This is the second version of this editorial.
I vented a lot in the first version about my frustration with the precariousness of publishing. I’d just received some bad magazine news, and the negativity flooded into my typing. This isn’t unusual for anybody right now. It’s difficult to be aware of anything currently going on in the world and not feel overwhelmed by pessimism. Every setback feels gigantic. And at times like these, I need to remember to channel the positivity that I learned from my late daughter, Caitlin.
So instead of ranting, I’m going to talk about a small something that brings me hope and joy—the Science Fiction awards. Not receiving the awards or being nominated for them, but the processes of the many different awards. One of the amazing things about the SF/F awards is how they’re fundamentally created and curated by our community. In most cases, volunteers administrate them, and readers and creators choose the finalists and winners. The members of Worldcons decide the Hugo Awards. The members of SFWA decide the Nebula Awards. The members of SFPA decide the Rhyslings. Awards like the Locus Awards and Ignyte Awards are chosen by free online voting.
In almost every instance, it’s our community that decides what we value and reward. We do it through reading and discussing all of these awesome works with each other. If you want to participate, there is an award out there that you can help decide. That is fucking phenomenal. How many industries do that?
And when you look at that excitement and community involvement, maybe it’s not foolish to believe that the magazines will be fine. Folks have been worried about the death of SF/F magazines since at least the 1950s, but we’re still here. And just like the community shows up to award all of this awesomeness, I know you will be here, Space Unicorns, to make sure we can keep making the things you love. You discuss and spread the works but are also there to support us financially (Patreon! Weightless Books Subscriptions! Our yearly Kickstarter!) As long as there is a community of readers who love and need these stories, poems, essays, interviews, art, and podcasts, Uncanny Magazine will be here and so will SF/F magazines as a whole.
I’m still going through some massive life changes (some are very, very joyful!), but I will do my best to keep editing and publishing a magazine that values having this spectacular community.
PHENOMENAL news, Space Unicorns! Five Uncanny Magazine stories are finalists for the prestigious Hugo Award! “Kaiju Agonistes” by Scott Lynch is a finalist for the Best Novelette Hugo Award, “When He Calls Your Name” by Catherynne M. Valente is a finalist for the Best Novelette Hugo Award, “The Millay Illusion” by Sarah Pinsker is a finalist for the Best Novelette Hugo Award, “Six People to Revise You” by J. R. Dawson is a finalist for the Best Short Story Hugo Award, and “10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills is a finalist for the Best Short Story Hugo Award! PLUS! “Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness is a finalist for the Best Poem Hugo Award, and “The Mourning Robot” by Angela Liu is also a finalist for Best Poem Hugo Award! Congratulations to everybody!
Even more wonderful news! Uncanny Magazine (Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Michael Damian Thomas, Managing Editor Monte Lin, Poetry Editor Betsy Aoki, and Podcast Producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky) is once again a finalist for Best Semiprozine!
Another fantastic thing! Michael Damian Thomas is also a finalist for the Best Editor Short Form Hugo Award!
It is an amazing list of Hugo Award finalists, many of whom are Uncanny authors and friends. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYBODY!!! Thank you to everyone who nominated these works, and to the hard-working Los Angeles Worldcon staff. We are honored, ecstatic, and overwhelmed.
From Los Angeles Worldcon Hugo Award Press Release:
Winners will be announced at a live ceremony held at the World Science Fiction Convention, LAcon V, on August 30, 2026…All members of the World Science Fiction Convention are able to vote on the Hugo Awards, including those who have memberships in the virtual portion of the convention. Voting on the final ballot will begin in early May. Information about registration is available at lacon.org/register.
Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! The 2026 Aurora Awards finalists have been announced, and two Uncanny Magazine pieces are on the final ballot! “The Lure of Stone” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a finalist for the Best Novelette/Novella Aurora Award, and Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe’s Listen To Me And I’ll Tell You A Story is a finalist for the Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration Aurora Award! Congratulations to everybody!
From the Aurora Awards website:
This ballot is for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror works originally done in 2025 by Canadians. The Aurora Awards are nominated by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. The top five nominated works were selected. Additional works were included where there was a tie for fifth place. An online awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, August 9th, 2026, at 5pm EDT, with hosts Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Elizabeth May Anderson.
Outstanding news, Space Unicorns! Two Uncanny Magazine stories and two poems are finalists for the prestigious Nebula Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association! “The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends” by Eugenia Triantafyllou is a finalist for Best Novelette, and “Six People to Revise You” by J. R. Dawson is a finalist for Best Short Story! PLUS! “Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness is a finalist for Best Poem, and “The Mourning Robot” by Angela Liu is also a finalist for Best Poem!
Congratulations to everybody!
It is an amazing list of finalists, many of whom are Uncanny authors and friends. Congratulations to everyone!
From the Locus Magazine website:
Winners will be announced at the 2026 Nebula Conference and Awards, to be held June 3–7, 2026 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Chicago, IL, and virtually online. For more, see the SFWA website.
Fabulous news, Space Unicorns! “The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends” by Eugenia Triantafyllou is a finalist for the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Short Fiction! Congratulations to Eugenia and to all of the finalists!
From the BSFA website:
The British Science Fiction Association is delighted to announce the shortlists of nominees for the BSFA Awards, for work published in 2025. The BSFA Awards have been presented annually since 1970. The awards are voted on by members of the British Science Fiction Association and by the members of the year’s Eastercon, the national Science Fiction convention, held since 1955.
And now the contents of Uncanny Magazine Issue 70! The phenomenal cover is Ocean Swell by Julie Dillon. Our fabulous new fiction includes “The Snatchers” by Eugenia Triantafyllou, “The Glass City” by AnaMaria Curtis, “Extracted from an unravelled braid” by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, “Immigrant Girl from the End of the World” by Hannah Yang, “Magical Girl Eater” by Angela Liu, “#HumansOfMars” by Lavie Tidhar, “Lincoln and the Harvester C-100” by R. S. A. Garcia. Our provocative and compelling essays this month include “The End of This Day’s Business—Or, My Life as Repetitive Epic” by Una McCormack, “The Mopey Ghost Nightmare Girl: The Character of Hari in Three Filmed Versions of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris” by Alex Bledsoe, “An Absolute Crisis: DC’s Big 7 Have Been Stripped Down and Relaunched for the Present Age” by Alex Jennings, and “Nature, Monsters, and the Responsibility of Larger Things” by Nilah Magruder. Our gorgeous and evocative poetry includes “A Mermaid Looks at 40” by Fran Wilde, “Empty Music” by Prosper Ìféányí, “Quorum” by Ceridwen Hall, and “electric in the silver stormchain that burst behind my wings” by S. R. Ekstein. Finally, Caroline M. Yoachim interviews AnaMaria Curtis and Angela Liu about their stories.
The Uncanny Magazine Podcast episode 70A features “The Snatchers” by Eugenia Triantafyllou, as read by Matt Peters, “A Mermaid Looks at 40” by Fran Wilde, as read by Erika Ensign, and Michael Damian Thomas interviewing Eugenia Triantafyllou. The Uncanny Magazine Podcast episode 70B features “Immigrant Girl from the End of the World” by Hannah Yang, as read by Erika Ensign, “Quorum” by Ceridwen Hall, as read by Matt Peters, and Michael Damian Thomas interviewing Hannah Yang.
As always, I am deeply grateful for your support of Uncanny Magazine. Shine on, Space Unicorns!
© 2026 Michael Damian Thomas
