| Winner: | Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh [DAW, 1981] |
| 2 | The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe [Timescape, 1981] |
| 3 | The Many-Colored Land by Julian May [Houghton Mifflin, 1981] |
| 4 | Project Pope by Clifford D. Simak [Ballantine Del Rey, 1981] |
| 5 | Little, Big by John Crowley [Bantam, 1981] |
| Winner: | "The Saturn Game" by Poul Anderson [Analog Feb 1981] |
| 2 | "In the Western Tradition" by Phyllis Eisenstein [F&SF Mar 1981] |
| 3 | "Blue Champagne" by John Varley [New Voices #4, 1981] |
| 4 | "With Thimbles, with Forks, and Hope" by Kate Wilhelm [Asimov's Nov 1981] |
| 5 | "True Names" by Vernor Vinge [Binary Star #5, 1981] |
| 6 | "Emergence" by David R. Palmer [Analog Jan 1981] |
| Winner: | "Unicorn Variation" by Roger Zelazny [Asimov's Apr 1981] |
| 2 | "Guardians" by George R. R. Martin [Analog Oct 1981] |
| 3 | "The Thermals of August" by Edward Bryant [F&SF May 1981] |
| 4 | "The Fire When It Comes" by Parke Godwin [F&SF May 1981] |
| 5 | "The Quickening" by Michael Bishop [Universe 11, 1981] |
| Winner: | "The Pusher" by John Varley [F&SF Oct 1981] |
| 2 | "The Woman the Unicorn Loved" by Gene Wolfe [Asimov's Jun 1981] |
| 3 | "Absent Thee from Felicity Awhile..." by Somtow Sucharitkul [Analog Sep 1981] |
| 4 | "The Quiet" by George Florance-Guthridge [F&SF Jul 1981] |
| Winner: | Danse Macabre by Stephen King [Everest, 1981] |
| 2 | The Art of Leo & Diane Dillon by Leo Dillon, Diane Dillon and Byron Preiss [Ballantine, 1981] |
| 3 | The Grand Tour by Ron Miller and William K. Hartmann [Workman, 1981] |
| 4 | After Man by Dougal Dixon [Macmillan, 1981] |
| 5 | Anatomy of Wonder, Second Edition by Neil Barron [R. R. Bowker, 1981] |
| Winner: | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) [Lucasfilm] Directed by Steven Spielberg; Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan; Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman |
| 2 | Time Bandits (1981) [Handmade Films] Directed by Terry Gilliam; Written by Michael Palin & Terry Gilliam |
| 3 | Excalibur (1981) [Warner Brothers] Directed by John Boorman; Screenplay by Rospo Pallenberg and John Boorman; Adaptation by Rospo Pallenberg; based on the book Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory |
| 4 | Dragonslayer (1981) [Paramount/Disney] Directed by Matthew Robbins; Written by Hal Barwood & Matthew Robbins |
| 5 | Outland (1981) [Outland/The Ladd Company] Written and directed by Peter Hyams |
| Withdrawn - Ineligible: | |
| Superman II (1981) [Alexander Salkind] Directed by Richard Lester and Richard Donner; Screenplay by Mario Puzo & David Newman & Leslie Newman; Story by Mario Puzo; based on the character created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster | |
| Winner: | Edward L. Ferman |
| 2 | Terry Carr |
| 3 | George H. Scithers |
| 4 | Stanley Schmidt |
| 5 | David G. Hartwell |
| Winner: | Michael Whelan |
| 2 | Vincent Di Fate |
| 3 | Rowena Morrill |
| 4 | Don Maitz |
| 5 | Carl Lundgren |
| Winner: | Locus ed. by Charles N. Brown |
| 2 | Science Fiction Review ed. by Richard E. Geis |
| 3 | File 770 ed. by Mike Glyer |
| 4 | Science Fiction Chronicle ed. by Andrew I. Porter |
| Winner: | Richard E. Geis |
| 2 | Mike Glyer |
| 3 | Dave Langford |
| 4 | No Award |
| 5 | Arthur D. Hlavaty |
| Winner: | Victoria Poyser |
| 2 | Joan Hanke-Woods |
| 3 | Alexis Gilliland |
| 4 | William Rotsler |
| 5 | Stu Shiffman |
| Mike Glyer - for keeping the fan in fanzine |
| Winner: | Alexis Gilliland |
| 2 | Robert Stallman |
| 3 | David Brin |
| 4 | Paul O. Williams |
| 5 | Michael Swanwick |
Index:
1946 || 1951 || 1953 || 1954 || 1955 || 1956 || 1957 || 1958 || 1959 || 1960 || 1961 || 1962 || 1963 || 1964 || 1965 || 1966
1967 || 1968 || 1969 || 1970 || 1971 || 1972 || 1973 || 1974 || 1975 || 1976 || 1977 || 1978 || 1979 || 1980 || 1981 || 1982
1983 || 1984 || 1985 || 1986 || 1987 || 1988 || 1989 || 1990 || 1991 || 1992 || 1993 || 1994 || 1995 || 1996 || 1997 || 1998
1999 || 2000 || 2001 || 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007 || 2008