The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) has announced the finalists for the 2010 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction, which “honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction.”
This year’s nominees are:
* “each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Gemma Files and Stephen J. Barringer (published in Clockwork Phoenix 2, edited by Mike Allen, Norilana Books)
* “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster (published in Interzone, January 2009, edited by Andy Cox, and in Apex Magazine, August 2009, edited by Catherynne M. Valente)
* “Race to the Moon” by Kyell Gold (published in New Fables, edited by Tim Susman, Sofawolf Press)
* “Images of Anna” by Nancy Kress (published in Fantasy Magazine, September 2009, edited by Cat Rambo)
* “James and the Dark Grimoire” by Kevin Lauderdale (published in Cthulhu Unbound, edited by Thomas Brannan and John Sunseri, Permuted Press)
* “The Pirate Captain’s Daughter” by Yoon Ha Lee (published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #27, edited Scott H. Andrews)
* “Siren Beat” by Tansy Rayner Roberts (published in Twelfth Planet edited by Alisa Krasnostein)
* “The Very Difficult Diwali of Sub-Inspector Gurushankar Rajaram” by Jeff Soesbe (published in DayBreak Magazine, October 2009, edited by Jetse de Vries)
The award “showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2009). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.”
This year’s Small Press Award Committee is: Colleen Cahill (Chair), Cathy Green, Paul Haggerty, Gayle Surrette, Michael Walsh, and Carolyn Frank (Administrator).
The winner will be chosen by the members of WSFA, and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (this year held 22-24 October in Rockville, Maryland).

[Edited 24 October 2010]: This year’s winner is “Siren Beat” by Tansy Rayner Roberts (published in Twelfth Planet edited by Alisa Krasnostein). Krasnostein accepted the award on behalf of Roberts. More details are available on the WSFA site.