Eugen Bacon

Eugen Bacon is announced at the 2025 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award recipient

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association is pleased to announce that the 2025 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award will be presented to Eugen Bacon at the 60th Annual SFWA Nebula Awards® ceremony on June 7, 2025.

The Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award is bestowed by SFWA to a person who has made significant contributions to the science fiction, fantasy, and related genres community. The award was created in 2008, with Wilhelm named as one of the three original recipients, and it was renamed in her honor in 2016. Our latest recipient joins the ranks of Solstice Award winners, including Cerece Rennie Murphy, Greg Bear, Petra Mayer, Arley Sorg, Troy L. Wiggins, Ben Bova, Rachel Caine, and Jennell Jaquays.

Eugen Bacon (eugenbacon.com) is an African Australian author of several novels and collections. She’s a British Fantasy and Foreword Indies Award winner, a twice World Fantasy Award finalist, and a finalist for the Shirley Jackson, Philip K. Dick, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award in Australia, and the Nommo Awards for speculative fiction by Africans. Eugen is an Otherwise Fellow, and was also announced in the honor list for “doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction”.

Her short story collection, Danged Black Thing, made the Otherwise Award Honor List as a “sharp collection of Afro-Surrealist work”. Her latest publications are A Place Between Waking and Forgetting (short stories) and Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction—an edited anthology of original artistic essays infused with creative excerpts from award-winning African writers on the futurisms in their speculative fiction.

In accepting the Solstice Award, Eugen said, “I am beyond words—we don’t always feel visible. Deepest thanks to SFWA for this amazing recognition! I see the work you do, and can only stay earnest in the hope that science fiction and fantasy writers, globally, will continue to make a difference in these particularly challenging times. My heart is glowing.”

The gratitude goes both ways. As SFWA President Kate Ristau shared, “We are proud to celebrate Eugen for her continued work in the community, challenging us to create and contextualize our own creative practice. In her Bloomsbury Academic book Writing Speculative Fiction, Eugen tells us there’s a story in you. With her curiosity, playfulness, and keen eye for storytelling, Eugen continues to inspire and motivate the speculative fiction community to write that story. Thank you, Eugen, for your passionate leadership and support.”

Children’s book author Christine Taylor-Butler heartily agrees: “In today’s environment, it is more important than ever that we recognize the voices and contributions of creative people all over the world. Eugen is an award-winning author/editor who shows that holding science and art backgrounds are not mutually exclusive. She pays her success forward by expanding opportunities for others through writing clinics, award competitions, and mentorship opportunities in Australia. She represents the best of us both through her writing and by encouraging others in the pursuit of their own.”

Erin Roberts

Banner ad for the 60th Anniversary Nebula Conference Toastmaster Erin Roberts

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is excited to announce that acclaimed author Erin Roberts, will serve as toastmaster for the 60th Annual Nebula Awards® Ceremony! The ceremony will take place in Kansas City, Missouri on June 7, 2025, and streamed live on YouTube so that our global audience can partake in the latest adventures of Airship Nebula.

Erin Roberts tells stories however and whenever she can. She’s written short stories published by magazines including Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, and The Dark; built worlds and designed adventures for over 50 tabletop roleplaying game projects, including Nebula finalist Journeys through the Radiant Citadel; offered players choices as an interactive fiction and video game writer; and given characters a voice in scripts for projects including Zombies, Run! and the Yoto interactive children’s adventure Forge Your Quest.

When not telling her own stories, Erin helps others tell theirs. She’s taught creative writing courses for the University of Texas at Austin, Surrey International Writers Conference, and Clarion West; talked about the craft of writing in conference panels, on cruise ships, and between karaoke numbers; and shares her thoughts in a weekly conversation about the business and craft of writing as one of the hosts of the Writing Excuses podcast.

She’s honored to have this opportunity to celebrate the power of story in all its forms and to give some shine to the brilliant writers who bring new worlds to life and make ours that much brighter.

Jennell Jaquays

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association is pleased to announce that the 2024 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award will be presented posthumously to Jennell Jaquays at the 59th Annual SFWA Nebula Awards® ceremony on June 8, 2024.

The Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award is given by SFWA for significant contributions to the science fiction, fantasy, and related genres community. The award was created in 2008, with Wilhelm named as one of the three original recipients, and was renamed in her honor in 2016. Ms. Jaquays joins the ranks of the latest Solstice Award winners, including Cerece Rennie Murphy, Greg Bear, Petra Mayer, Arley Sorg, Troy L. Wiggins, Ben Bova, and Rachel Caine.

Jennell Jaquays

A multi-award winning and honored artist, game designer, editor, and activist, Jennell Jaquays left an indelible mark on the gaming industry and SFF community for nearly fifty years. Ms. Jaquays’ career began in college, when she and her friends created “The Dungeoneer,” one of the first licensed Dungeons and Dragons fanzines.

Now, from magazines to books, Ms. Jaquays’ art can be seen on multiple covers and throughout the pages of the many different forms and iterations of Dungeons and Dragons’ media. Having designed two modules of her own, “Dark Tower” and “The Caverns of Thracia,”  her writing was celebrated by players for eschewing traditional and linear game mechanics and are not only playable today–but continue to inspire game designers and GMs.

Also known for her game industry work at companies such as Coleco, TSR, and id Software, Ms. Jaquays designed and contributed to multiple projects such as Coleco Vision, certain levels on the Quake II and III video games, arcade conversions of Pac-Man and Donkey-Kong, Halo Wars, and created an expansion pack in Age of Empires III.

Ms. Jaquays was nominated for multiple H.G. Wells Awards for her work and creation of the “Dark Tower” D&D module and for her design and illustrations on“Griffin Mountain.” Her work with Coleco’s WarGames won her the 1984 Summer C.E.S. original software award. Additionally, Castle Greyhawk won an Origins Gamer’s Choice Award for “Best Role-Playing Adventure,” and in 2017, the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design inducted Ms. Jaquays into their hall of fame.

Inspired by her own journey, Ms. Jaquays also became a recognized transgender activist, spending time working as the creative director of the Transgender Human Rights Institute.

“A beacon of hope and inspiration, Jennell Jaquays worked tirelessly in the spirit of community while gifting us with her art, her games, and her stories for almost fifty years,” said SFWA Director-at-Large, Monica Valentinelli. “The Board is honored to commemorate Jennell Jaquays and her indelible legacy as an artist, writer, and game designer in the video game and tabletop roleplaying industries.”

Accepting on behalf of Ms. Jaquays at the 59th Annual Nebula Awards is her wife, Rebecca Heineman.

Sarah Gailey

 

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is excited to announce that author and SFWA Nebula and Hugo Award finalist, Sarah Gailey, will serve as toastmaster for the 59th Annual Nebula Awards® Ceremony! The ceremony will take place in Pasadena, CA on June 8th, 2024. Continuing on with SFWA’s commitment of inviting and including the global science fiction and fantasy community, the organization will be livestreaming the ceremony on Youtube.

SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy shared, “I’m delighted that Sarah will be our Toastmaster this year. With their wit and deep ties to the genre community, Sarah will bring grace and resonance to the ceremony.”

Sarah Gailey is a Hugo Award Winning and Bestselling author of speculative fiction, short stories, and essays. They have been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards for multiple years running. Their bestselling adult novel debut, Magic For Liars, was published by Tor Books in 2019. Their most recent novel, Just Like Home, and most recent original comic book series with BOOM! Studios, Know Your Station are available now. Their shorter works and essays have been published in Mashable, The Boston Globe, Vice, Tor.com, and The Atlantic. Their work has been translated into seven different languages and published around the world.

“I am so honored to act as this year’s Toastmaster for the Nebula Awards Ceremony in June,” Gailey said. “It will be an absolute thrill to celebrate the ever-blooming excellence that thrives in genre literature.”

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath

The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations–until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit–a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.

Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising–and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.

For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound–both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.

Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing–and they might just be the ones to do it.

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