Editorial
Editor's Desk: Day of the Wineberry
The Triffids, Biollante, and other infamous plant monsters have a new colleague. Like Biollante, it’s a fast growing invader from Japan, but this one has taken up residence in my backyard. It has whip-like thorny appendages and can be very territorial.
Last month, I made the mistake of stepping too close to its habitat and was summarily punished. Before I could blink, my head was grabbed by the beast and a row of radioactive thorns thrust into my face, right across my still-open eye! [Note: Claims of radioactivity may be exaggerated.]
Yes, your editor, the damage-magnet, was once again thrust into a situation requiring a week-long adventure complete with medical professionals. Five thorn fragments had to be tweezed from my eye and my vision has been slowly recovering since. I’m no longer photo-sensitive, which is great, but I did lose a lot of work time this month. The planned editorial, “Slush Reading as an Educational Opportunity for Children,” was simply too much to tackle and has had to be rescheduled for next month.
Until then feel free to come up with various solutions that would prevent me from attracting further damage. If anyone has a working force field, please contact me.
Award News
Awards excitment continued in April with the announcements of the Ditmar Awards in Australia and the Aurora Awards finalists in Canada. There are always interesting works on their ballots, but this year we took special interest as two of our authors made the list. Congratulations to Thoraiya Dyer, winner of the Ditmar Award for Best Short Story (“The Wisdom of Ants”) and Suzanne Church, nominee for the Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction: English (“Synch Me, Kiss Me, Drop”). This is fantastic news and we are so happy for them.
Later this month, the winners of the Nebula Award will be announced at a ceremony in San Jose, California. I would love to be in attendance and cheer on our four nominees (Helena Bell, Tom Crosshill, Aliette de Bodard and Catherynne M. Valente), but unfortunately, it isn't possible. In past years, SFWA has broadcast the ceremony, so I hope to tune in and be there in spirit.
Congratulations to all and best of luck!
Neil Clarke is the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, Forever Magazine, and several anthologies, including the Best Science Fiction of the Year series. He is a ten-time finalist and current winner of the Hugo Award for Best Editor (Short Form), has won the Chesley Award for Best Art Director three times, and received the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award from SFWA in 2019. His latest anthology, New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction (co-edited with Xia Jia and Regina Kanyu Wang), is now available from Clarkesworld Books. He currently lives in NJ with his wife and two sons.
