The Locus Science Fiction Foundation has announced the winners in each category of the 2020 Locus Awards. Winners were announced June 27, 2020 at the virtual Locus Awards Weekend; Connie Willis MCed the awards ceremony, with co-presenter Daryl Gregory. Additional weekend events included readings and panels with leading authors. The full list of winners and finalists is available here: Locus Awards Winners 2020.
Congratulations 2020 winners! Some of the winners have sent us their acceptance speeches, and we’re pleased to be able to include them below.
SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL & SHORT STORY
WINNER: The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
WINNER: “The Bookstore at the End of America”, Charlie Jane Anders (A People’s Future of the United States)
YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
WINNER: Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee (Disney Hyperion)
Yoon Ha Lee: “Howdy! I would like to thank my editor Steph Lurie, Rick Riordan, and the whole team at Disney-Hyperion, as well as my agent Jennifer Jackson and her assistant Michael Curry, and my beta readers. Special thanks to Locus Magazine and the community for this incredible honor. I also want to give a shout-out to my daughter Arabelle Betzwieser, to whom this book is dedicated, and to all the amazing finalists. Remember, foxes are totally trustworthy!”
FIRST NOVEL
WINNER: Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
Tamsyn Muir: “I never dreamed that GIDEON THE NINTH would ever win the Locus Award for First Novel — so much so that when I saw a bunch of ‘Congratulations’ messages in my inbox on the Monday afterwards I assumed they were lottery spam. Congratulations, however, goes to a whole team behind the novel: my agent, Jennifer Jackson; the whole team at my publisher Tor.com with particular shout-outs to Irene Gallo, Mordicai Knode and Ruoxi Chen; an even more particular shout-out to my editor, Carl Engle-Laird, whose blood, sweat and tears are between the pages; and everyone who participated in the process from editing to publication.
“The shortlist was extraordinary and I’m humbled that Locus readers voted me first among ferocious competition. Ngā mihi ki a tātou katoa. Thank you all who voted for GIDEON THE NINTH, and I can’t wait to see more New Zealand SFF authors, especially Māori and Pasifika and diverse Kiwis across the board, be shortlisted with their own debuts.”
NOVELLA
WINNER: This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Saga)
Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone: “We’re so honoured to receive this award, especially given the amazing company we’re keeping on this ballot. Locus magazine is a fantastic publication, an invaluable community resource and a monthly joy in our mailboxes. Reading the interviews, especially, makes it feel like every issue is a thoughtfully curated missive from those authors to us directly, sharing their craft and processes.
Thank you so much to everyone who’s made the magazine and the virtual Locus Awards Weekend possible this year under these extraordinary circumstances, and to everyone who read, shared, and voted for This Is How You Lose the Time War.
This book made it to you at all thanks to the hard work of countless champions. Specifically we’d like to thank DongWon Song, Navah Wolfe, Greg Stadnyk, Molly Powell, Jo Fletcher, Milly Reid, and everyone at Saga Press & JFB. And of course friends and family, sibs, spouses, who read drafts, offered love and encouragement, and in at least one case loudly proclaimed their dislike of novellas and co-written work in general throughout the composition process. Thanks, among your many other virtues, for your senses of humor.
Tremendous gratitude, too, to all the readers who’ve taken Red and Blue into their hearts and gone about the difficult business of fighting their own wars in time and finding the hard paths to victory.
But for now, this is how we win: reading our world against its grain in order to write better ones.
Stay safe, and work for the liberation of all sentient beings.
Best wishes,
Amal and Max”
PUBLISHER
WINNER: Tor
Tom Doherty: “I’d like to say Thank You Locus and Thank You Liza for carrying forward the great magazine Charles started. We’ve had a great run. At TOR we feel it a very special honor to have received the Locus Best Publisher award for the 33rd consecutive year from the finest news magazine of the science fiction field.”
EDITOR
WINNER: Ellen Datlow
Ellen Datlow: “I’m honored to have been among such a strong group of nominees. And I thank all of you who voted for bestowing such an honor upon me.”
ARTIST
WINNER: John Picacio
NON-FICTION
WINNER: Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction, Lisa Kröger & Melanie R. Anderson (Quirk)
ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOK
WINNER: Spectrum 26: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)
John Fleskes: “Honestly, I’m in complete shock and surprised that we won. With the exceptional talents of Donato Giancola, Yuko Shimizu, Bill Sienkiewicz, Tran Nguyen and other top names in the running, I thought Spectrum 26 would be the last to be considered.
With that said, thank you so much to everyone at Locus. We consistently received the nicest emails from Fran, Liza, and Arley and greatly appreciate all of the hard work that they do. Also, a big thanks to Arnie and Cathy Fenner who are the amazing people behind Spectrum and who trusted us with editing and publishing Spectrum 26. Also, to Kathy Chu who works so hard on Spectrum behind the scenes. And to our Flesk crew, Vicky and James.
This award belongs to everyone in the fantastic art community. You all bring us joy and beauty, while giving so much to one another. Without the artists and the fans we could not do what we do. I appreciate you all.
Wow, so shocked. Thanks everyone!
John”
SPECIAL AWARD 2020: INCLUSIVITY AND REPRESENTATION EDUCATION
WINNER: Writing the Other, Nisi Shawl, Cynthia Ward, & K. Tempest Bradford
