World Fantasy Awards 1996: Complete list of winners

The 1996 World Fantasy Awards celebrated some of the most imaginative and technically accomplished works in the fantasy genre, with Christopher Priest’s The Prestige taking home the award for Best Novel. Priest’s intricate tale of rival magicians in Victorian London captivated judges with its layered narrative structure and exploration of obsession, making it a standout winner in a competitive year for fantasy fiction. The novel’s success at the World Fantasy Awards—one of the field’s most prestigious honors—reflected growing recognition of Priest’s ability to weave complex storytelling with genuine emotional depth.

The shorter fiction categories demonstrated the breadth of talent working in fantasy at the time. Michael Swanwick’s novella “Radio Waves” earned the Best Novella distinction, while Gwyneth Jones’s “The Grass Princess” won for Best Short Fiction, showcasing how the genre’s most celebrated writers were pushing boundaries across different story lengths. These selections highlighted a year when the World Fantasy Awards recognized works that balanced imaginative world-building with sophisticated literary craft—a hallmark of the awards’ reputation for honoring fantasy that appeals to both devoted genre fans and serious literary readers.

Here are the complete winners from the 1996 World Fantasy Awards:

Best Novel

• The Prestige by Christopher Priest

Best Novella

• “Radio Waves” by Michael Swanwick

Best Short Fiction

• “The Grass Princess” by Gwyneth Jones