The Shirley Jackson Awards
In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, the Shirley Jackson Awards have been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, "The Lottery." Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work. National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem has called Jackson “one of this century’s most luminous and strange American writers,” and multiple generations of authors would agree.
The Shirley Jackson Award will be voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors. The awards will be given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.
The 2007 awards were be presented on Sunday, July 20th, 2008, at the Readercon Conference on Imaginative Literature in Burlington, Massachusetts.
PLEASE NOTE: While the jurors commit to reading widely within the genres and pursuing all recommendations made by the advisory board, only book and magazine (both online and print) publishers may formally submit works to the jury. Please contact Administrator JoAnn Cox for details: admin at shirleyjacksonawards.org
We are open to publisher submissions to The Shirley Jackson Awards for works published in 2008.