I went for a hike this afternoon so I wouldn’t just spend the entire middle of the day haunting social media — but as some of you have now seen elseweb, I am once again a finalist for the Hugo Awards!

. . . in the category of Best Poem!

If your reaction to that news is “wait, you’re a finalist for Best Poem?” — no, you didn’t miss a category in previous years. Every Worldcon has the right to pick a Special Award; Seattle chose poetry. It’s possible this might become a regular thing in future years, as happened with Best Series, especially since the Nebulas have instituted that as a new category. But for now, it’s a Special Award.

If your reaction to that news is “wait, you’re a finalist for Best Poem?” — trust me, I was as surprised as you are! I only started writing poetry in 2021, and at the time of this posting, I have a whopping six such publications to my name; my nominated poem (“A War of Words”) was my fourth. So yeah, this is almost as new to me as it is to the Hugos, and I’m still a little croggled.

(And also amused that I have boomeranged from what is generally going to be the longest single category — Best Series — to what is generally going to be the shortest — Best Poem.)

I am in splendid company, and there’s something particularly cool about being part of this unique (or, dare we hope, inaugural?) cohort. I can’t wait to sit down and read all the finalist poems!