We’ve been mulling this editorial in our heads repeatedly since the American elections in November. What the fuck should we say?
Please understand, we’re still smothered in grief. Are we functional? Yes. But it takes all of our energy to push through each day, each week, since the light of our lives dimmed and went out. Caitlin is gone. Her memory lives on in every thought and action of ours. Sometimes that is very hard. Sometimes it’s what pulls us through the pain and keeps us off the brink of despair.
Last year, we published a story by Naomi Kritzer called “The Year Without Sunshine.” It won Hugo and Nebula Awards, and Naomi dedicated those wins to Caitlin. (We cried so much when she made her acceptance speech at the Nebulas.) The story is about a community coming together to fight the darkness. A community deciding that every member of that community matters.
America has so much fucking darkness now. The whole world has so much fucking darkness.
Caitlin contained no darkness. No malice. And she fucking fought every goddamn day of her life. Caitlin contained so much joy and love, and these were her strengths. She battled the medical systems and school systems and a world that often told her she wasn’t worth saving. She fought on and brought people together in so many ways. Caitlin still brings people together.
And that is how we fight this fucking darkness. With joy. Kindness. Art. We push back even harder, and we leave nobody behind.
We do this together, Space Unicorns. Together.
It’s the time of year when people post their year-in-reviews to remind voters what they might have missed, and (especially for the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards) in which categories those stories are eligible for the different SF/F awards. Last year was the tenth full year of Uncanny Magazine (Issue 56 through Issue 61). We are extremely proud of the year we had.
This year, Uncanny Magazine is still eligible for the Best Semiprozine Hugo Award. Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas are also still eligible for the Best Editor (Short Form) Hugo Award for editing issues 56–61. (Note: If you are nominating the Thomases in this category, please continue to nominate them together. They are a co-editing team.)
The stories listed on our eligibility blog post are eligible in either the short story, novelette, or novella categories of the SF/F awards. If you are a SFWA member nominating for the Nebula Awards, you can find eBook copies of these stories in the SFWA Forums.
Please also note that essays are eligible for the Best Related Work Hugo Award, and poetry is eligible for both the Rhysling Award and the Hugo Award this year. As Uncanny is a semiprozine, all of the essays and original art also contribute towards the creators’ Best Fan Writer and Best Fan Artist Hugo Award eligibility.
And now the contents of Uncanny Magazine Issue 62! The wonderful cover is Mermay – Golden Hour by Maxine Vee. Our fabulous new fiction includes “Kaiju Agonistes” by Scott Lynch, “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson, “For Whom the Hair Grows” by Tia Tashiro, “The Flaming Embusen” by Tade Thompson, “With Her Serpent Locks” by Mary Robinette Kowal, “Men with Tails” by Rati Mehrotra, and “Your Personalized Guide to the Museum of the Lost and Found” by AnaMaria Curtis.
Our provocative and compelling essays this month include “The Hugo Awards” by Nicholas Whyte, “Homes to Remember and Forget” by Ai Jiang, “Accessibility Toolkit for When Things Go Wrong” by A. T. Greenblatt, and “Everything You Didn’t Know You Needed to Know about Writing Swords” by Suzanne Walker. Our gorgeous and evocative poetry includes “Nymph” by Kailee Pedersen, “Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness, “Love Letter in Cobra Pose” by Shankar Narayan, and “Cassandra” by E. N. Díaz. Finally, Caroline M. Yoachim interviews Scott Lynch and Rati Mehrotra about their stories.
The Uncanny Magazine Podcast 62A features “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson, as read by Erika Ensign, “Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness, as read by Erika Ensign, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing J.R. Dawson. The Uncanny Magazine Podcast 62B features “The Flaming Embusen” by Tade Thompson, as read by Matt Peters, “Love Letter in Cobra Pose” by Shankar Narayan, as read by Erika Ensign, and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Tade Thompson.
As always, we are deeply grateful for your support of Uncanny Magazine. Shine on, Space Unicorns!
© 2025 Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas
