Darcie Little Badger
Darcie Little Badger has emerged as one of speculative fiction’s most vital voices, bringing Indigenous perspectives and storytelling traditions to the center of her work. A member of the Lipan Apache Nation, Little Badger crafts stories that blend the fantastical with the deeply personal, creating worlds where supernatural elements serve as natural extensions of cultural identity and belonging. Her debut novel Elatsoe, which won the 2021 Locus Award for Best First Novel, introduced readers to a young ghost-seer navigating both the paranormal and the very real complexities of contemporary Native life. The novel’s success signaled the arrival of a major talent, one who refused to confine Indigenous characters to the margins of their own narratives.
What makes Little Badger’s cross-award recognition particularly striking is her consistent ability to captivate judges across different speculative fiction communities. Her 2021 Nebula Award for Best Young Adult went to A Snake Falls to Earth, a lyrical novel that weaves together multiple perspectives and timelines to explore connection, displacement, and healing. Most recently, Sheine Lende earned her the 2025 Hugo Award for Best YA Book, cementing her status as a defining voice for a generation of young readers hungry for stories that honor Indigenous wisdom while embracing imaginative possibility. Throughout her work, Little Badger demonstrates that fantasy and science fiction are not escape from the real world—they are tools for understanding it more deeply.
