 Cover of issue 10, May 2016 | |
| Editor | Michael Damian Thomas |
|---|---|
| Former editors | Lynne M. Thomas |
| Categories | science fiction and fantasy |
| Frequency | Bimonthly |
| Founder | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas |
| Founded | 2014 |
| First issue | November 4, 2014[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | uncannymagazine |
Uncanny Magazine is an American science fiction and fantasy online magazine founded by publishing editors Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.
First issued in 2014, the publication is based in Urbana, Illinois.[2] The editors-in-chief, who had previously edited Apex Magazine from 2012–2013, chose the name of the magazine because they say it "has a wonderful pulp feel" and like how the name evokes the unexpected.[3] They created the magazine "in the spirit of pulp sci-fi mags popular in the 1960s and '70s."[2] The editors have said that the purpose of the magazine is to push the boundaries of science fiction and fantasy by challenging readers while promoting an inclusive platform for writers of varied backgrounds.[4] Invoking the whimsicality of its speculative subject matter, its mascot is a space unicorn.[4]
Uncanny has published bimonthly, beginning in November 2014, after receiving initial funding through Kickstarter.[5] It supports itself through crowdfunding as well as subscriptions, which numbered 4,000 in 2017.[6][2]
The magazine became increasingly prominent after the editors won the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine multiple times. Content such as an English translation of "Folding Beijing" by Hao Jingfang and "You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay" by Alyssa Wong cement its reputation during the earlier issues by winning awards as well.[7]
By March 2025, Thomas and Thomas had published 63 issues; at which point Lynne Thomas announced she would be stepping down as co-editor to direct her time for librarian activities as Head of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.[8]
The magazine publishes original works by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Catherynne M. Valente, Charlie Jane Anders, Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Alex Bledsoe, Nalo Hopkinson, Jane Yolen, Naomi Novik, N. K. Jemisin, G. Willow Wilson, Carmen Maria Machado, Amal El-Mohtar, Ursula Vernon, Kameron Hurley and Ken Liu, and published early stories by Alyssa Wong and Brooke Bolander.[9][2] Each issue includes new short stories, one reprint, new poems, non-fiction essays, and a pair of interviews.[6] The magazine pays its authors and artists.[6] It also produces a podcast where some of the magazine's content is read aloud.[10] They have a staff of 10 editors and receive between 1,000 and 2,000 submissions every month.[2]
In 2018, they published a disability-themed issue called Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction with content exclusively from disabled creators.[11] This was a continuation of the Destroy series originally from Lightspeed magazine; in it, the authors and illustrators envisioned "a truly accessible future is one that features rather than erases the disabled mind and body."[11] The issue won an Aurora Award for Best Related Work in 2019.[12][13]
In 2017, Uncanny won the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine, and one of its published stories, "Folding Beijing" by Hao Jingfang translated by Ken Liu, won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[14] It since went on to win the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine every year from 2017 through 2020, 2022, and 2023.
| Award | Category | Year | Nominee | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugo Award | Semiprozine | 2016 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Won | [15][14] |
| 2017 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky | Won | [16][17] | ||
| 2018 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Julia Rios, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky | Won | [18][19] | ||
| 2019 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, and Dominik Parisien | Won | [20][21] | ||
| 2020 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Won | [22][23] | ||
| 2021 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Nominated | [24][25] | ||
| 2022 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Won | [26][27] | ||
| 2023 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, Monte Lin, Meg Elison, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Won | [28] | ||
| 2024 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Monte Lin, Meg Elison, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Nominated | [29] | ||
| 2025 | Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Monte Lin, Meg Elison, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky | Won | [30] | ||
| Professional Editor, Short Form | 2017 | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas | Nominated | [16][17] | |
| 2018 | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas | Won | [18][19][31] | ||
| 2019 | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas | Nominated | [20][21] | ||
| 2020 | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas | Nominated | [22][23] | ||
| 2024 | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas | Nominated | [29] | ||
| 2025 | Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas | Nominated | [30] | ||
| British Fantasy Award | Magazine/Periodical | 2017 | Uncanny | Nominated | [32][33] |
| 2019 | Uncanny (Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky, Elsa Sjunneson and Dominik Parisien) | Won | [34][35] | ||
| Aurora Awards | Related Work | 2019 | Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction (Elsa Sjunneson and Dominik Parisien) | Won | [36][12] |
| Parsec Awards | Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast | 2016 | The Uncanny Magazine Podcast (Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Erika Ensign, Amal El-Mohtar, C. S. E. Cooney, Deborah Stanish, and Steven Schapansky) | Won | [37] |
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