Uncanny Magazine

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Uncanny Magazine
Uncanny magazine issue 10 cover med resolution.jpg
Cover of issue 10, May 2016
Editor Lynne M. Thomas
Editor Michael Damian Thomas
Categories science fiction and fantasy
FrequencyBimonthly
FounderLynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
Founded2014
First issueNovember 4, 2014;9 years ago (2014-11-04) [1]
Country United States
Language English
Website uncannymagazine.com

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]

Contents

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

AwardCategoryYearNomineeResultRef
Hugo Award Hugo–Best Semiprozine 2016 Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven SchapanskyWon [13] [12]
2017Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, Erika Ensign, and Steven SchapanskyWon [14] [15]
2018Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, Erika Ensign, and Steven SchapanskyWon [16] [17]
2019Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, and Dominik ParisienWon [18] [19]
2020Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Erika Ensign, Steven SchapanskyWon [20] [21]
2021Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Erika Ensign, Steven SchapanskyNominated [22] [23]
2022Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Erika Ensign, Steven SchapanskyWon [24] [25]
Hugo–Best Professional Editor, Short Form2017 Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas Nominated [14] [15]
2018Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian ThomasWon [16] [17] [26]
2019Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian ThomasNominated [18] [19]
2020Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian ThomasNominated [20] [21]
British Fantasy Award BFA–

Magazine/Periodical

2017UncannyNominated [27] [28]
2019Uncanny (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 Work2019Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction (Elsa Sjunneson and Dominik Parisien)Won [31] [10]
Parsec Awards Parsec–Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast2016The 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

Content awards

Staff

Current staff

Julia Rios and Michi Trota accepting the Hugo Award for best semiprozine at Worldcon in Helsinki 2017. Julia Rios, Michi Trota, for Uncanny Magazine, at the Hugo Award Ceremoy at Worldcon in Helsinki.jpg
Julia Rios and Michi Trota accepting the Hugo Award for best semiprozine at Worldcon in Helsinki 2017.

Former staff

Related Research Articles

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