Editorial
The 2026 Must Read Books Award
by Emily Hockaday
The future of science fiction and the future of short fiction is in talented, capable hands. I can come to no other conclusion after co-judging the Must Read Books award for undergraduate writers and meeting the winner and most of the runners-up and honorable mentions. Rick Wilber and James Patrick Kelly co-judged the award with me, making this year’s judging an Asimov’s family affair.
Rick Wilber, co-founder—along with Sheila Williams—and director of the award, narrowed the submissions to a top pool of stories, which he, Jim, and I then read blind before sharing our rankings.
This year, all but two of the undergraduates who placed or received honorable mentions were able to attend ICFA—the convention where the students are honored. We held our annual breakfast on Thursday morning, which was attended by five of the student winners along with Rick and Jim and myself.
I spent much of my time at ICFA meeting with the students. Sophia Aki Kawamura won for her story “From Upstream.” She is a sophomore at the University of Washington, Seattle where she studies accounting and international business. We also chatted about a shared love of costume design, which is a passion of hers. Sophia keeps busy with schoolwork and multiple jobs, including working in the university library where she can keep up on her reading. Look out for her story in the future either in Asimov’s or on the website.
“Kinesis” is the fourth story of Emma Kerkman’s to have placed in the MRB awards. Her 2024 story, “Lolo’s Last Run,” appeared in our pages in the September/October 2025 issue. That same year she had another story receive an honorable mention, and she placed as first-runner up both this year and in 2025. Emma graduated from Hamilton College in 2025. She’s currently writing, pursuing a Master’s in library science, and spending time on the slopes where she’s a snowboard instructor.
Our second runner up, Jadyn Straigis, is also no stranger to the MRB awards. They placed as honorable mention in both 2023 and 2025 with past stories. “Silent Song” is an intriguing piece of horror that attracted me right away. Jadyn graduated from Goucher College in 2025 with a degree in creative writing and theater. They are currently busy with multiple writing projects—including querying a novel—and looking at graduate schools.
We had a tie for third runner up! Claire Cho’s story “Akasabata” intrigued me with its dreamy yet straightforward storytelling. Claire recently graduated from the University of Washington, Seattle, with degrees in linguistics and mathematics. (I told her I’m hoping these will lead to some fascinating science fiction stories!) Claire spends time working, writing, and—for fun—translating writing from Korean to English.
Our other third runner up is a freshman at the University of Texas in Austin, where she studies English and Creative writing. Sophia Pinell learned about the MRB awards by attending ICFA in past years, and upon learning of the award, made it a goal for the future. It’s incredible that her first year entering, she placed! Sophia’s tale “La Casa de Aramayo” evokes gothic horror deftly and was inspired by her Bolivian culture and family history. I enjoyed hearing her inspirations for this moody and lyrical story.
Two honorable mentions were able to attend the convention. Maya King, with the exceptionally plotted “Small Town Girl,” is a senior at Skidmore College studying art, and this is her second time placing in the MRB awards. Dylan Halsted, who graduated from Goucher College in 2025, has appeared as an honorable mention three times. “Huron Pie” is a surreal tale with extremely unique form and structure. Dylan is looking forward to starting an MFA in the near future.
The two honorable mentions who weren’t able to attend ICFA are Finn Hoebelheinrich for “Overcast,” who studies marine biology at University of Washington, Seattle, and Lena Korn for “Broken Heart, Broken Mirror,” also from University of Washington, Seattle.
You might be noticing a pattern in the list of winners—University of Washington appears a number of times, and Goucher College twice. This is thanks to wonderful professors who encourage students to submit and who foster talent and a love of speculative fiction. Rachel Sobel, who won the award in 2010 and placed in 2011, teaches at University of Washington and mentored many of the students on this year’s list. Sarah Pinsker teaches at Goucher, and both Dylan and Jadyn were her students. We’re grateful to supportive mentors like this!
Rick Wilber always organizes a lively dinner in which the MRB winners meet and mingle with celebrated authors, editors, and publishers. On the author side, this year’s dinner featured ICFA Guest of Honor Anne Leckie, Joe and Gay Haldeman, Fran Wilde, Alan Smale, John Chu, Geoffrey Landis and Mary A. Turzillo, and two former undergraduate award winners—Mark Jacobsen and Seth Dickinson. The dinner also included editor Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld and publisher Jacob Weisman from Tachyon Publishing. The dinner was a cheerful affair, and indeed the walk to and from the restaurant felt like a parade procession.
Unfortunately, I had to leave before Sophia’s reading of her award-winning story, the panel in which all the runners up and honorable mentions read, and the official award ceremony. Luckily, other folks were there to document these events. The winners were announced by and presented certificates from Rick Wilber.
Please watch our social media and check our website for last year’s award-winner, Liam Betts of Vanderbilt University. His story “Echo” is available to read at the following URL: https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2025-Must-Read-Books-Award-Winner.pdf.
The reason I wasn’t able to attend the full ICFA conference is that I was serving as a pinch-hitter this year for Sheila Williams, who was expecting to be there but is now taking time to recover from illness. What little I did experience was magical—those of you who’ve attended know. ICFA has a laidback, cozy feel—perhaps it’s the poolside vibes—but it’s also a space where curiosity and philosophical discussions abound. I’ll be keeping this weekend open from now on! There will be no double-booking next year.
