2016 Hugo Awards Acceptance Speech from MidAmeriCon II

I’m sure it’ll sink in eventually but HOLY !#$!@##$ EVERYONE I’M THE FIRST FILIPINA TO WIN A HUGO AND THERE’S A GIANT SILVER ROCKET WITH MY NAME ON IT. SO SHINY & CHROME!

I’m inexplicably awake after less than 5 hours of sleep so I will put together some more coherent thoughts on this incredible honor and my experience at my very first WorldCon later. But I’ve received so many touching responses to my portion of Uncanny Magazine‘s acceptance speech that I wanted to put the text up to share. So here you go:

Like Lynne and Michael, I’d also like to thank my fellow space unicorns – our Uncanny staff, our supporters, our readers, our contributing writers and artists, especially my friends who pretty much threw me at this when I told them I’d been asked to manage a science fiction and fantasy magazine, particularly my husband, Jesse Lex, who patiently keeps me supplied with enough tea, coffee, and chocolate to survive our production cycle, while he reads all the slush we throw his way. I especially want to thank Lynne and Michael for taking a chance on someone new to professional fandom and asking me to join Uncanny as managing editor, because I really could not ask for a better publication or community to take part in. All of you – our subscribers, our Kickstarter supporters, our creators, our fans – are what keep Uncanny evolving in exciting and innovative ways.

Love of the genre is what brought me to science fiction and fantasy, but while I’ve been a fan for my whole life, like many others (especially those of us who share intersecting marginalized identities), I haven’t always felt as if I was part of fandom. I’m incredibly proud to be part of Uncanny particularly because of how deeply we value our community, and our dedication to creating a vibrant home where anyone who enjoys SFF can see themselves included. Nurturing a community isn’t just about throwing open the gates and expecting others to walk in merrily, especially when there’s been a long history of systemic barriers to entry. It’s essential to both create a space that welcomes and encourages others to come in, and to venture outside your comfort zones to find new people, invite them to share their voices and visions with you, and provide them with support and opportunities.

That understanding is what makes it possible to find and publish an incredible array of inspiring work, with stories about everything from folding cities, telepathic lions and bone horses, to weird Western pulp fairytales, demon-fighting storm lizards, immortal alien cannibals, and the literally combustible power of collective grief and rage, from creators of every conceivable background. It’s why I have the honor of standing here as both the first Filipina Hugo Award Finalist and now the first Filipina Hugo Award Winner.

We often say Uncanny supporters are shareholders in the publication. This is YOUR magazine, YOUR community, and without your participation and enthusiasm, this honor tonight would not have been possible. We can’t wait to bring you more beautiful prose, poetry, and art, full of passion, verve, and imagination, that reflects the wide range of unique and special perspectives which exist in SFF, and that makes us FEEL we are truly part of Uncanny and the SFF world.

Thank you.

Thanks to Charles Tan, there is also video of Uncanny‘s big moment, with speeches from Editors-in-Chief Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and myself.

Again, thank you so much to everyone who has supported Uncanny and helped make this possible. I’m so, so beyond proud to have represented the magazine, the Chicago Nerd Social Club community, and my fellow Filipinx SFF fans/creators. And to my fellow 2016 Hugo Award finalists and winners, I am humbled to stand with you and sharing this honor with you will be one of the highlights of my life. Congratulations!