A plaque reading: THE NORTH CAROLINA SPECULATIVE FICTION FOUNDATION PRESENTS THE MANLY WADE WELLMAN AWARD TO DARKLY LEM FOR TRANSMENTATION: TRANSIENCE July 17, 2026

Transmentation | Transience has won the Manly Wade Wellman Award!

July 21, 2026

I am absolutely delighted to share that Transmentation | Transience by Darkly Lem has won the 2026 Manly Wade Wellman Award for North Carolina Science Fiction and Fantasy!

While I am not a resident of North Carolina, three of the five darklies are (Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln and Ben Murphy) and the fourth, Cadwell Turnbull, had been both a student and faculty at North Carolina State University.

The members of Darkly Lem stand in a field. Left to right: Ben Murphy, Darusha Wehm, Cadwell Turnbull, Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln.

We are all thrilled to have received this honour as a part of an illustrious group of finalists.

« 2025 Year in Review (and Awards Eligibility)

The Department of What It (Really) Means to be Human

The Department of What It (Really) Means to be Human is told with a consistent gentleness, and generosity, that gives [its] philosophical questions room to breathe.
— Niall Harrison, LOCUS February 2026

A near-future real-life society transitions to a post-capitalist, post-climate change reality.

The Department Of What It (Really) Means To Be Human is a thoughtful, optimistic novel set in a near-future Aotearoa New Zealand where an investigator navigates a newly postcapitalist world in their search for a missing artist.

When the world changed, Emerald Hutson closed the door on their old life. Now they’re a freelance investigator for the Grants and Stipends Office, augmenting basic income with cases that are both simple and easily resolved.

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Transmentation | Transience has won the Manly Wade Wellman Award!

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