Full details of nominees can be found on the 1997 Nebula Awards page.
Jane Yolen. Sister Emily’s Lightship
Winner Best Short Story
James Patrick Kelly. Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Nancy Kress. The Flowers of Aulit Prison.
Winner Best Novelette
Gregory Feeley. The Crab Lice.
Nelson Bond. The Bookshop.
James Alan Gardner. Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream.
Michael Swanwick. The Dead.
Karen Joy Fowler. The Elizabeth Complex.
Jerry Oltion. Abandon in Place.
Winner Best Novella