Locus Award for Best Non-fiction

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The Locus Award for Non-fiction is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year.

The Best non-fiction award has been made since 1979, originally known as Best Reference Book.[1] The category was briefly merged with Best Art Book in 2004 and 2009-2010, and had on some occasions been previous won by graphic novels, which at the time did not have a category to fit them.

Winners

Award winners[2][3]
Year Nominated work Author Ref.
1979 The Way the Future Was Frederik Pohl [4]
1980 The Science Fiction Encyclopedia Peter Nicholls [1]
1981 In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 Isaac Asimov [5]
1982 Danse Macabre Stephen King [6]
1983 The Engines of the Night Barry N. Malzberg [7]
1984 Dream Makers, Volume II Charles Platt [8]
1985 Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed Harlan Ellison [9]
1986 Benchmarks: Galaxy Bookshelf Algis Budrys [10]
1987 Trillion Year Spree Brian Aldiss with David Wingrove [11]
1988 Watchmen Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons [12]
1989 First Maitz Don Maitz [13]
1990 Grumbles from the Grave Robert A. Heinlein [14]
1991 Science Fiction Writers of America Handbook Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith [15]
1992 Science-Fiction: The Early Years Everett F. Bleiler [16]
1993 Dinotopia James Gurney [17]
1994 The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction John Clute and Peter Nicholls [18]
1995 I. Asimov: A Memoir Harlan Ellison [19]
1996 Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia John Clute [20]
1997 Look at the Evidence John Clute [21]
1998 The Encyclopedia of Fantasy John Clute and John Grant [22]
1999 The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World Thomas M. Disch [23]
2000 Sixty Years of Arkham House S. T. Joshi [24]
2001 On Writing Stephen King [25]
2002 Being Gardner Dozois Michael Swanwick [26]
2003 Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years Bruce Sterling [27]
2004 The Sandman: Endless Nights Neil Gaiman [28]
2005 The Wave in the Mind Ursula K. Le Guin [29]
2006 Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writers' Workshop Kate Wilhelm [30]
2007 James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon Julie Phillips [31]
2008 Breakfast in the Ruins Barry N. Malzberg [32]
2009 Awarded to an Art Book [33]
2010 Cheek by Jowl: Essays Ursula K. Le Guin [34][35]
2011 Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1: 1907-1948: Learning Curve William H. Patterson, Jr [36][37]
2012 Evaporating Genres: Essays on Fantastic Literature Gary K. Wolfe [38]
2013 Distrust That Particular Flavor William Gibson [39][40]
2014 Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction Jeff VanderMeer [41][42]
2015 What Makes This Book So Great Jo Walton [43]
2016 Letters to Tiptree Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce [44][45]
2017 The Geek Feminist Revolution Kameron Hurley [46]
2018 Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal [47]
2019 Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing Ursula K. Le Guin and David Naimon [48][49]
2020 Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson [50]
2021 The Magic of Terry Pratchett Marc Burrows [51][52]
2022 Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985 Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre [53]
2023 Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography Rob Wilkins [54][55]
2024 Space Crone Ursula K. Le Guin [56][57]
2025 Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction Eugen Bacon [58][59]
2026 Enshittification Cory Doctorow [60]

References

  1. "Locus Awards 1980". sfadb. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  2. Langford, David (June 27, 2022). "Locus Award". In Clute, John; Langford, David (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  3. "Locus Awards Winners By Category". sfadb. Archived from the original on 2026-02-26. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  4. "Locus Awards 1979". sfadb. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  5. "Locus Awards 1981". sfadb. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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  7. "Locus Awards 1983". sfadb. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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  10. "Locus Awards 1986". sfadb. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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  15. "Locus Awards 1991". sfadb. Archived from the original on February 18, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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