passion • William Cook • Eye to the Telescope 30
Conditions of the Curse • Herb Kauderer • Exploits in the Adirondacks, eds. (pub518)
Dragon Mountain • Mary Soon Lee • Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 35
Drug Wars • Marge Simon • War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
The Fairies in the Crawlspace • Beth Cato • Uncanny 21
Finding Hecate • Clay F. Johnson • Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer Solstice
five sigils • David F. Shultz • Eye to the Telescope 27
Getting to Mars • Roger Dutcher • The Pedestal Magazine 82
If you would seek a Seeress • Rebecca Buchanan • Star*Line 41.1
In the Vaults • Adele Gardner • The Pedestal Magazine 82
It Took Some Time • David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Devilfish Review 20
The Kind Thing to Do • Kurt Newton • Polu Texni 4/23/18
The Last Transport • Frank Coffman • Abyss & Apex 65
Lorelei • Ali Trotta • Uncanny 22
Lost Girls • Rachel Verkade • Liminality 15
Misstep • David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Star*Line 41.4
Mother • Deborah L. Davitt • Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer Solstice
Mother Giant • Peri Fae Blomquist • Mythic Delirium 4.4
nakajiru • D. A. Xiaolin Spires • Mithila Review 10
The Nightmares • Wade German • Spectral Realms 8
Nixon's Planet • Peter Ullian • Secret Histories and Exobiologies (Poet's Haven)
Om Economics • Sandra J. Lindow • 2018 SFPA Poetry Contest
Our Minds Are Jewels of Uncertainty • Terrie Leigh Relf & Kendall Evans • Star*Line 41.3
Past Far Gone • Toby Macnutt • Arsenika 3
The Poisoning •  Jessica Drake-Thom • Eye to the Telescope 29
The Prophet’s Vision • W. C. Roberts • Polu Texni 10/15/18
The Protest: Ant Work Ethic • Michael H. Payne • Civilized Beasts III, ed. Vincent Corbeau (Weasel Press)
Ragnarök: A Prism • Alexandra Seidel • Sycorax Journal 1
Rapunzel • Christina Sng • Dreams and Nightmares 109
Rex Arthurs • Deborah L. Davitt • Eye to the Telescope 27
The Sea-Wolf of Brittany • Deborah L. Davitt • Liminality 17
The Search • Deborah L. Davitt • Zetetic, May
Seven Witches • Alexandra Seidel • Eye to the Telescope 30
Skathi’s Spite • Deborah L. Davitt • Eternal Haunted Summer, Winter Solstice
Snow: White; White: Snow • Erin Robinson • Liminality 18
The Space of One Paragraph • Mark McCutcheon • Riddled with Arrows 2.2
The Stars Are Not Eternal • Kendall Evans & David C. Kopaska-Merkel • Entanglement (diminuendo press)
Third-Floor Bookstore • Herb Kauderer • Altered Reality Magazine 12

Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Monster • Bruce Boston • Birthing Monsters: Frankenstein’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Cruelties (Firbolg Publishing)

Two Dozen Restaurant Concepts for a Gentrified Mixed-Use Vacancy • James Ebersole • The Cockroach Conservatory Vol 1: The Working Zealot's Guide to Gaining Capital in Pre-Apocalyptic America
Ursula Le Guin in the Underworld • Sarah Tolmie • On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic, April
Verdant • F. J. Bergmann • Dreams and Nightmares 110
The Visionary • Ian Futter • Spectral Realms 9
White Siege • Alessandro Manzetti & Marge Simon • War (Crystal Lake Publishing)
The Witch’s House • Jeana Jorgenson • Liminality 15

Nominations per publication (64 publications):
6 spacer Abyss & Apex
3   Altered Reality Magazine
1   Amazing Stories Magazine
2   Analog Science Fiction and Fact
2   Apparition Lit
1   Artifacts (Independent Legions Publishing)
2   Asimov’s Science Fiction
1   Atlas Poetica: 25 Science Fiction Tanka & Kyoka, eds. Julie Bloss Kelsey & Susan Burch
1   Birthing Monsters: Frankenstein’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Cruelties (Firbolg Publishing)
1   Bleeding Saffron (Weasel Press)
1   Civilized Beasts III, ed. Vincent Corbeau (Weasel Press)
1   The Cockroach Conservatory
1   Dark Matters (Tapsalteerie Press)
1   Deadman's Tome Shit Fest, ed. Jesse Dedman (?)
1   Devilfish Review
8   Dreams and Nightmares
3   Entanglement (diminuendo press)
4   Eternal Haunted Summer
1   Evansville Review
1   Exploits in the Adirondacks, ed. ? (pub518)
11   Eye to the Telescope
3   Fantasy & Science Fiction
1   Fireside Fiction
2   Grievous Angel
1   Haikuniverse
1   Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
1   Illumen
1   Kaleidotrope
1   krystalvolneyfanssite
1   The Ladies of Horror Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge
6   Liminality
2   Liquid Imagination
1   The Literary Hatchet
1   Luna Luna Magazine
1   Mithila Review
1   Modern Poetry Review
1   Multiverse, ed. Russell Jones (Shoreline of Infinity)
3   Mythic Delirium
1   Not Very Quiet
1   On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic
4   The Pedestal Magazine
1   The Philippines Graphic
1   Poetry Northwest
4   Polu Texni
1   Poppy Road Review
1   Priestess & Hierophant
1   Projector Magazine
2   Riddled with Arrows
1   The School Magazine
1   SFPA Poetry Contest
1   Scifaikuest
1   Secret Histories and Exobiologies (Poet's Haven)
1   The Sirens Call
1   Space & Time Magazine
1   Spaceports & Spidersilk
2   Spectral Realms
8   Star*Line
4   Strange Horizons
3   Sycorax Journal
6   Uncanny
1   Unlikely Stories
1   Untimely Frost: Poetry Unthawed, eds. Suzie & Bruce Lockhart (Lycan Valley Press)
2   Vastarien
3   War (Crystal Lake Publishing)

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