Short Poem (11–49 lines)

Six of Swords Becomes The Emperor by Ali Trotta

We Drink Lava by Ai Jiang

genesis by Sodïq Oyèkànmí

fowlskin by C. S. E. Cooney

AN OPEN LETTER TO CREATURES by Zaynab Iliyasu Bobi

pockets full of stones by Jennifer Mace

In blue sight by Eva Papasoulioti

The Sea-Witches at Nightfall by Tiffany Morris

there are no taxis for the dead by Angela Liu

Moon Sun Shadow Crow by Fran Wilde

My Vengeance of Light Bears Witness from a Mountain View by Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan

the city that hunted us by Natasha King

In Dreams, I Cannot Read or Hope by Terese Mason Pierre

In Another World of Living by Abdulkareem Abdulkareem

syzygy by Roshani Chokshi

Dreams on a Tamarind Road by Prosper C. Ìféányí

Festival of Scales and Teeth by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga

The Witch Recalls Her Craft by Angel Leal

Anansi Braids Your Stepson’s Hair by Brandon O’Brien

Null Path Catalog by Sneha Mohidekar

Operetta by Katherine James

We Tried Beating Time to Death by Abu Bakr Sadiq

Long Poem (50–299 lines)

The High Priestess Writes a Love Letter to The Magician by Ali Trotta

To Hunt a Chimera by Mikal Wix

Coming November 5, the 61st issue of the Hugo, Locus, and World Fantasy Award-winning Uncanny Magazine!!

All of the content will be available in the eBook version on the day of release.

The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on December 3.

Don’t forget eBook Subscriptions to Uncanny Magazine are available from Weightless Books, and you can support us on our Patreon!

Uncanny Magazine Issue 61 Table of Contents:

Cover:
Queen of Seven Kingdoms by Julie Dillon

Editorial:
“The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Fiction:
“Woodmask” by Adrian Tchaikovsky (11/5)
“The Golden Tooth: A Solo Show by Orion Cabrera” transcribed by William Alexander (11/5)
“Twice Every Day Returning” by Sonya Taaffe (11/5)

“The Geckomancer’s Lament” by Lauren Beukes (12/3)
“On the Water Its Crystal Teeth” by Marissa Lingen (12/3)
“Ancestor Heart” by Naomi Day (12/3)

“A Book Is a Map, a Bed Is a Country” by Angel Leal (11/5)

Nonfiction:
“The Breathtaking Condescension Tango” by Vivian Shaw (11/5)
“Longlegs, Long Held Memories” by Tania Chen (11/5)

“Romantasy All Along!” by Tansy Rayner Roberts (12/3)
“Can’t We All Just Get Along? Them: The Scare Uses Afro-Surrealism to Produce Effective Scares” by Alex Jennings (12/3)

Poetry:
“Anansi Braids Your Stepson’s Hair” by Brandon O’Brien (11/5)
“Null Path Catalog” by Sneha Mohidekar (11/5)

“We Tried Beating Time to Death” by Abu Bakr Sadiq (12/3)
“Operetta” by Katherine James (12/3)

Interviews:
William Alexander interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (11/5)

Marissa Lingen interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (12/3)

Podcasts:

Episode 61A (11/5): Editors’ Introduction; “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.

Episode 61B (12/3): Editors’ Introduction; “The Geckomancer’s Lament” by Lauren Beukes, as read by Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo; “We Tried Beating Time to Death” by Abu Bakr Sadiq, as read by Matt Peters; and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Lauren Beukes.

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  “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.

Coming September 3, the 60th issue of the Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine!!

All of the content will be available in the eBook version on the day of release.

The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on October 1.

Don’t forget eBook Subscriptions to Uncanny Magazine are available from Weightless Books, and you can support us on our Patreon!

Uncanny Magazine Issue 60 Table of Contents:

Cover:
La Musica by John Picacio

Editorial:
“The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Fiction:
“Cursed Moon Queers” by Natalia Theodoridou (9/3)
“The 6% Squeeze” by Eddie Robson (9/3)
“Another Girl Under the Iron Bell” by Angela Liu (9/3)

“A Stranger Knocks” by Tananarive Due (10/1)
“¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror” by M. M. Olivas (10/1)
“A Menu of First Favorite Meals” by Jo Miles (10/1)

“The Wrong Time Travel Story” by Marissa Lingen (9/3)

Nonfiction:
“It’s a Wonderful (Doctor Who) Life” by Sophie Aldred (9/3)
“Growing Up in Fiction” by Yamile Saied Méndez (9/3)

“Scalzi on Film: 20th Century Cinematic Science Fiction Starter Pack” by John Scalzi (10/1)
“The Liminality of Community Loss” by LaShawn M. Wanak (10/1)

Poetry:
“Dreams on a Tamarind Road” by Prosper C. Ìféányí (9/3)
“Festival of Scales and Teeth” by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga (9/3)

“The Witch Recalls Her Craft” by Angel Leal (10/1)
“To Hunt a Chimera” by Mikal Wix (10/1)

Interviews:
Angela Liu interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (9/3)

M. M. Olivas interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim (10/1)

Podcasts:
Episode 60A (9/3): Editors’ Introduction; “Cursed Moon Queers” by Natalia Theodoridou, as read by Erika Ensign; “The 6% Squeeze” by Eddie Robson, as read by Matt Peters; “The Wrong Time Travel Story” by Marissa Lingen, as read by Erika Ensign; “Dreams on a Tamarind Road” by Prosper C. Ìféányí, as read by Matt Peters; and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Eddie Robson.

Episode 60B (10/1): Editors’ Introduction; “A Stranger Knocks” by Tananarive Due, as read by Matt Peters; “The Witch Recalls Her Craft” by Angel Leal, as read by Erika Ensign; and Lynne M. Thomas interviewing Tananarive Due.

Excellent award news, Space Unicorns!

The World Fantasy Award finalists have been announced! “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark and “Waystation City” by A. T. Greenblatt are finalists for the Best Short Fiction World Fantasy Award! Also, Editors-in-Chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas are finalists for the Special Award–Non-Professional World Fantasy Award for their Uncanny Magazine work!  We are thrilled and honored! Congratulations to all of the finalists!

From the press release:

The nominees and lifetime achievement recipients will be honored at the upcoming World Fantasy Convention, to be held in Niagara Falls October 17-20. Winners of the 2023 World Fantasy Awards will be announced at a ceremony hosted by the WFC 2024 committee following an award banquet on Sunday, October 20th. For more information, or to register for the convention, visit WFC2024.org. 

Wonderful news, Space Unicorns! “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer won the Best Novelette Hugo Award!! Congratulations to Naomi!!

Once again, congratulations to all of the Uncanny stories that were finalists: “One Man’s Treasure” by Sarah Pinsker was a finalist for the Best Novelette Hugo Award, “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark was a finalist for the Best Short Story Hugo Award, and “The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard was a finalist for the Best Short Story Hugo Award.

Congratulations also to our colleagues at Strange Horizons who won the Best Semiprozine Hugo Award and to Neil Clarke who won the Best Editor Short Form Hugo Award.

It was an amazing list of Hugo Award finalists and winners, many of whom are Uncanny authors and friends. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY!!! Thank you to everyone who nominated these works, and to the hard-working Glasgow Worldcon staff.

Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R.S.A. Garcia is a finalist for a Best Short Story Ignyte Award! Congratulations to R.S.A. Garcia!!

Also, congratulations to Uncanny Magazine Assistant Editor Tania Chen! Tania’s essay “Symmetry, Horror, and Identity” is an Ignyte Award finalist for Outstanding Creative Nonfiction!!

It is a fabulous ballot! Congratulations to all of the finalists!

From the Ignyte Award website:

Voting for the 2024 awards will close August 31st, 2024 at 11:59PM EDT.

The short list is derived from 20 BIPOC+ voters made up of SFF community members and previous award winners, of varying genders, sexualities, cultures, disabilities, and locations throughout the world. They are referred to as the Ignyte Awards Committee. The kidlit categories (Young Adult and Middle Grade) each had an additional 5 judges from the age demographics ideally targeted by each of those categories. We thank those kids and their guardians for participation in this process. No active staff members of FIYAH Literary Magazine work with or administer the Ignyte Awards.

The Committee was not limited to selections authored or otherwise created by BIPOC. Public voting on the shortlist does not permit write-in nominations. Each year, we ask winners to be part of the subsequent year’s committee to ensure fresh perspectives and to help prevent repeated nominations of the same popular authors as recognized in many other genre awards. 

This year’s winners will be announced on November 6th.