I tend to view awards season as a thing that happens to other people. Sort of like when it’s raining, and you’re all cozy inside your house with nowhere to go, and you think, “Wow, look at that, it’s really coming down, must suck for anyone who has to go out today.” And you sip your tea and do whatever you were doing. I make my eligibility post, and that’s about it for me.

But! I have the honor and privilege of co-editing a truly excellent magazine and podcast, and we are once again a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. If I continue my metaphor, this means I’m now outside in the rain, but of course being an award finalist is awesome and not uncomfortably moist.

If you’re a voting member of WorldCon, I’d be honored if you’d consider giving us your vote for the category. Our voter packet isn’t up yet, but you can check out all our original fiction from 2023 here. We’re really proud of our reprints as well, but that’s a good place to start.

Huge thanks to all the writers who trusted their stories to us, and to the narrators who brought them to life. Our magazine literally would not exist without you!

Thanks also to my co-editor slash co-conspirator, Mur Lafferty; to our assistant editors Benjamin C. Kinney, Premee Mohamed and Kevin Wabaunsee; our hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart; our producers Summer Brooks and Adam Pracht; our social media manager Phoebe Barton; and the rest of the Escape Pod crew, for all their hard work. We did it! Jumping high fives all around.

And of course, I’m filled with gratitude toward everyone who voted for us in the first place, to get us where we are now. As I always say in my sign off, thanks for joining us, and may your escape pod be fully stocked with stories.