Living Canon

World Fantasy Awards 1997: Complete list of winners

The 1997 World Fantasy Awards celebrated some of the most imaginative voices working in speculative fiction that year, with a slate of winners that showcased the genre’s remarkable range. Rachel Pollack’s Godmother Night took home the prize for Best Novel, a haunting exploration of identity and magic that demonstrated why Pollack remains one of fantasy’s most intellectually adventurous authors. The awards, one of the field’s most prestigious honors since their inception, continued their tradition of recognizing excellence across multiple categories and formats.

Mark Helprin’s A City in Winter earned the Best Novella award, while James Blaylock’s “Thirteen Phantasms” claimed Best Short Fiction—a pairing that highlighted the year’s strength in shorter-form fantasy work. These 1997 World Fantasy Award winners represented a moment when the field was exploring more literary, character-driven approaches to the fantastic, moving beyond pure adventure narratives toward deeper psychological and philosophical territory. The recognition of these three works underscored how the World Fantasy Awards have consistently championed writers who push the genre’s boundaries rather than simply working within established conventions.

Below, explore the full list of 1997 World Fantasy Awards winners and the stories that made this a memorable year for fantasy literature:

Best Novel

Best Novella

Best Short Fiction