Uncanny Magazine

Uncanny Magazine is an American science fiction and fantasy online magazine, edited and published by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, based in Urbana, Illinois.^[2] Its mascot is a space unicorn.^[3]

Uncanny Magazine

Cover of issue 10, May 2016
Editor	Lynne M. Thomas
Editor	Michael Damian Thomas
Categories	science fiction and fantasy
Frequency	Bimonthly
Founder	Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
Founded	2014
First issue	November 4, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-11-04)[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	uncannymagazine.com

The editors-in-chief, who originally edited Apex Magazine from 2012–2013, chose the name of the magazine because they say it "has a wonderful pulp feel", and like how the name evokes the unexpected.^[4] They created the magazine "in the spirit of pulp sci-fi mags popular in the 1960s and '70s."^[2]

Uncanny has been published bimonthly, beginning in November 2014, after receiving initial funding through Kickstarter.^[5] It continues to fund itself through crowdfunding as well as subscriptions, which numbered 4,000 in 2017.^[6][2]

The magazine publishes original works by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Catherynne M. Valente, Charlie Jane Anders, Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Alex Bledsoe, Nalo Hopkinson, Jane Yolen, Naomi Novik, N. K. Jemisin, G. Willow Wilson, Carmen Maria Machado, Amal El-Mohtar, Ursula Vernon, Kameron Hurley and Ken Liu, and published early stories by Alyssa Wong and Brooke Bolander.^[7][2] Each issue includes new short stories, one reprint, new poems, non-fiction essays, and a pair of interviews.^[6] The magazine pays its authors and artists.^[6] It also produces a podcast where some of the magazine's content is read aloud.^[8] They have a staff of 10 editors and receive between 1,000 and 2,000 submissions every month.^[2]

In 2018, they published a disability-themed issue called Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction with content exclusively from disabled creators.^[9] This was a continuation of the Destroy series originally from Lightspeed magazine; in it, the authors and illustrators envisioned "a truly accessible future is one that features rather than erases the disabled mind and body".^[9] The issue won an Aurora Award for Best Related Work in 2019.^[10][11]

Awards and recognition

In 2017, Uncanny won the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine, and one of its published stories, "Folding Beijing" by Hao Jingfang translated by Ken Liu, won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.^[12] It since went on to win the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine every year from 2017 through 2020, 2022, and 2023.

Magazine awards

Award	Category	Year	Nominee	Result	Ref
Hugo Award	Hugo–Best Semiprozine	2016	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky	Won	[13][12]
		2017	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky	Won	[14][15]
		2018	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky	Won	[16][17]
		2019	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, and Dominik Parisien	Won	[18][19]
		2020	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky	Won	[20][21]
		2021	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky	Nominated	[22][23]
		2022	Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky	Won	[24][25]
	Hugo–Best Professional Editor, Short Form	2017	Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas	Nominated	[14][15]
		2018	Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas	Won	[16][17][26]
		2019	Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas	Nominated	[18][19]
		2020	Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas	Nominated	[20][21]
British Fantasy Award	BFA– Magazine/Periodical	2017	Uncanny	Nominated	[27][28]
		2019	Uncanny (Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky, Elsa Sjunneson and Dominik Parisien)	Won	[29][30]
Aurora Awards	Aurora–Best Related Work	2019	Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction (Elsa Sjunneson and Dominik Parisien)	Won	[31][10]
Parsec Awards	Parsec–Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast	2016	The Uncanny Magazine Podcast (Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Erika Ensign, Amal El-Mohtar, C. S. E. Cooney, Deborah Stanish, and Steven Schapansky)	Won	[32]

Art awards

• 2016 Gold Spectrum Award – Editorial Category – "Traveling to a Distant" Day by Tran Nguyen (Uncanny Magazine #4 Cover)^[33]
• 2016 Chesley Awards – Best Cover Illustration: Magazine – "Traveling to a Distant Day" by Tran Nguyen (Uncanny Magazine #4 Cover)^[34]
• 2017 Chesley Awards – Best Cover Illustration: Magazine – "Bubbles and Blast Off" by Galen Dara (Uncanny Magazine #10)^[35]

Content awards

• 2015 William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review – "Does Sex Make Science Fiction 'Soft'?" by Tansy Rayner Roberts (Uncanny Magazine #1)^[36]
• 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette – "Folding Beijing" by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine #2)^[12]
• 2017 Locus Award for Best Novelette – "You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay" by Alyssa Wong (Uncanny Magazine #10)^[37]
• 2017 Rhysling Award–Best Long Poem – "Rose Child" by Theodora Goss (Uncanny Magazine #13)^[38]
• 2018 Eugie Award – "Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand" by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine #18)^[39]
• 2019 World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction – "Like a River Loves the Sky" by Emma Törzs (Uncanny Magazine #21)^[40]
• 2020 Ignyte Awards–Best in Creative Nonfiction – "Black Horror Rising" by Tananarive Due (Uncanny Magazine #28)^[41]
• 2021 Hugo Awards for Best Short Story – "Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by Ursula Vernon, as T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine #36)^[23]
• 2022 Locus Award for Best Novelette – "That Story Isn't the Story" by John Wiswell (Uncanny Magazine #43)^[42]
• 2022 Nebula Award for Best Short Story – "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine #39)^[43]
• 2022 Locus Award for Best Short Story – "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine #39)^[42]
• 2022 Eugie Award – "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine #39)^[44]
• 2022 Hugo Award for Best Short Story – "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine #39)^[45]

Staff

Current staff

Julia Rios and Michi Trota accepting the Hugo Award for best semiprozine at Worldcon in Helsinki 2017.

• Lynne M. Thomas – Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
• Michael Damian Thomas – Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
• Monte Lin – Managing Editor/Poetry Editor
• Meg Elison – Nonfiction Editor
• Erika Ensign – Podcast Producer
• Steven Schapansky – Podcast Producer
• Matt Peters – Podcast Reader
• Caroline M. Yoachim – Interviewer
• Naomi Day – Assistant Editor

Former staff

• Elsa Sjunneson – Nonfiction Editor
• Joy Piedmont – Podcast Reader
• Angel Cruz – Assistant Editor
• Michi Trota – Managing/Nonfiction Editor
• Stephanie Malia Morris – Podcast Reader
• Mimi Mondal – Poetry/Reprint Editor
• Julia Rios – Poetry/Reprint Editor
• Amal El-Mohtar – Podcast Reader
• C. S. E. Cooney – Podcast Reader
• Deborah Stanish – Interviewer
• Shana DuBois – Interviewer

References

1. Studios, Clockpunk. "Uncanny Magazine Issue One". Uncanny Magazine. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
2. Mitchell, Tim (February 8, 2021). "Sci-fi-focused Uncanny Magazine takes up residence in Urbana". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
3. Thomas, Lynne M.; Thomas, Michael Damian (July 28, 2016). "A Space Unicorn Tale: The REAL Story Behind the Creation of Uncanny Magazine". Tor.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
4. Thomas, Lynne M.; Thomas, Michael Damian (August 27, 2014). "Why We're Creating Uncanny, a Real Magazine with a Fake History (and a Space Unicorn)". Tor.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
5. Mandelo, Lee (November 11, 2014). "Short Fiction Spotlight: Uncanny Magazine #1". Tor.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
6. Liptak, Andrew (August 6, 2020). "Uncanny Magazine Launches Kickstarter For Year Seven". Tor.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
7. Studios, Clockpunk. "Authors Archive". Uncanny Magazine. Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
8. "Podcasts Archives". Uncanny Magazine. Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
9. Holder, Matthew (2020). "Imagining Accessibility: Theorizing Disability in Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction". Disability Studies Quarterly. 40 (3). doi:10.18061/dsq.v40i3.6685. ISSN 2159-8371. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
10. "2019 Aurora Awards Winners". Locus Online – The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field. October 20, 2019. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
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18. "sfadb: Hugo Awards 2019". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
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20. "sfadb: Hugo Awards 2020". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
21. "2020 Hugo Awards". April 7, 2020. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
22. "sfadb: Hugo Awards 2021". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
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25. "2022 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. April 7, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
26. "The Groundbreaking Winners of the 2018 Hugo Awards". August 19, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
27. "sfadb: British Fantasy Awards 2017". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
28. "British Fantasy Awards 2017 – Shortlists | The British Fantasy Society". www.britishfantasysociety.org. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
29. "sfadb: British Fantasy Awards 2019". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
30. "British Fantasy Awards 2019". The British Fantasy Society. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
31. "sfadb: Aurora Awards 2019". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
32. "2016 Parsec Awards Winners – Parsec Awards". www.parsecawards.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
33. "Spectrum 23 Award Nominations! | Flesk and Spectrum Fantastic Art Blog written by John Fleskes". fleskpublications.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
34. "2016 Chesley Awards Winners". Locus Online. August 19, 2016. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
35. "2017 Chesley Award Winners". July 8, 2017. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
36. "2015 Ditmar and Other Australian Awards". April 6, 2015. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
37. "Sfadb : Alyssa Wong Awards". Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
38. "2017 Rhysling Award Winners Announced". July 12, 2017. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
39. "Fran Wilde Wins 2018 Eugie Foster Award". September 2, 2018. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
40. "World Fantasy Awards 2019, World Fantasy Convention". World Fantasy Convention. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
41. "The IGNYTE Awards". FIYAHCON 2020. August 6, 2020. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
42. locusmag (June 25, 2022). "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
43. "SFWA Announces the Winners of the 57th Annual Nebula Awards®". May 22, 2022.
44. "2022 Eugie Award". September 4, 2022.
45. "The 2022 Hugo Award Winners Are Here". September 6, 2022.

External links

• Official website