A number of awards for scholarship and fiction writing are presented under the aegis of the IAFA. They are listed in order of when they were first awarded at the annual conference.
The IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award
The IAFA Distinguished Scholarship Award is an annual career award, presented annually since 1986, recognizing distinguished contributions to the scholarship and criticism of the fantastic.
Past IAFA Distinguished Scholarship award winners list
The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award
The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (short: Crawford award) is a literary award given to a writer whose first fantasy book was published during the previous calendar year. It is sponsored by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA), and is presented at the Association’s conference each March in Orlando. The award is named after the small-press publisher and editor, William L. Crawford (1911-1984). In addition to novels and novellas, collections of poetry, short stories, and fiction aimed at younger readers are all eligible.
Past Crawford award winners list
The award was conceived and established with the help of Andre Norton, who continued to support it for several years prior to her death in 2005. It has been administered by Gary K. Wolfe from 1985-2023, by Farah Mendlesohn from 2023-2025, and by Kelly Robson from 2025-present.
To Propose a New Writer for Consideration for the Crawford Award
The submission period for the Crawford Award runs from 30th March to 31st December each year, for titles published during the year.
Publishers and authors are invited to submit their books to the jury via this website. Self-published work is permitted.
A title must be the author’s first fantasy book; it is permissible for an author active in a different genre to be submitted, as long as this is their first fantasy book. Children’s fiction and YA are eligible, as are poetry and short story collections.
Please be prepared to upload the work in as many of these formats as you can, "the more the merrier": PDF, Mobi and EPub.
To propose a writer’s first work of fantasy for consideration for the award for next year, fill out this form: https://form.jotform.com/233517232455049.
The Walter James Miller Memorial Award for Student Scholarship in the International Fantastic
is given annually to the author of the best ICFA student paper devoted to a work or works of the fantastic originally created in a language other than English. (The IAFA defines the fantastic to include science fiction, folklore, and related genres in literature, drama, film, art and graphic design, and related disciplines.) In addition to its scholarly excellence, the winning paper must also demonstrate the author’s command of the relevant linguistic, national, and cultural contexts of the work or works discussed.
Submission information for the Walter James Miller Memorial Award
Robert A. Collins Service Award
The Robert A. Collins Service Award, named after the conference’s founder (who was also its first recipient in 1985) is a special award presented to an officer, board member, or division head for outstanding service to the organization.
Past Collins award winners list
Stephen R. Donaldson Award
The Stephen R. Donaldson Award, presented only four times since its inception in 1997, is a special award recognizing exceptional support and service to the organization from individuals who have not served as officers, board members, or division heads.
Past Donaldson award winners list
David G. Hartwell Emerging Scholar Award
The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts presents an annual award and stipend to the graduate student submitting the most outstanding paper at the Association’s conference. The award, and a check for $250, will be presented to the winner at the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening. Students must submit their completed paper (3500 words, excluding bibliography) and verification of student status by the deadline. Originally named the Graduate Student Award, the award was renamed in 2016 to honor the late David. G. Hartwell.
Past Hartwell Emerging Scholar award winners list
Jamie Bishop Memorial Award for an Essay Not in English
Prize: $250 U.S. and one year’s free membership in the IAFA to be awarded at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts each March.
Submission information and past Bishop award winners list
Dell Magazines Award (formerly the Isaac Asimov Award)
The $500 award will go to the best unpublished and unsold science fiction or fantasy short story submitted by a full-time undergraduate college student. The winner will be invited to the IAFA annual Conference on the Fantastic in mid-March in Orlando, FL, and the winning story will be considered for publication in Asimov’s science fiction magazine.
Past Dell / Asimov award winners list
Lord Ruthven Assembly Awards
The Lord Ruthven Assembly Awards are a group of awards annually presented by the Lord Ruthven Assembly, a group of academic scholars specializing in texts that focus on vampires and/or the revenant figure. The LRA is specifically affiliated with the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA). The awards are presented for the categories of best fiction, best non-fiction, and best media about the vampire figure in culture and literature. Awards are typically announced at the closing banquet of ICFA by the serving LRA President.
Lord Ruthven Assembly Awards past winners list
Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award
The IAFA Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award recognizes emerging authors who use science fiction to address issues of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.
Submission information and past IIF award winners list
BIPOC Caucus Awards
The BIPOC Caucus presents two awards, one for Exemplary Allies and one for Members who have served the community as Uplifters.
BIPOC Caucus award winners list