I’m composing this editorial on the couch in my Champaign house as the Uncanny Magazine Year 12: Fly Forever, Space Unicorns! Kickstarter enters its final hour. (It is still open for Late Pledges if you missed it!) I’m playing Disney theme park music as Hugo the Cat stares at squirrels outside the window and listens to the screams of the Central Illinois cicadas. This is the second Kickstarter without my daughter, Caitlin. I keep looking at the spot where she should be. I miss her laughing at me getting so stressed out about the daily ups and downs of crowdfunding.
Once again, I’m amazed at the generosity of the Space Unicorn Ranger Corps. We funded a 12th year and reached all of the original cover stretch goals. I was a bit ambitious for the final stretch goal amounts, and, sadly, we didn’t reach those. Still, it gives me goals for the next Kickstarter!
Thank you, you magnificent and wonderful Space Unicorns. You made this happen. I can’t thank you enough for backing this Kickstarter and spreading the word. I also want to thank all of our solicited contributors and former contributors who generously donated awesome backer rewards. And of course, I want to thank THE UNIVERSE’S GREATEST STAFF!
Kickstarters are fun and exhausting. They demonstrate the wonders, and limits, of community support. They also have been a constant in my life over the last thirteen years. After each successful Kickstarter, one thing I always know is that I will be making six more issues of Uncanny over the next year. As for everything else…that is often less predictable.
My life is about to change in massive ways—wonderful, stupendous ways. I’m very excited about what comes next, even though it is sometimes very hard without Caitlin. She deserved future adventures, too.
Stories, poetry, interviews, art, podcasts, and essays find their way to folks that need them. Uncanny Magazine rolls on. Thank you, Space Unicorns. Let’s keep shining on through a glorious Year 12.
Also, fuck fascists.
PHENOMENAL news, Space Unicorns! “Stitched to Skin like Family Is” by Nghi Vo won the Best Short Story Hugo Award! Congratulations to Nghi!
Even more wonderful news! Uncanny Magazine (Publishers/Editors-in-Chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, Managing Editor Monte Lin, Poetry Editor Betsy Aoki, and Podcast Producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky) won the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine! THANK YOU, SPACE UNICORNS!!!
Once again, congratulations to the other Uncanny Magazine finalists: “Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou for the Best Novelette Hugo Award, “Signs of Life” by Sarah Pinsker for the Best Novelette Hugo Award, “Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal for the Best Short Story Hugo Award, “Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine for the Best Short Story Hugo Award, “We Drink Lava” by Ai Jiang for the Best Poem Hugo Award, “there are no taxis for the dead” by Angela Liu for the Best Poem Hugo Award, Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas for the Best Editor, Short Form Hugo Award, and Uncanny Magazine Interviewer Caroline M. Yoachim’s “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” from Lightspeed Magazine for the Best Short Story Hugo Award.
It was an amazing list of Hugo Award winners and finalists, many of whom are Uncanny authors and friends. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY!!! Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for these works, and to the hard-working Seattle Worldcon staff. We are honored, ecstatic, and overwhelmed.
Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! The 2024 Shirley Jackson Awards winners have been announced, and “Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine won the Best Short Fiction Shirley Jackson Award! Congratulations to Arkady, and to all of the phenomenal finalists and winners!
Boston, MA (July 19, 2025) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.
The Shirley Jackson Awards are voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Fiction, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.
The 2024 Shirley Jackson Awards were presented in-person on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at Readercon 34, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Wonderful news, Space Unicorns! “Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal is a finalist for the 2025 Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction! And that’s not all! Uncanny Magazine Interviewer Caroline M. Yoachim’s “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” from Lightspeed Magazine is also a finalist for the 2025 Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction!
Congratulations to Mary Robinette, Caroline, and to all of the finalists!
From their website:
The Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction (or Eugie Award) celebrates the best in innovative fiction. This annual award is presented at Dragon Con, the nation’s largest fan-run convention.
The Eugie Award honors stories that are irreplaceable, that inspire, enlighten, and entertain. We will be looking for stories that are beautiful, thoughtful, and passionate, and change us and the field. The recipient is a story that is unique and will become essential to speculative fiction readers.
Stupendous news, Space Unicorns! “Loneliness Universe” by Eugenia Triantafyllou is a finalist for the Best Short Story 2025 British Fantasy Award! Congratulations to Eugenia!
From the British Fantasy Awards website:
After a crowdsourced suggestion list for eligible works, and then a period of public voting, the shortlist for this year’s British Fantasy Awards has now been confirmed.
These works will now be considered by a jury of peers, with the ultimate winners being announced at an awards ceremony at World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, held from 30 October to 2 November.
To be eligible, works had to have been published for the first time in the English language during the calendar year 2024, anywhere in the world, and must contain some speculative element—though we interpret ‘fantasy’ widely. More details in the awards FAQ, here.
And now the contents of Uncanny Magazine Issue 66! The wonderful cover is Listen To Me And I’ll Tell You A Story by Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe. Our fabulous new fiction includes “The Lure of Stone” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, “Whale Fall of Yours” by M. M. Olivas, “The Caravan” by AnaMaria Curtis, “The Shadow on the Nest” by Alaya Dawn Johnson, “Seven Minutes in Heaven with the Electric Seraphim” by Juliet Kahn, “Wend-Way-Go” by Tim Pratt, and “Brooklyn Beijing” by Hannah Yang.
Our provocative and compelling essays this month include “Dream Journals” by Senaa Ahmad, “Cat Physics, Deconstruction, and the Shape of Love” by LaShawn M. Wanak, “The Evolution of the Vampire Image, from Nosferatu to Sinners” by Del Sandeen, and “Solace in Fantasy Monster Romances and My Trans Body” by Theo Kane. Our gorgeous and evocative poetry includes “The Mourning Robot” by Angela Liu, “Dreamscape with the Devil” by Dr. Taylor Byas, “Caesar Says, Earthquakes Aren’t So Manifest From Space” by Jasmine Leng, and “Dear Saturn,” by Susan L. Lin. Finally, Caroline M. Yoachim interviews Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Juliet Kahn about their stories.
The Uncanny Magazine Podcast Episode 66A features “The Caravan” by AnaMaria Curtis, as read by Erika Ensign, “Dreamscape with the Devil” by Dr. Taylor Byas, as read by Matt Peters, and Michael Damian Thomas interviewing AnaMaria Curtis. The Uncanny Magazine Podcast Episode 66B features “The Shadow on the Nest” by Alaya Dawn Johnson, as read by Matt Peters, “Dear Saturn,” by Susan L. Lin, as read by Erika Ensign, and Michael Damian Thomas interviewing Alaya Dawn Johnson.
As always, I am deeply grateful for your support of Uncanny Magazine. Shine on, Space Unicorns!
© 2025 Michael Damian Thomas
