The Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing just announced its winner, runners-up, and honorable mentions.
Like last year, Alphans have made a very strong showing. How strong? Eight Alphans were honored. The full list, taken from the Dell Award Facebook page, follows. Alphans are listed in bold.
Winner: “The Immaculate Conception of Private Ritter” by Seth Dickinson, University of Chicago
First Runner-up: “Aunt Victoria” by Amanda Olson, St. Olaf College
Second Runner-up: “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchists Bees,” by Eugenia Lily Yu of Princeton University
Third Runner-up: “In the Time of Drought,” by Rachel Sobel of the University of Washington
Honorable Mentions:
“A Clarity of Mind,” by Rachel Halpern of Grinnell College
“Caveat,” by Kendra Leigh Speedling of the University of Minnesota
“Perchance to Dream,” by Sarah Brand of Vanderbilt University
“The Little Man’s Call,” by Rebecca McNulty of the College of New Jersey
“The Case of the Wayward Sister,” by Lara Donnelly of Wright State University
“A Treatise on the Duality of Peace and Accomplishing a Rewarding Parent-Child Relationship Based upon Mutual Respect and Love,” by Tina Tseng of UCLA
“Death’s Lady,” by Miah Saunders of High Point University.
This is an amazing accomplishment for all the students, and everyone involved with Alpha is thrilled to see so many familiar names on the list. It’s not the first time Alphans have done well– last year saw five stories by four Alphans, all of whom returned in 2011– but eight is a new record. Many of the workshop’s staff can also be found on the page of Past Honorees.
More importantly, the submissions for the Dell Award were incredibly strong. The award administrators noted that they received a record number of submissions of very high quality. This is absolutely clear when you look at the list of Past Honorees: this is the first year since 1996 that there have been more than seven awards given, and eleven is the most of any year.
This year, more stories by Alphans were given awards than stories by anyone in any of the past ten years.
Alphans are mighty. Congratulations!