Here at Strange Horizons, we publish loads of wonderful different kinds of content every year, from short fiction to poetry and from reviews to criticism essays (not to mention podcasts, selfishly), and 2024 was no exception. With at least one short story and poem published most weeks, our special issues collecting themed works, and of course our rich non-fiction section, there is plenty of literature to indulge in over the year, and by all means we do encourage you to check out the 2024 archives for the full picture. We also began celebrating our 25th anniversary with a special podcast project, which is still ongoing (and will continue to be until September 2025).

To put it simply, our work continues as it ever has, with onward momentum.

We normally like to let the work speak for itself and don't actively campaign for awards season; but bouncing off our miraculous, six-vote majority Hugo win in 2024, we want to highlight some of the editorial team's favourite pieces from the last year, for your consideration in this coming year's Hugo Awards. The nominations deadline is the March 14, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7), and you'll need a WSFS membership for Seattle Worldcon. Here is a guide on how to nominate.

Please note, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but merely a collection of highlights based on editorial comments and readership numbers throughout 2024. We love everything we published last year, and by selecting some highlights we are not endorsing some stories over others. Please do check out the archives if you are interested; we promise you'll find only gold.

As we said in our acceptance speech last year, it takes a village to raise this baby, and we wouldn't be who we are without the multitudinous volunteers who give their time to make this magazine possible, nor without the writers who pour their souls out in the name of art and expression, often from far-flung corners of the planet. Thank you, as ever, for trusting us with your art.

Without further ado, our recommended reading list for this year's Hugo Awards!

Short Story (up to 7,500 words):

• The Spindle of Necessity by B. Pladek
• Godskin by CL Hellisen
• The Jaxicans’ Authentic Reconstruction of Taco Tuesday #37 by Stephen Granade
• Threshold by Audrey Zhou
• Cicadas, and Their Skins by Avra Margariti
• Faith is a Butterfly Resting on a Rotting Eye (or The Art of Faith) by Gabrielle Emem Henry
• Nuca by Ana Hurtado
• Exit Interview by KW Onley
• Frogskin by M.L. Krishnan

Novelette (7,501 - 17,500 words):

• The Aquarium for Lost Souls by Natasha King
• By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars by Premee Mohamed
• BRIDE / BUTCHER / DOE by Lowry Poletti

This year there is also a Special Hugo Award for Poetry!

As one of the few long-running poetry markets in the genre, this is especially joyous for us. Here are our full 2024 poetry archives, and these are some highlights:

• The Battle Verses of Prufrock J. Alfred by Rachel Rodman
• Lotus Descends to Visit Nova by Sammy Lê
• The Lantern Runner by Christopher Morgan
• One Large Deep Fried Thistle Burr by Jonathan Olfert
• Interstellar Assistance by M.C. Childs
• Gold Foil Experiment by R. Christopher Aversa
• Why is the Forest Lonely? by Pacella Chukwuma- Eke
• The Same Fur Coat by Sonya Taaffe

And of course, if you like what we do, please consider putting us at the top of your ballot in the following categories:

• Best Semiprozine - The Strange Horizons Editorial Collective
• Best Editor, Short Form:
  • our fiction editors Hebe Stanton, Kat Weaver, Aigner Loren Wilson, and Dante Luiz,
  • our poetry editors, AJ Odasso, Romie Stott, Vanessa Jae and Lisa M. Bradley,
  • and our articles editor Joyce Chng.
• Best Fancast - Strange Horizons At 25, by Kat Kourbeti and Michael Ireland