The 2023 Hugo Award Nomination List (With Links!)

Compiled by Hal Y. Zhang, with assistance from Chelle Parker and David Steffen

This has been a memorable year for the Hugo Awards. For the last eight years, Diabolical Plots has produced an annual volume of stories from the longer list of nomination statistics: The Long List Anthology. The project started in another memorable year, with the intent of bringing attention to more of the works favored in those nomination statistics, with the primary goal of giving those authors a boost in readership, and that effort has been successful, as those anthologies are still finding new readers every year.

The longer nomination list is traditionally published within hours of the end of the Hugo Awards ceremony at WorldCon. This time, the list was published three months after the ceremony, in January 2024, and that was the least of the departures from the norm for the awards. We aren’t going to rehash all of those details here, but you can read up on some of the controversy over at Jason Sanford’s Genre Grapevine.

With all of the complications of this year’s nomination list, Diabolical Plots has decided not to produce a new volume of the Long List Anthology this year. We do still want to help boost readership for the amazing authors involved, however, so in lieu of the anthology, we have done our best to compile the most comprehensive list of links to the works from this year’s Short Story and Novelette categories that we could.

Works in this list have been organized alphabetically by author name (romanized in the case of Chinese authors). Please note that not all stories have English translations, and that we have used the translated titles provided by the Hugo Awards administrators for those that do not, which are marked with an asterisk. If anyone knows of translations, either Chinese to English or English to Chinese, for any of the stories on this list that we’ve missed, please let us know.

—David

Best Short Story Finalists and Long List

《2039: 脑机时代》/ “2039: Era of Brain-Computer Interface”
by 阿缺 / A Que

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2021 Issue 11
• English translation by 李雅婷 / Li Yating in Galaxy Awards 1: Chinese Science Fiction Anthology (Future Fiction, 2022)

《菌歌》/ “Do You Hear the Fungi Sing?”
by 陈楸帆 / Chen Qiufan

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《收获》/ Harvest 2022 Issue 3 (story excerpt)
• English translation by Emily Jin / 金雪妮 in Tomorrow’s Parties: Life in the Anthropocene (MIT Press, 2022)
• This story appeared in both the Short Story and Novelette categories in the nomination statistics. We weren’t able to find its character or word count, so we made a choice as to placement. We’re happy to amend this if we receive better information.

“Destiny Delayed” / 《迟到的命运颂歌》
by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

• ISFDB entry, CSFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2022 Issue (story text)
• Chinese translation by 小白 / Xiao Bai in 《科幻世界·译文版》/ Science Fiction World Translations 2023 Issue 3

《尽化塔》/ “Fogong Temple Pagoda”
by 海漄 / Hai Ya

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Published in Chinese in 《科幻世界·历史主题科幻特辑》/ Science Fiction World 2023 Special Historical Science Fiction Issue (story text)
• English translation by 陈捷 / Chen Jie in Galaxy Awards 1: Chinese Science Fiction Anthology (Future Fiction, 2022)
• Ruled ineligible by the 2023 Hugo Awards administration team

《孤独终老的房间》 / “Lonely Room”*
by 郝景芳 / Hao Jingfang

• CSFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in《收获》/ Harvest 2022 Issue 3

《命悬一线》 / “On the Razor’s Edge”*
by 江波 / Jiang Bo

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2022 Issue 1 (story text)

《437火锅诞生记》 / “437 Birth of Hotpot”*
by 凌晨 / Ling Chen

• CSFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻立方》 / Science Fiction Cube September 2022 Issue

《白色悬崖》 / “The White Cliff”*
by 鲁般 / Lu Ban

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2022 Issue 5

《通济桥》 / “Tongji Bridge”
by 路航 / Lu Hang

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2021 Issue 1 (story text)
• English translation by 李懿 / Li Yi in Galaxy Awards 1: Chinese Science Fiction Anthology (Future Fiction, 2022)

“Rabbit Test” / 《兔子测试》
by Samantha Mills

• ISFDB entry, CSFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Uncanny Magazine Issue 49 (story text)
• Chinese translation by 耿辉 / Geng Hui in 《小鸟文学》/ Aves Issue 28 (story text)

《雪中追忆》 / “Memories in Snow”*
by 任青 / Ren Qing

• CSFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2022 Issue 8

《还魂》 / “Resurrection”

by 任青 / Ren Qing

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2020 Issue 4 (story text)
• English translation by Blake Stone-Banks in Galaxy Awards 1: Chinese Science Fiction Anthology (Future Fiction, 2022)

《火星上的祝融》 / “Zhurong on Mars”
by 王侃瑜 / Regina Kanyu Wang

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《天涯》/ Frontiers 2022 Issue 5 (story text)
• English translation by S. Qiouyi Lu / 陆秋逸 in Machine Decision is Not Final: China and the History and Future of Artificial Intelligence (Urbanomic, 2024)

“D.I.Y.”
by John Wiswell

• ISFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Reactor (story text)

《无面之城》 / “Unfaced City”*
by 杨晚晴 / Yang Wanqing

• CSFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《西部》/ West 2022 Issue 1 (story text)

Best Novelette Finalists and Long List

《旧日之花》 / “Flowers of the Old Times”*
by 陈虹羽 / Chen Hongyu

• CSFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2022 Issue 12 (story text)

《不做梦的群星》 / “Stars Don’t Dream”
by 迟卉 / Chi Hui

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《不做梦的群星：第五届冷湖科幻文学奖获奖作品集》/ Stars Don’t Dream: A Collection of the Fifth Lenghu Award Winning Stories (四川科学技术出版社 / Sichuan Science and Technology Press, 2022)
• English translation by John Chu / 朱中宜 in Clarkesworld Issue 208 (story text)

“If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You” / 《如果你发现自己在跟健身大神对话，那就别太拘谨》
by John Chu / 朱中宜

• ISFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Uncanny Magazine Issue 47 (story text)
• Chinese fan translation by 徐五花 / FiveFlower (story text)

“Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold”
by S.B. Divya 

• ISFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Uncanny Magazine Issue 46 (story text)
• Author declined nomination

“Solidity”
by Greg Egan

• ISFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Asimov’s Science Fiction September/October 2022 issue (story text)

《时空画师》 / “The Space-Time Painter”
by 海漄 / Hai Ya

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《银河边缘009》/ Galaxy’s Edge 009 (story text)

“Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness”
by S.L. Huang / 黄士芬

• ISFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Clarkesworld Issue 195 (story text)

《新贵》 / “Upstart”
by 鲁般 / Lu Ban

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese by 《星云 XI：见字如面》 / Nebula Issue 11 (story text)
• English translation by Blake Stone-Banks in Galaxy Awards 1: Chinese Science Fiction Anthology (Future Fiction, 2022) and Clarkesworld Issue 195 (story text)

“A Dream of Electric Mothers” / 《电母之梦》
by Wole Talabi

• ISFDB entry, CSFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction (Tordotcom Publishing, 2022) (story text)
• Chinese translation by 孙薇 / Sun Wei in《不存在科幻》/ Non-Exist Science Fiction (story text)

“The Difference Between Love and Time”

by Catherynne M. Valente

• ISFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance (Solaris, 2022)

“We Built This City” / 《此城由我们建设》
by Marie Vibbert

• ISFDB entry, CSFDB entry
• Originally published in English in Clarkesworld Issue 189 (story text)
• Chinese translation by 罗妍莉 / Luo Yanli in《不存在科幻》/ Non-Exist Science Fiction  (story text)

《图灵大排档》 / “Turing Food Court”
by 王诺诺 / Wang Nuonuo

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2021 Issue 1 (story text)
• English translation by Blake Stone-Banks in Galaxy Awards 1: Chinese Science Fiction Anthology (Future Fiction, 2022)

《白头雀》 / “Whitehead Sparrow”*
by 杨健 / Yang Jian

• CSFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2022 Issue 6 (story text)

《蜂鸟停在忍冬花上》/ “Hummingbird Resting on Honeysuckles”
by 杨晚晴 / Yang Wanqing

• CSFDB entry, ISFDB entry
• Originally published in Chinese in 《科幻世界》/ Science Fiction World 2021 Issue 4 (story text)
• English translation by Jay Zhang in Clarkesworld Issue 194 (story text)
• Removed from consideration by the 2023 Hugo Awards administration team