Thirty years ago, Isaac Asimov co-founded his eponymous magazine partly so that new writers would have the same sort of venue to break into that he’d had when he sold his first story to Amazing at age eighteen. Fourteen years ago, my co-judge, Rick Wilber, and I founded the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing to honor Isaac’s memory and to create an additional way to encourage young writers. This year, I traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in March, for my fourteenth Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. There, I met a new crop of talented young writers. This year’s winner, Natty Bokenkamp, is a senior at Stanford University majoring in physics with an emphasis on astrophysical studies. In addition to placing first in the contest with his perceptive story, “The Uncanny Valley,” and picking up a check for five hundred dollars from Dell Magazines, Natty was also named second runner-up for his story, “Cargo.” “The Uncanny Valley” will appear on our website next year.

As has often been the case with these awards, we had another double winner this year. Our first runner-up, Rahul Kanakia, was also our third runner-up. His respective stories were “Money Is the Best Damn Thing There Is” and “The Silent Horde.” Although Rahul is a junior at Stanford majoring in economics, he and Natty met for the first time at the Florida conference. Both, however, had previously met our 2005 and 2006 winner, and Stanford alum, Anthony Ha. 

This year, only one of our three honorable mentions could attend the conference. Stephen Leech, a senior in mass communications who now plans to teach high-school English, received a certificate for his story “The Whale-Zeppelin Canard.” He is the first student from the University of South Florida to place in the awards. The Dell Magazines Award, which is co-sponsored by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Award, is also supported by the School of Mass Com- munications, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. Honorable mention also went to Seth Dickinson of the University of Chicago for his short story, “Claymore Three-Zulu,” and to two-time first runner up (in 2006 and 2007), Eliza Blair of Swarthmore College for her story “Tangle.”

Last year’s award-winning story, “Shift,” by Meghan Sinoff, is now up at our website. Don’t miss this moving tale.

Next year, the convention moves to Orlando, Florida, so this was my last chance to spend my afternoons by the Fort Lauderdale pool doing story conferences with the students. Some time at this last visit to the capital of Spring Break was also spent meeting with well-known authors. I attended guest of honor Geoff Ryman’s excellent reading; I dined with James Patrick Kelly, Ted Chiang, John Kessel, M. Rickert, and Patrick O’Leary; and, on Saturday afternoon, Tachyon publisher Jacob Wiesman took me on what may have been my last trip to Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor. Later that day, I had the delightful opportunity to sit with Joe and Gay Haldeman during the awards’ banquet and ceremony. I hope the move will continue to give me opportunities to hang out with  convention regulars like Brian W. Aldiss, Peter Straub and his lovely wife, Susan, John Clute, Andy Duncan, Elizabeth Hand, Mary Turzillo, and Kathleen Ann Goonan.

We are actively looking for next year’s winner. The deadline for submissions is Monday, January 2, 2008. 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. A special flat fee of $25 is available for an entire classroom of writers. Instructors should send all the submissions in one or more clearly labeled envelopes with a check or money order. Checks should be made out to the Dell Magazines 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 do not put your name on the actual story.

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

 

Dell Magazines Award

School of Mass Communications

University of South Florida

Tampa, Florida 33620

Rwilber@cas.usf.edu

 

Next year’s winner will be announced at the 2007 Conference on the Fantastic, in the pages of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, and on our website.