So this happened.
UNCANNY MAGAZINE / DISABLED PEOPLE DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION
WON THE HUGO AWARD!!!!
There’s so much I want to write about this, but unfortunately I don’t have enough time at the moment with Fan Expo coming this Thursday. I’ll have more on this at a later time, especially in relation to what it means to me. I think I’ll post about that once the award arrives in the mail. For now though: we won. I’m still waiting to wake up. I couldn’t be there, but Elsa was able to represent DPDSF and Uncanny’s outgoing Managing Editor Michi Trota was there representing Uncanny. They delivered beautiful speeches, and I was shaking the whole time I watched on my computer screen at home.
In the acceptance speech Elsa said: “If ever you’ve been chased off of the playground because of your disability, been told your story doesn’t matter, been told you shouldn’t be where you are, this award, this rocketship, it’s ours to use to reach the stars.” And it’s true. I know this win means a lot to a lot of folks. And there’s still a LOT of work to be done. But it feels like a big start. More on all of that later though.
For now: my heartfelt thanks to Elsa for being my co-editor on this, and Lynne Marie Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas and the Uncanny team for trusting us with DPDSF. Thanks as well to our staff Nicolette Barischoff (personal essays), S. Qiouyi Lu (poetry), and Judith Tarr (reprints) and to all our authors. The issue wouldn’t have been possible without all these wonderful people.
So this also happened.
ROBOTS VS FAIRIES WON THE SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD!!!!
RvsF is my second anthology with Navah, and our second Shirley Jackson Award win. This came as a big shocker. We love our weird little book. Some of the stories are fun, silly, dark, and whimsical. It’s a very varied project, and we never expected this. I was so happy when Navah messaged me with that picture. We both work our asses off on our anthologies, and it’s always such a pleasure working with Navah. Getting this kind of recognition for our work is just so gratifying. We’re so grateful to the jurors, and of course to all our authors for their amazing contributions.
Speaking of Navah, SHE WON THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST EDITOR – LONG FORM. I am so damn proud of her. Navah is one of the hardest working editors I know, and I am so happy to see her recognized for her fabulous skills in editing novels. She used to work in Children’s publishing, and we’re so lucky to have her now in adult SF/F. CONGRATULATIONS NAVAH!
Continuing on the subject of awards and Navah: ROBOTS VS FAIRIES is a finalist for the WORLD FANTASY AWARD!!!!
This has been a roller-coaster of a year for me on a personal level, but in my professional life the great news just keeps coming. We’ve been so fortunate that our books keep resonating with readers and critics, and having RvsF be nominated for the World Fantasy Award (like The Starlit Wood) is just another unexpected pleasure of working in this business. Again, I’m so grateful to the jurors and to all our authors. (I know, I wrote that above, but it can’t be said enough.)
We’re up against some stiff competition in the anthology category, and it’s always a pleasure and an honour to be nominated, but this year my money is on The Book of Magic by the late, great Gardner Dozois (who received a well-deserved Hugo Award posthumously for Best Editor – Short Form).
More later!
Dominik Parisien 