Ignyte finalists

[psocoptera]

List is here, or behind the cut.

Best Novel — Adult

The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu (Saga)
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga)
Midnight Bargain, C.L. Polk (Erewhon)
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

Hao Jingfang won the Novelette Hugo for Folding Beijing a few years ago, if you're like "wait she sounds vaguely familiar". Graham Jones wrote "Wait for Night", a 2020 short story I recced (and, like, 20 novels and a zillion other stories, and has been up for various Shirley Jacksons a bunch of times). I'd like to read Vagabonds if I can find time.

Best Novel — YA

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Margaret K. McElderry)
Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet)
Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
A Song Below Water, Bethany Morrow (Tor Teen)
A Sky Beyond the Storm, Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill)

The first three are all on the Lodestar ballot.

Best in MG

Maya and the Rising Dark, Rena Barron (HMH)
Frightville: Curse of the Wish Eater, Mike Ford (Scholastic)
Ghost Squad, Claribel A. Ortega (Scholastic)
Race to the Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Disney)
A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick)

I continue to like that they're doing a separate YA and MG award, why not recognize more things.

Best Novella

Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom)
Stone and Steel, Eboni Dunbar (Neon Hemlock)
The Four Profound Weaves, R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom)
Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

I'd also like to read Stone and Steel, sigh.

Best Novelette

“The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny 7-8/20)
“The Transition of Osoosi”, Ozzie M. Gartrell (Fiyah Winter ’20)
“One Hand in the Coffin”, Justin C. Key (Strange Horizons 1/20/20)
“The Night Sun”, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tor.com 3/11/20)
“Love Hangover”, Sheree Renée Thomas (SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire)

Best Short Story

“You Perfect, Broken Thing”, C.L. Clark (Uncanny 1-2/20)
“Express to Beijing West Railway Station | 开往西站的特别列车”, Congyun ‘Mu Ming’ Gu, translated by Kiera Johnson (Samovar 10/26/20)
“Rat and Finch Are Friends”, Innocent Chizaram Ilo (Strange Horizons 3/2/20)
“Body, Remember”, Nicasio Andres Reed (Fireside 11/20)
“My Country Is a Ghost”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 1-2/20)

Glad to see more recognition for "My Country Is A Ghost".

Best in Speculative Poetry

“The Alt-history of King Kong”, Renoir Gaither (Speculative City Fall ’20)
“Fin”, Terese Mason Pierre (Uncanny 9-10/20)
“The Harrowing | Desgarrador”, Gabriel Ascencio Morales, translated by Juan Martínez (Strange Horizons 11/30/20)
“Hungry Ghost”, Millie Ho (Uncanny 3-4/20)
“Tequila Mockingbird | Matar un Ruiseñor”, Raúl Gallardo Flores, translated by Juan Martínez (Strange Horizons 11/30/20)

Critics Award

Maria Haskins
Jesse (Bowties & Books)
Charles Payseur (Quick Sip Reviews)
Stitch (Stitch’s Media Mix)
A.C. Wise

Best Fiction Podcast

PodCastle, Jen R. Albert, Cherae Clark, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Setsu Uzume & Peter Adrian Behravesh
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Scott H. Andrews, ed.
Escape Pod, Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya, Benjamin C. Kinney, Tina Connolly, Alasdair Stuart, Summer Brooks, Adam Pracht & the entire Escape Pod team
Nightlight Podcast, Tonia Ransom
The Magnus Archives, Jonathan Sims, Alexander J Newall, Lowri Ann Davies & Rusty Quill

Best Artist

Rovina Cai
Odera Igbokwe
Paul Lewin
Nilah Magruder
John Picacio

Today I learned: Nilah Magruder was apparently the first Black woman to write for Marvel - in *2016*, which, yes, I am naive and would have assumed that would not have taken until 2016.

Best Comics Team

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings (Abrams)
Cuisine Chinoise: Five Tales of Food and Life, Zao Dao, Diana Schutz & Brandon Kandor (Dark Horse)
Far Sector, N.K. Jemisin & Jamal Campbell (DC)
Giga, Alex Paknadel & John Lê (Vault)
You Brought Me the Ocean, Alex Sanchez & Jul Maroh (DC)

Best Anthology/Collected Works

A Phoenix First Must Burn, Patrice Caldwell, ed. (Viking)
Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with a Fresh Bite, Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C. Parker, eds. (Imprint)
Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn’t Die, dave ring, ed. (Neon Hemlock)
Nine Bar Blues, Sheree Renée Thomas (Third Man)
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, Joshua Whitehead, ed. (Arsenal Pulp)

Best in Creative Nonfiction

“How to Make a Family: Queer Blood Bonds in Black Feminist Vampire Novels”, Tamara Jerée (Strange Horizons 1/27/20)
“The African Superhero and the Legacy of Captain Africa”, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Tor.com 8/24/20)
“Fine Weather, Isn’t It?”, Tochi Onyebuchi (SFWA Bulletin #215)
“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream: The Duty of the Black Writer During Times of American Unrest”, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tor.com 6/1/20)
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Excellence”, Nibedita Sen (Uncanny 9-10/20)

The Ember Award

K. Tempest Bradford
Clarion West
Dhonielle Clayton
Tananarive Due
Michi Trota

The Community Award

Anathema Magazine: Spec from the Margins, Michael Matheson, Andrew Wilmot & Chinelo Onwualu
#PublishingPaidMe, L.L. McKinney & Tochi Onyebuchi
Beth Phelan
Diana M. Pho
Writing The Other: Online Classes and Workshops, Nisi Shawl & K. Tempest Bradford

Comments

[oracne]

"My Country Is A Ghost" is SO EFFING GREAT.