The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS).
History In 1971, Ramsey Campbell suggested that the British Fantasy Society should present an award in honor of August Derleth, who died the same year. In 1972, Michael Moorcock received the inaugural August Derleth Fantasy Award for his novel The Knight of the Swords. In later years, the number of award categories increased. In 1976, the BFS renamed the awards from the August Derleth Fantasy Awards to the British Fantasy Awards, maintaining that the Best Novel category would retain the August Derleth award title.
In 2012, the awards were reorganized. From this point forward, the awards were chosen from the shortlist by juries, rather than popular vote amount BFS members and convention attendees. The best novel category, then known as the August Derleth Award, was divided. The new awards included the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel, retaining the title of August Derleth Award, and the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel, the Robert Holdstock Award.
Categories
Current categories
+ BFA categories as of 2026 Category Description and notes Fantasy NovelRobert Holdstock Award Fiction over 40,000 words Horror NovelAugust Derleth Award Fiction over 40,000 words Novella Fiction between 15,000 and 40,000 words Short Fiction Fiction under 15,000 words Collection Collection of works by a single author Anthology Collection of works by various authors Magazine/Periodical Non-fiction and fiction, print and online magazine or periodical Audio Spoken word audio work (e.g. audiobook, radio drama, podcast) performed by one or more participants Independent Press An independent press active during the previous year Artist An artist working in any media format within the genre Non-Fiction Items eligible for this Award include non-fiction books, chapbooks, magazine or online columns or single magazine or online articles. Special AwardKarl Edward Wagner Award May be presented to individuals or organizations. May be presented for work completed in the previous year, or throughout their lifetime. NewcomerSydney Bounds Award New fiction writer
Previous categories
Category Description and notes Novel Awarded 1972-2010. Beginning in 2012, this was split into Fantasy and Horror categories. Comic/Graphic Novel Awarded 1973–1980 as "Best Comic". Awarded 2009-2022 as "Best Comic / Graphic Novel". Television/Film Production Awarded intermittently from 1973-2022.
Process The membership of the BFS vote to determine the shortlists of the awards, the winners being decided by juries.
Award controversy of 2011 In 2011, British writer Sam Stone won the British Fantasy Award but returned it three days later after editor and anthologist Stephen Jones posted a blog entry pointing out that three of the winning entries (and many of the shortlisted works) were published by Telos Publishing, a company owned by David Howe. At the time, Howe was also chair of the British Fantasy Society, British Fantasy Award coordinator, and partner of Stone.
References
External links
Excerpts and synopses of BFA Award winning and nominated novels