Michael Damian Thomas | |
|---|---|
 Michael Damian Thomas in 2023 | |
| Occupation(s) | Editor, podcaster |
| Known for | Uncanny Magazine |
| Spouse | Lynne M. Thomas |
| Children | Caitlin Thomas |
Michael Damian Thomas is an American magazine editor and podcaster. Thomas has won eight Hugo Awards, a British Fantasy Award, and a Parsec Award as co-publisher and co-editor-in-chief of Uncanny Magazine with his wife, Lynne M. Thomas. He has also been active as an advocate for disabled children in Illinois.
Thomas graduated from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), a public magnet school in Aurora, Illinois, in 1992. [1] In 2018, IMSA gave him the Alumni Titan Award, recognizing his contributions as "an enthusiastic and energetic champion who has invested significantly in the IMSA community". [2] He graduated from Parkland College in 1998, and worked on the Parkland literary journal. [3] [4]
Thomas was managing editor at Apex Magazine from 2012 until 2013, [5] and an associate editor at Mad Norwegian Press. [6] In 2014, he and Lynne M. Thomas began Uncanny Magazine, as "a home for emotional, strongly written, experimental stories and provocative nonfiction" and poetry. [7] He is co-host of the podcast of the same name, and has contributed to other podcasts, including the SF Squeecast with Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, and Catherynne M. Valente, [8] and Down and Safe, a Blake’s 7 podcast with Amal El-Mohtar, Scott Lynch, and L. M. Myles. [9]
Thomas has been the co-editor of several collections of stories and essays, including Glitter & Mayhem (2013 with John Klima and Lynne M. Thomas), [10] and Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It (2014, with Sigrid Ellis), and The Best of Uncanny (2019, with Lynne M. Thomas). [11] [12]
Thomas has taken a particular interest in disability issues. He chaired the City of DeKalb Advisory Commission on Disabilities and the DeKalb County Local Interagency Networking Council, and served on the planning committee of the Aicardi Syndrome Family Conference. In 2017, the Thomases and Mary Robinette Kowal crafted the "SF/F Convention Accessibility Pledge", a list of three basic accessibility requirements for signers' participation in conventions as participants, panelists, or guests. [13] [14] In 2018 and 2019, Uncanny Magazine published the theme issues Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction and Disabled People Destroy Fantasy, exclusively featuring the works of disabled editors and authors. [15]
Thomas has been nominated for multiple Hugo Awards between 2013 and 2020, for work on Apex Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, and the anthology Queers Dig Time Lords (2014). He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award eight times, and for Locus Awards seven times. [16]
Awards won by Michael Damian Thomas include the following:
Beginning in 2017, [17] the Thomases lived in Urbana, Illinois [5] with their daughter Caitlin, who has Aicardi syndrome. [18] Caitlin Thomas died in 2024, at the age of 21, at Lurie Children's Hospital. [19]
The Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is given each year to a periodical publication related to science fiction or fantasy that meets several criteria having to do with the number of issues published and who, if anyone, receives payment. The award was first presented in 1984, and has been given annually since, though the qualifying criteria have changed. Awards were once also given out for professional magazines in the professional magazine category, and are still awarded for fan magazines in the fanzine category.
Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field, founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. It also publishes comprehensive listings of all new books published in the genres. The magazine also presents the annual Locus Awards. Locus Online was launched in April 1997, as a semi-autonomous web version of Locus Magazine.
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Tideline", and the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "Shoggoths in Bloom". She is one of a small number of writers who have gone on to win multiple Hugo Awards for fiction after winning the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
The 66th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Denvention 3, was held on 6–10 August 2008 at the Colorado Convention Center and the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colorado, United States.
The 69th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Renovation, was held on 17–21 August 2011 at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center (RSCC) in Reno, Nevada, United States. The Atlantis Casino Resort served as the headquarters/party hotel, with additional rooms supplied by the Peppermill Reno and Courtyard by Marriott.
The 70th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Chicon 7, was held on 30 August–3 September 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
The 71st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as LoneStarCon 3, was held on 29 August–2 September 2013 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas, United States.
The Codex Writers’ Group also known as Codex is an online community of active speculative fiction writers. Codex was created in January 2004. The Codex Writers’ Group won the 2021 Locus Special Award.
Lightspeed is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine edited and published by John Joseph Adams. The first issue was published in June 2010 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since. The magazine published four original stories and four reprints in every issue, in addition to interviews with the authors and other nonfiction. All of the content published in each issue is available for purchase as an ebook and for free on the magazine's website. Lightspeed also made selected stories available as a free podcast, produced by Audie Award–winning editor Stefan Rudnicki.
Lynne M. Thomas is an American librarian, podcaster and editor. She has won eleven Hugo Awards for editing and podcasting in the science fiction genre. She is perhaps best known as the co-publisher and co-editor-in-chief of the Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine with her husband, Michael Damian Thomas. With her eleven Hugo Award wins, Thomas is tied with Connie Willis for most wins among women, and sixth all time for most wins amongst all Hugo Award winners.
SF Squeecast is a double Hugo-Award-winning science fiction podcast from the United States. The podcast features a group of regular contributors, Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, and Catherynne M. Valente, most of whom appear on every episode, usually along with a guest contributor.
The 74th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as MidAmeriCon II, was held on 17–21 August 2016 at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The convention's name, by established Worldcon tradition, follows after the first MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Kansas City in 1976.
The 75th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Worldcon 75, was held on 9–13 August 2017 at the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland.
Verity! is a weekly podcast about the television show, Doctor Who as seen through the eyes of a rotating cast of six women. Verity! has a female-centered format and is a feminist podcast. It was nominated for the "Best Fancast" at the Hugo Awards in 2014 and 2018. The Verity! contributors are all Doctor Who fans and live in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The show has been described as "intelligently fannish" and referenced as a recommended podcast.
The 76th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Worldcon 76 in San Jose, was held on 16–20 August 2018 in San Jose, California, United States.
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. Its mascot is a space unicorn.
The 77th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Dublin 2019—An Irish Worldcon, was held on 15–19 August 2019 at the Convention Centre, as well as in The Point Square, Dublin, Ireland.
The 79th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as DisCon III, was held on 15–19 December 2021 in Washington, D.C., United States.
The 80th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Chicon 8, was held on 1–5 September 2022 in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Elsa Sjunneson is an American speculative fiction writer, editor, media critic, and disability rights activist. She is a Hugo Award and Aurora Award winner through her editorial work on Uncanny Magazine. Deafblind since birth, Sjunneson writes and speaks extensively about the representation of disabilities in popular culture.
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