The Hugos are coming! Or make that whatever tense is appropriate given when you’re reading this editorial; WorldCon this year is 13–17 August, which starts just a few days after we come out, and the awards are announced on the 16th. I remember hearing about the Hugos probably since I began reading science fiction (so, amend that to “since I began reading” lol), and they have always been a Very Big Thing.

(If you’re thinking I’m about to reveal something about Penumbric and Hugos, you’re sadly mistaken, but thank you for the positive energy!)

This year, I received an email telling me that poetry was finally being considered for awards, although only as a special, one-year-only award. But … hasn’t that always been a category? Why would you have these major awards, which include everything from entire book series to short stories to dramatic presentations, and not include poetry? Well, apparently they don’t. So there’s a movement afoot, which I wholeheartedly support, to have the poetry award made into a regular thing. You can read more about it at www.poetryhugo.com.

For that matter, I’m trying to be more proactive about nominating works that have been published in Penumbric for awards generally (and no, I have no voice at all in Hugo nominations … or in many others). As such I have been sending Ellen Datlow, editor of the Year’s Best Horror series, all the fresh horror that we publish. (It has to be “fresh,” as in not reprints, to be eligible.) And I have recently been in touch with Neil Clarke, editor of the Year’s Best Science Fiction, to begin sending science fiction as well. I’ve only just tracked down the Year’s Best for fantasy works, so I’ll keep you posted on that … so many of these series stop and start again at volume 1, and some combine different genres, so it’s weirdly time-consuming.

If you have any thoughts about awards we should be pursuing for our authors, let me know at our submissions email (submissions@penumbric.com). And thank you to everyone again for submitting so many great works to us!

Jeff Georgeson
Managing Editor
Penumbric