2024 Locus Awards Online Report
The 2024 Locus Awards were held on June 22, online and in-person at the historic Preservation Park in Oakland CA. Author Henry Lien – ‘‘Emperor Stardust’’ – emceed the ceremony, with author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow as keynote speaker. The awards ceremony concluded the Locus Weekend, a larger celebration of readings, talks, and meetups from June 19‒22. Full members received access to virtual and in-person events, six months of digital Locus, book bags and swag, and more. Live-only and virtual-only memberships were available, as well as a sliding-scale virtual membership.
The online events included eight reading sessions, including authors Charlie Jane Anders, Uchechukwu Nwaka, Henry Lien, Connie Willis, Darcie Little Badger, Tobi Ogundiran, Tananarive Due, Kelly Link, Rachael K. Jones, Nghi Vo, Thomas Ha, Naomi Kritzer, Eugenia Triantafyllou, Doctorow, Ai Jiang, and Premee Mohamed. Saturday’s events began with three well-attended panels. In ‘‘Technology & Futures: The important thing isn’t what the gadget does, it’s who it does it to and who it does it for,’’ Cory Doctorow, Liz Henry, and Audrey T. Williams explored how science fiction can address the intersection of technology and disability, along with using technology to form alternative communities. ‘‘Singing the Undersung: Singing the praises of works you may not have heard of – but should have,’’ featured Emily Jiang, Henry Lien, Jacob Weisman, and Micaiah ‘‘Huw’’ Evans, discussing some of their favorite niche books and and how publishing and cultural forces affect what becomes niche or mainstream in the first place. In ‘‘From the Shadows: Horror, the Darker Side of Speculative Fiction,’’ Alex Brown, Sumiko Saulson, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, and Shane Hawk discussed how classic horror media has influenced them and how horror speaks deeply to audiences.
After the panels, attendees enjoyed a pre-awards reception with Cuban tapas from Havana Restaurant, mingling and exploring their SWAG bags with books donated by Saga, DAW, Tachyon, Levine Querido, MIT, Titan, and more. Huckster tables included Cargo Cult Books and Fly By Night, and local Bay Area writers’ groups: the East Bay Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup and the Afrosurreal Writers Workshop.
During the reception, the online audience enjoyed a conversation between the editors of Space Crone and Theo Le Guin. Editors Sarah Shin and So Mayer Le discussed Ursula K. Le Guin, her archives, and her work as a public intellectual. Theo provided insights on his upbringing and how Le Guin practiced philosophy in family life: ‘‘We were certainly taught very subtly but persistently to listen to our dreams… not to assume that what was happening in your dreams was somehow ‘lesser.’’’
Editor in chief Liza Groen Trombi opened the awards by welcoming attendees and introducing MC Emperor Stardust, who ascended the stage, and after the requisite technical difficulty, played a cosmic, Bowie-style tune, ‘‘Princess Locus’’, composed specially for the event. Princess Locus, the heroine of the song, serves as a ‘‘witness to the wealth of words of worth/documents the nerds of earth.’’ He then introduced each category with a musical ‘‘trinket’’; awards were presented by local luminaries and Locus staff.
The Locus Award for Best Illustrated and Art Book went to The Culture: The Drawings by the late Iain M. Banks, accepted by Orbit UK publisher Anna Jackson on behalf of Banks estate. ‘‘Years of painstaking work went to reproducing [these sketches] accurately so that Iain’s fans could really examine them in close detail and delight in his genius,’’ Jackson said in her acceptance video. She thanked Adele Banks, agent Becky Brown of the estate, Ken MacLeod, the visual and copying teams, and the publishing teams at Orbit and Little, Brown.
The Best Artist award was presented to John Picacio. ‘‘It’s been a heck of a year,’’ said Picacio, describing his transition toward illustrating more of his own books, concepts, and worlds. Embracing one’s own vision often involves ‘‘a lot of uncertainty, a lot of darkness.’’ Picacio thanked everyone for the support.
The Best Non-Fiction Award went to Space Crone by Ursula K. Le Guin, accepted by editors Sarah Shin and So Mayer, who gave a ‘‘cosmic thanks.’’ The team stressed the importance of Le Guin’s philosophy for those who stand ‘‘against genocide and ecocide and epistemicide, against occupation and imprisonment, against violence and domination.’’ They thanked Theo Le Guin, the Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust, and agents Ginger Clark and Susan Smith.
Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld won the award for Best Editor. His acceptance accompanied a a photo of a chipmunk in his backyard at its own miniature table, a sight that brought him peace during 2023, a difficult year for magazines. ‘‘The villains of my particular story are OpenAI and Amazon. They have my scorn.’’ Clarke thanked the Clarkesworld team and contributors, his family, ‘‘sympathetic strangers,’’ and his ‘‘furry friend’’ for their support.
Best Publisher went to Tor; president and publisher Devi Pillai accepted on behalf of Tor, thanking Tor’s fans and community for their support. Pillai also announced they would be recusing Tor, a repeat winner of the Best Publisher category, from award consideration for the next few years, in the interest of spotlighting other publishers.
Best Magazine went to Uncanny. Editors Michael Damian Thomas & Lynne Thomas accepted, thanking the team at Uncanny, and ‘‘every single member of the space unicorn [community].’’ In particular, they thanked their late daughter Kaitlin, ‘‘the strongest, fiercest, most loving, and most amazing human we have ever known.’’
The award for Best Collection went to White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link. Link accepted via video, with a sleepy gray chicken in her arms. She thanked Locus for the attention it has drawn to contemporary short fiction writers, commentators, and community members.
Best Anthology went to Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams. Adams accepted the award and read a speech from Peele, thanking the Monkey Paw team, Adams’ ‘‘incredible eye for talent,’’ and most of all the ‘‘beautifully twisted imaginations of the 19 Black authors who contributed to this anthology.’’
The 2024 Locus Special Award went to Jeanne Cavelos & the Odyssey Writing Workshop, for fostering excellence in craft and career. Cavelos described her difficult journey in starting the workshop 30 years ago, including daunting sights like ‘‘a classroom of students all wearing Frodo masks’’ and an incident with a ‘‘plush goat.’’ She commended the ‘‘spirit, determination, and perseverance’’ of Odyssey writers, and all the supporters of its programs.
‘‘How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub’’ by P. Djèlí Clark won Best Short Story. In his speech, P. Djèlí Clark thanked readers and the Uncanny editors, encouraging listeners to support Uncanny as a ‘‘much needed space for writers with quirky, what-the-heck-was-I-thinking stories like mine.’’
Best Novelette went to ‘‘The Rainbow Bank’’ by Uchechukwu Nwaka. Nwaka thanked voters, the community, and the editors at GigaNotoSaurus for believing in his work. He also thanked his friends for ‘‘encouraging me, really, to get my work out there.’’
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher won the Best Novella category. T. Kingfisher accepted from her garden, wearing a cowboy hat. She thanked her publisher, editor, agent, and husband (‘‘definitely my husband.’’) She also took time to spotlight the eastern skunk cabbage, – capable of producing their own heat, they melt snow and ice around them, which is ‘‘pretty badass’’ but disconcerting: ‘‘I think they’re plotting something.’’
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera took Best First Novel. Chandrasekera stressed artists’ ‘‘responsibility of sabotage’’ in a society in which atrocities are laundered with heroic language, ‘‘as wars of light against darkness, [like] a fantasy novel.’’ He encouraged audiences and readers to donate to the Gaza Help Campaign.
The award for Best YA Book went to Promises Stronger Than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders, who enthusiastically thanked everyone for the honor, noting the personal importance of this book being recognized and embraced in a time of uncertainty and societal threats, and the necessity of conversations about understanding people who are vulnerable and marginalized. She thanked her agent Russ Galen, editor Miriam Weinberg, and the team at Tor Teen. ‘‘Y’all are the best!’’
The Best Horror Novel went to A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. In her second speech, Kingfisher offered the Titan arum plant, which ‘‘blooms for like a day and stinks to high heaven.’’
Best Fantasy Novel went to Witch King by Martha Wells. Wells said she was very grateful to the voters and thanked her editor Lee Harris, publisher Irene Gallo, her cover and book designers, audio narrators, agents, and the team at Tordotcom.
The Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel went to System Collapse by Martha Wells, in a first for the Locus Awards. In her second speech, Wells thanked team for MurderBot book, and all of the voters and Locus readers.
Trombi concluded the awards by thanking voters and members, the publishers who donated books, and sponsors: the Henderson Family Foundation and the Reid Hoffman Foundation, and the Friends of Locus: Adriana Gomes, Ayize Jama-Everett, Bradford Lyau, Jacob Plovanic, Mark Tompkins, and Sarah Guan. The ceremony closed out with a reprise by Emperor Stardust of ‘‘Princess Locus’’.
The ceremony was streamed on Zoom and YouTube, and an edited video is available at the Locus YouTube channel.
A selection of photos from the event follows.
–Maya St. Clair
Photographers: Skunkheart AKA Pope Uncommon the Dainty AKA Grok Amiri, Francesca Myman, Josette King, Richard Man
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