2023 SFWA Nebula Conference Report

The 2023 SFWA Nebula Conference was held May 12-14 online and in-person at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort in California, loosely following the tradi­tion of running the event at the same place for two years in a row: the last in-person conference was in Woodland Hills, CA in 2019. There were roughly 200 warm bodies and another 314 regis­tered for online-only access. 2019 saw 465 warm bodies of a then record-breaking 475 registered, and 2022’s virtual event had 556 attendees of 563 total registered. The hotel was modern and clean, with friendly staff. Outdoor areas were perfect mingling spaces during cocktail events, and eateries were available nearby.

Programming kicked off Friday at 1:00 PM, with robust offerings both in-person and on­line focused on industry-relevant topics, such as “Neurodiversity and Writing: There’s No One Correct Way to Write” with Katherine Crighton, Vida Cruz-Borja, Maria S. Picone, Jason Sanford, and Clara Ward; and “Power and Politics in Worldbuilding” with Peter Behravesh, Jonathan Cassie, E.G. Condé, Erin Roberts, and Michael Underwood. Forty panels were available to in-person attendees (24 of these were hybrid/streaming) and 26 panels were exclusively online. The hybrid-model Mentor Meetup featured three Zoom sessions and a Friday evening in-person gathering, matching experienced congoers with newer attendees. A large hospitality room provided food at meal­times, and coffee with fruit and pastry in the mornings, as well as space to relax or mingle.

Instead of the traditional mass signing, of­ten a hub of social engagement, signings were scheduled in pairs or trios throughout the weekend, with each set stationed in hallways. The 73 signers included Charlie Jane Anders, Travis Baldree, J.R. Dawson, S.B. Divya, Nicola Griffith, Joe Haldeman, Ai Jiang, L.P. Kindred, Ray Nayler, Julia Vee, and more. Octavia Books had a pop-up shop on Friday and Saturday.

The Finalists and Past Presidents Reception was Saturday evening and included a cash bar. Traditionally held Saturday night, this year’s Nebula Awards happened Sunday (Mother’sDay). Authors, publishers, agents, and more gathered in a well-suited outdoor area for the Pre-Nebula Reception, which featured a limited cash bar. 141 guests attended the banquet, down from the 300 of 2019. The awards were livestreamed to 151 viewers via YouTube and another 58 via Facebook.

Toastmaster Cheryl Platz opened the awards with playful “safety rules” such as, “too many travelers have mistaken a poisonous lifeform for a delicious hors d’oeuvres, therefore please do not lick nature!” SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy thanked volunteers, the definition expanded to include panelists and similar contributors to the event. Kennedy presented the Damon Knight Grand Master Award to Robin McKinley, “one of my all-time favorite writers, someone who was hugely formative to me… who prefers to be called our ‘Grand Matriarch.”’ McKinley ac­cepted virtually, her speech read with text appearing next to images of her many books. Thankful, she spoke about many topics, including her ME/CFS, her galumphing dog, her reading habits, and her writing, including working on a new book.

The first of two Solstice Awards went to Cerece Rennie Murphy. Chris­tine Taylor-Butler said, “I’d been watching as she had been making the rounds at other conventions… she was one of the only people not talking about her own work, she was asking people about their work.” Taylor-Butler described Murphy’s founding of Virtuous Con as a response to the needs of the community during the onset of the pandemic. Teary-eyed, Murphy thanked the board of directors, family and friends, and the Virtuous Con team. “Mom, thank you for being the source of every great good thing in my life. You have always believed in me, encouraged me, in all my dreams, even in the ones you didn’t understand; especially the ones you didn’t understand. I know what love is because of you.” Murphy said she had answered a call that “didn’t make any sense” since she was a person who didn’t even update her phone. “I just knew I wanted to create a space where all the talented, beautiful, independent creators and Black and Brown creators that I knew could be celebrated…. Your dream doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else to be valid.”

Matthew Mercer presented the Ray Bradbury Award to Everything Ev­erywhere All at Once. Kate Baker read writer/director duo Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert’s speech, who said that most of their favorite books, dreams, video games, and more could be considered science fiction. “It is a genre that has always been a central part of our lives.”

The second Solstice Award went to Greg Bear, presented by Gay Halde­ man. Haldeman recounted highlights from his career, adding, “he was also unfailingly kind to his colleagues and supported them as their careers developed.” Haldeman read praise for Greg Bear from Catherine Asaro and Jane Yolen, who spoke to how supportive he was; and from Robert Sawyer, who described Bear’s work as embracing “the entire scope of what science fiction has to offer.” Haldeman finished with, “He really deserves this award, and I’m happy to present it to him. I wish it weren’t posthumous.” Sheila Finch accepted on Greg and Astrid Bear’s behalf, reading from Astrid Bear’s speech. Astrid Bear thanked Kennedy and the SFWA community. “He felt that he stood on the shoulders of giants, both literally, and organizationally, and that he had debts to pay forward in his writing, his volunteering, his teaching, and his advocacy for the core values of science fiction and fantasy…. He delighted in the growing reach and diversity of SFWA and would have been truly honored to ac­cept this award.”

The award for Game Writing went to Elden Ring by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. A representative from Bandai Namco accepted.

Michael Capobianco presented the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award to Mishell Baker, who took over as SFWA estate contact in 2016. “She has helped literally hundreds of publishers and agents locate and contact estates and their representatives.” Baker said, “It’s wonderful when you get to live and see your work praised, but consider that you may never really know your full story as a writer…. If your words touch even one person, that person may go on to shine a light on your work after you’re gone.” She thanked SFWA for the estate program, noting that regardless of awards, by sharing stories writers have “left their legacy.”

Baker’s speech was followed by the In Memoriam.

Mur Lafferty presented the award for Short Story to Samantha Mills for “Rabbit Test”. Mills thanked SFWA, readers, husband Randy, Uncanny editors Lynne M. & Michael Damian Thomas, and more. “I thought it would strike a chord with a few people, possibly get me yelled at by a few other people… instead I have been blown away by the reception…. All of that said, I don’t want this story to be timeless. I’d rather not have anyone identifying with it in five, ten, or twenty years.”

José Pablo Iriarte presented the award for Novelette to “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You” by John Chu. Chu accepted via video, reading Walt Whitman’s poem “On the Beach at Night Alone”, and thanked Uncanny and the audience.

Aydrea Walden presented the award for Best Novella to C.L. Polk for Even Though I Knew the End. Carl Engle-Laird accepted for a grateful Polk. Polk described the book as an “unlikely story” saying “there are so many genres folded up inside it, and for some it might be hard to decide where the book should belong in a bookstore. But the truth is, only science fiction and fantasy could truly embrace this novella, and that’s where it’s always belonged.”

The Andre Norton Award was presented by Leigh Bardugo to K. Tempest Bradford for Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion. Overwhelmed, Bradford discussed writing the book, saying, “I really consciously crafted her community to be a reflection of the ones that I grew up in and am still a part of. My extended family is a community, and the people up and down our block were a community. And the folks who owned businesses, and went to churches, and taught in the schools were in our community. And being surrounded by people who looked out for and cared for and supported everyone, and not just the people in their house and not just the nuclear family, it made us safer as kids, and it put us on the path to being adults who look out, and cared for, and supported others.” Bradford expressed gratitude to family, as well as various kinds of communities and individuals who welcomed her.

Kennedy announced the inaugural Infinity Award, which went to Octavia E. Butler. A video created by the Octavia E. Butler foundation of Chinaka Hodge performing a poem called “We” in celebration of Butler played. Then Hodge took the stage in-person to discuss Butler, saying that Butler’s work “encouraged an entire generation, of thinkers, dramatists, scholars, critics, to first imagine ourselves as worth study, and then situate ourselves at the center of the narrative.” The steward of Butler’s estate, Jules Jackson, was present to accept the award, describing Butler’s impact as “reframing a genre.”

Anthony Rapp spoke briefly about his passion for science fiction, and then the award for Best Novel was presented to R.F. Kuang for Babel. Walden accepted for Kuang, saying, “It means the world to me that my little unreadable book about etymology lectures has turned out, actually, to be quite readable, and even enjoyable to many. I know it’s late, so go enjoy the evening, and remember, it’s always a good time to strike.”

SFWA executive director Kate Baker said, “The SFWA Board and Events Team are currently contemplating our plans for 2023…. We are struggling with the overall cost of hosting the in-person event and will be looking at solutions (including format and change of location) to mitigate.”

–Arley Sorg

Photographers: (FM) Francesca Myman, (AS) Arley Sorg, (F/RDM) Richard Man

Photo Listing
Nebula Award (AS)
Nebula Awards Finalists (FM)
John Chu (FM)
Samantha Mills (F/RDM)
K. Tempest Bradford (F/RDM)
Cerece Rennie Murphy (F/RDM)
Tilly Bridges, Susan Bridges, Cheryl Platz (FM)
Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Arley Sorg (FM)
Mur Lafferty, S.B. Divya (FM)
Kelsey Josephson, Marie Vibbert (FM)
Ian Muneshwar, Laura Anne Gilman, Carl Engle-Laird, Irene Gallo (FM)
Aydrea Walden, Zabé Ellor (FM)
Elise Stephens, Marc Zicree (FM)
Beth Dawkins, Michael Underwood, Chelsea Mueller (FM)
Joshua Bilmes, E.G. Condé (FM)
Matthew Mercer, Brittany Walloch-Kay, Ajit A. George (FM)
Curtis Chen, Darius Jones (FM)
Michael Capobianco, Mishell Baker (FM)
Chinaka Hodge, Jules Jackson (F/RDM)
Joe Haldeman & Gay Haldeman, Michael Capobianco, Jeffe Kennedy, Karen Haber & Robert Silverberg (FM)
Jeffe Kennedy, Kat Brehm (AS)
Ray Nayler, Adri Gomes (FM)
Josh Sawyer, Kate Dollarhyde (FM)
Basheer Ghouse, Pam Punzalan, Felice Tzehuei Kuan (FM)
H.A. Clarke, Lindsay Ellis, Monica Valentinelli (FM)
Dot Caffrey, Sheila Finch, Grant Farley (FM)
Victor Manibo, Ian Muneshwar, Erin Roberts, Charlie Jane Anders (FM)
Christine Taylor-Butler, Jemma Baptiste Rennie, Cerece Rennie Murphy (FM)
Amber Morrell, Phoenix Alexander, Alastor Guzman (FM)
Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito, Kate Baker (FM)
Kate Maruyama, Krista Wicklund, Jennifer R. Povey, Eric J. Guignard (FM)
Scott Edelman, Elle E. Ire & José Pablo Iriarte (FM)
Phong Quan, Tom Taulli, Elise Stephens, William Ledbetter, Julia Vee, Ai Jiang, R.W.W Greene (FM)
Travis Baldree & Katie Garner (FM)
Serena Powers & Tim Powers (AS)
Jordan Kurella, S. Qiouyi Lu (AS)
Margie Benedict, Timothy Kay, Tom Taulli, Peter Blaisdell (FM)
Chloe Smith, Kelley Eskridge & Nicola Griffith (AS)
Shingai Njeri Kagunda, LP Kindred (AS)
Sally Weiner Grotta, Stuart Pye (FM)
An Dang, Trae Hawkins, Sean Vivier (FM)
Terra LaMay, Rebecca Gomez Farrell (FM)
Jonathan Brazee, Mark Tompkins (FM)
Decie Nwoye, Ariana Celis (AS)

 

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