1) Based on the published guidelines for the Nebula Awards, the Hugo Awards & others, we have set the word counts for our categories as follows:

 Novel – 40,000 words or more
Novella – 7,500 words to 39,999 words
Short Story – 1,500 words to 7,500 words

Please note: we have a minimum word count for a story to be considered for the Darrell Awards.

2) In order to qualify, the work must be science fiction or fantasy prose, with horror included as a type of fantasy. Alternate history is included as either fantasy or science fiction, depending on story elements. Movies and comics are included in the Other Media category. Poetry, religious fiction, general fiction, and non-fiction are not currently eligible.

3) In order to qualify, the work must either be written by an author who is living in the greater Memphis area (as defined below) when the work is published OR have at least one significant scene set within that area. Broadly defined, the area is west Tennessee, north Mississippi and northeast Arkansas. Specifically, the counties involved are:
 

State of Arkansas: Arkansas County, Craighead County, Crittenden County, Cross County, Desha County, Greene County, Independence County, Jackson County, Lawrence County, Lee County, Mississippi County, Monroe County, Phillips County, Poinsett County, Prairie County, Saint Francis County, White County, and Woodruff County;

State of Mississippi: Benton County, Bolivar County, Calhoun County, Coahoma County, DeSoto County, Lafayette County, Lee County, Marshall County, Panola County, Pontotoc County, Prentiss County, Quitman County, Sunflower County, Tallahatchie County, Tate County, Tippah County, Tunica County, Union County, and Yalobusha County;

State of Tennessee: Chester County, Crockett County, Dyer County, Fayette County, Haywood County, Hardeman County, Lake County, Lauderdale County, Madison County, McNairy County, Obion County, Shelby County, and Tipton County.

4) We have adopted a policy on dealing with authors whose works were nominated and who later commit bad acts. In brief, we will not provide any further publicity for such authors, they will be deemed ineligible for any future consideration, and they will not be included in any anthology or other materials which we may produce or license or otherwise authorize. What constitutes a bad act sufficient to fall within this policy will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Jury and/or MSSFFA.

5) Anyone may nominate a qualified work for consideration. This includes the author, publisher, or friend. We do not release lists of works that have been merely nominated, as being nominated is just the first step in the judging process.

6) For the Darrell Awards in the Novel, Novella, Short Story and Other Media categories, the work should have been published (or, in the case of a movie or play, shown or performed) during the preceding “year.” We currently define the year as November 1 through October 31, with the deadline for nominations as January 1. So, for the 2009 Darrell Awards, the work should have been published between November 1, 2007 and October 31, 2008, with the nomination deadline of January 1, 2009. Works published after the cut-off can be considered next time.

7) The Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame Award was established to consider authors who have a body of work (that is otherwise eligible for the Darrell Awards) that was not nominated during its year of eligibility and/or that is too extensive to be properly considered in one category in one year. An author may be nominated more than once for the Hall of Fame Award, but may only win it one time in his or her life.

    Please also note that we do not accept religious fiction for these Awards. This is out of respect for the sincere religious beliefs of the authors as reflected in their works, which we believe takes them out of the realm of make-believe that is Science Fiction, Fantasy &/or Horror. This is not to say that an SF/F/H work cannot have religious elements; rather, it is to say that if the only thing fantastical or supernatural or futuristic or horrific about the work is the religious element, it would not be appropriate for us to judge that in the same fashion as works that are generally understood to be based on sheer imagination, not faith.

    We DO accept prose SF/F/H short stories, novellas, novels -- whether in ebook or print form; comic books and graphic novels; and movies and plays (in DVD, VCR, or script form). We DO accept children's literature if it is otherwise SF/F/H.

    In all these cases, the Jury reserves the right to reject any work as outside the genre or not well-done enough to deserve consideration;  and to categorize any work nominated as a short story, novella or novel or other work based on the Jury's own decision-making process, without limiting itself to the category under which the work may have been nominated. Our purpose is to promote literacy by picking AND HONORING the best published (or, in the case of movies and plays, the best seen) SF/F/H works -- so, we may decide to change things up in order to accomplish that purpose.

     As of 2003, the Darrell Awards have gone from being a local institution to a regional one. In previous years, the author had to be from Shelby County, Tennessee; Desoto County, Mississippi; Crittenden County, Arkansas; or a county adjoining one of those -- or the work had to feature that area in a prominent way, in order for the work to be eligible.

     Starting with the 2003 Darrell Awards, that was expanded to those 3 core counties and any county that is within 3 counties of one or more of those. In 2008, we added 2 nearby counties in west Tennessee (Lake and Obion).
This means the counties currently included are those shown above.

    By extending this geographic area, many students and professional writers who would not have been eligible in the past may now be eligible for recognition of excellent creative work. Some of the towns and municipalities that are now within the Darrell Award's geographic area of consideration include (among many others -- please stand by for a more exhaustive list of cities included & a map showing the area covered):

Arkansas: Arkansas City, Blytheville, Forrest, Harrisburg, Jonesboro, Osceola, Paragould, and Wynne;

Mississippi: Booneville, Clarksdale, Cleveland, Holly Springs, Indianola, Oxford, Ripley, Tunica, and Tupelo; and

Tennessee: Bolivar, Dyersburg, Jackson, Ripley, and Selmer.

The Darrell Awards were begun by the Memphis Science Fiction Association (MSFA) and are now bestowed by the Mid-South Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (MSSFFA) with some underwriting support from the MidSouth Science & Fiction Conventions, Inc. (MSFCI). The purpose of the Awards is to promote literacy in the Mid-South by recognizing the best published regional science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Please see above for the current rules of qualification.

The Darrell Awards are named in memory of Dr. Darrell C. Richardson, author, member of First Fandom, bibliophile, world traveler, founding member of the Burroughs Bibilophiles, pulp collector, founding member of MSFA, and all around very interesting person. (See the Darrell C. Richardson biography page -- click his name for the page.)

The Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame Award is named in memory of Dal Coger, a member of First Fandom who provided outstanding, long-term service to SF/F/H fandom in the Midsouth and otherwise. Dal passed away in 2002, so we renamed the Hall of Fame in his memory. Look for a page about Dal Coger to be posted here soon.
 

Nominations will be accepted from all parties each year until January 1st  for short stories, novels, and other works, as well as nominees for authors whose works might qualify them for the Hall of Fame. The Darrell Awards Committee will select the winners, who will generally be announced at MidSouthCon. The 2009 Darrell Award Winners and Runners-up and Honorable Mentions will be bestowed at MidSouthCon, which is  to be held in March 2009 in Memphis, Tennessee.

In order to qualify in the short story, novel, novella or other works categories, the work should have been published during the preceeding "year." Starting in 2008, we have revised our year under consideration to be November 1st through October 31st, rather than the calendar year. So, for 2009 Darrell Awards, the work should have been published between November 1, 2007, and October 31, 2008 -- and the deadline for nominating works published during that time period is January 1, 2009.

For the Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame Award, the year of publication does not matter, as long as the author has a body of eligible work as defined above and the work being considered has not previously been nominated for the Darrell Awards.

PLEASE nominate as early as possible to allow the Jury and the Readers time to properly consider the work or the author being nominated.

The Darrell Award Jury would appreciate receiving three copies of each nominated work in order to judge it, but this is not required so long as we can find copies locally for our Jury members to evaluate.

In the case of an author being nominated for the Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame, we will expect to be able to find the works being cited for that author, or you can send in copies with your nomination to be sure.

The Mid-South Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (MSSFFA) is a general interest science fiction and fantasy fan club which took the place of the former club (Memphis SF Association or MSFA) in June of 2004. MSFA had been meeting monthly for almost 3 decades. MSSFFA publishes Memphen and other fan-zines or newsletters, helps out with MidSouthCon (the annual SF/F convention sponsored by MidSouth Science and Fiction Conventions, Inc.) and bestows the Darrell Awards and the Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame Award. MSSFFA is a 501(c) 4 non-profit civic improvement organization as recognized by the Internal Revenue Service.

For further information on the Darrell Awards, the Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame or the Mid-South Science Fiction & Fantasy Association, please contact Barbara Gatewood, Chairperson, 2009 Darrell Awards Jury, 3125 South Mendenhall Road, # 353, Memphis TN 38115 or via email at darrell@darrellawards.org. (Please mention "Darrell Awards" in the subject line of your email or it may be deleted as spam.)

MidSouthCon is the largest annual gathering of science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans held in Memphis, and is sponsored by MidSouth Science and Fiction Conventions, Inc. (MSFCI). MSFCI is a 501(c)3 charity.

For more info on the Mid-South SF&F Association, see the Official MSSFFA home page (MSSFFA).