GUSTAVO BONDONI NAMED 2025 JIM BAEN MEMORIAL SHORT STORY AWARD WINNER
RIVERDALE, NEW YORK, March 25, 2025—Gustavo Bondoni of Buenos Aires, Argentina has been named first place winner of this year’s Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award Contest for his story ”Space Monkeys.”
Now in its 18th year, the contest has been held annually since 2007 by Baen Books in partnership with the National Space Society, to discover original stories celebrating optimistic, near-future space exploration.
In addition to Bondoni’s winning story, Baen Books and the National Space Society have honored two runners-up. Tiffany Smith of Texas earned second place for her story “Lights in the Void,” and in third place was “Atlas’ Shoulders” by Jason P. Crawford of California.
Judges for the award included Baen publisher Toni Weisskopf and the editorial staff of Baen Books, and all entries were judged anonymously. The contest occurs annually and seeks stories that highlight the positive potential of space exploration and discovery.
All three writers will be honored at the 2025 International Space Development Conference (ISDC) held in Orlando, FL from June 19 to 22. In addition to the award, winners receive membership in the National Space Society and the first place story will be offered publication at Baen.com at professional rates.
Baen Books is known for its New York Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy, including David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire alternate histories, Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International urban fantasies, and Lois McMaster Bujold’s multiple award-winning Vorkosigan Saga. Baen’s physical books are distributed by Simon & Schuster, while their Ebooks are sold via numerous venues, including their own website.
Entries for the 2026 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest open October 1st, 2025.
For more information, visit https://www.baen.com/contest-jbmssa and https://nss.org.
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