The house fills with crisp autumn air as Hugo the Cat snuggles closer for warmth. It’s too quiet in here. Six months without Caitlin means no giggles and smacking the side of her wheelchair. No music or television for her. Just appliance white noise to keep me company as I try to write this editorial.
Grief for us doesn’t resemble a story. We aren’t weeping in bed or swimming in chemicals to forget the pain. The world just feels wrong. There’s an unfillable hole in the center of our lives. We miss our Caitlin very much.
And we push on and complete the next set of tasks. It’s all we can do.
With this issue, Uncanny Magazine Year 11 begins. Though so much else is hard, that is a magnificently wonderful thing.
We aren’t taking Year 11 for granted, Space Unicorns. Your support remains strong, but things look even bleaker for SF/F short fiction. The situation isn’t improving with the Big Online Retailer that harmed so many magazines with the shuttering of their subscription program. Social media disintegration continues, and now it is clearly affecting crowdfunding. Though Uncanny Magazine had a fabulous Year 11 Kickstarter, we’ve watched others fail or not meet their goals. Two major SF/F professional magazines just made the move to quarterly from bimonthly. AI nonsense continues to flood submission portals. There is very little good news out there for people running SF/F magazines.
Which is why you are so remarkable, Space Unicorns. While things get harder and scarier, you push back against the darkness. You are here for us, making sure the world gets a chance to read these glorious stories, essays, interviews, and poetry. Without you, there is no Uncanny Magazine.
Thank you again, Space Unicorns.
And now, LET’S START THIS YEAR 11 PARTY!!!!
Spectacular news, Space Unicorns! “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R.S.A. Garcia won the Sturgeon Memorial Award! Plus, “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer was third-place runner up!!! Congratulations to Rhonda, Naomi, and to all of the finalists!
From Locus Magazine:
Established in 1987 by James Gunn and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his partner Jayne Engelhart Tannehill and Sturgeon’s children, the Sturgeon Award is “a memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.” This year’s jurors were Elizabeth Bear, Kelly Link, Sarah Pinsker, Noël Sturgeon, and Taryne Taylor.
The award will be presented in-person at the third annual Sturgeon Symposium at the Hall Center for the Humanities in Lawrence, KS. The Sturgeon Award ceremony, to be held on October 24, will feature a reception, opening remarks, presentation of the award, a reading by Garcia, and a Q&A session. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Stars in Our Pockets: Celebrating Samuel R. Delany.” The Symposium itself is from October 24-25.
For more information, see the Gunn Center’s website.
Tremendous news, Space Unicorns!!!! Editors-in-Chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas won the Special Award–Non-Professional World Fantasy Award for their Uncanny Magazine work! We are so thrilled and honored!!! Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners!!!!!
Once again, congratulations to P. Djèlí Clark for “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” and A. T. Greenblatt for “Waystation City” who were finalists for the Best Short Fiction World Fantasy Award.
Here is the text of the Thomases’ speech as wonderfully given by our acceptor, A. T. Greenblatt:
“We are so very honored to win the World Fantasy Award. This was a fabulous group of finalists, filled with friends, colleagues, and people who inspired us as editors and publishers.
Uncanny Magazine is the work of numerous people, so we want to thank our 2023 staff of managing editor Monte Lin, nonfiction editor Meg Elison, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky, assistant editor Tania Chen, podcast reader Matt Peters, interviewer Caroline M. Yoachim, all of our submissions editors, and contributors.
We also wish to thank the World Fantasy Award jury, our agent Lisa Rogers at JABBERwocky, and finally, a huge thank you to every single member of the Space Unicorn Ranger Corps.
We make Uncanny Magazine for all of you, you magnificent Space Unicorns. Keep making a world a better place with your art and kindness. Thank you.
Most of all, we want to thank world’s greatest daughter, Caitlin, who was the strongest, fiercest, most loving, and most amazing human we have ever known. She passed away in April, and we miss her more than we can ever express. Caitlin lived a life entirely without malice— full of joy in everyday things. She was the best of us, and she touched many lives. She loved her people fiercely and unconditionally, and was extremely loved in return. Caitlin had a lifetime of adventures, and will live on forever in our hearts.
The Space Unicorn was always Caitlin.”
And now the contents of Uncanny Magazine Issue 61! Our amazing cover is Queen of Seven Kingdoms by Julie Dillon. Our fabulous new fiction includes “Woodmask” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, “The Golden Tooth: A Solo Show by Orion Cabrera” transcribed by William Alexander, “Twice Every Day Returning” by Sonya Taaffe, “The Geckomancer’s Lament” by Lauren Beukes, “On the Water Its Crystal Teeth” by Marissa Lingen, “Ancestor Heart” by Naomi Day, and “A Book Is a Map, a Bed Is a Country” by Angel Leal.
Our provocative and compelling essays this month include “The Breathtaking Condescension Tango” by Vivian Shaw, “Longlegs, Long Held Memories” by Tania Chen, “Romantasy All Along!” by Tansy Rayner Roberts, and “Can’t We All Just Get Along? Them: The Scare Uses Afro-Surrealism to Produce Effective Scares” by Alex Jennings. Our gorgeous and evocative poetry includes “Anansi Braids Your Stepson’s Hair” by Brandon O’Brien, “Null Path Catalog” by Sneha Mohidekar, “We Tried Beating Time to Death” by Abu Bakr Sadiq, and “Operetta” by Katherine James. Finally, Caroline M. Yoachim interviews William Alexander and Marissa Lingen about their stories.
The Uncanny Magazine Podcast Episode 61A features “Woodmask” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, as read by Erika Ensign, “Anansi Braids Your Stepson’s Hair” by Brandon O’Brien, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Adrian Tchaikovsky. The Uncanny Magazine Podcast Episode 61B features “The Geckomancer’s Lament” by Lauren Beukes, as read by Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo with sound designer Em Edwards, “We Tried Beating Time to Death” by Abu Bakr Sadiq, as read by Matt Peters, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Lauren Beukes.
As always, we are deeply grateful for your support of Uncanny Magazine. Shine on, Space Unicorns!
© 2024 Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
