Octothorpe

158: I Am the Worldcon Chair in Avignon

Octothorpe

Show Notes

John, Alison and Liz dissect this year’s Hugo Awards finalists! An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: None

Hugo Awards

Best Novel

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow The Incandescent by Emily Tesh The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Best Novella

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz Cinder House by Freya Marske Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar The Summer War by Naomi Novik What Stalks the Deep by T Kingfisher

Best Novelette

“Kaiju Agonistes” by Scott Lynch “Never Eaten Vegetables” by H H Pak “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy” by Martha Wells “The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For” by Cameron Reed “The Millay Illusion” by Sarah Pinsker “When He Calls Your Name” by Catherynne M Valente

Best Short Story

“10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills “In My Country” by Thomas Ha “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg “Missing Helen” by Tia Tashiro “Six People to Revise You” by J R Dawson “Wire Mother” by Isabel J Kim

Best Series

Emily Wilde by Heather Fawcett October Daye by Seanan McGuire Old Man’s War by John Scalzi The Chronicles of Osreth by Katherine Addison The Craft Wars by Max Gladstone White Space by Elizabeth Bear

Best Graphic Story or Comic

Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon A Girl and Her Fed A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel The Invisible Parade The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers The Space Cat

Best Related Work

Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid Inventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Age by Ada Palmer Last War in Albion: “The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)” by Elizabeth Sandifer Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E Butler by Susana M Morris History of Westeros: “Ragnarök vs the Long Night” The Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, maintained by Renay

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Andor (season 2) Frankenstein KPop Demon Hunters Mickey 17 Sinners Superman

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Doctor Who: “The Story & the Engine” Murderbot: “All Systems Red” Murderbot: “The Perimeter” Pluribus: “We Is Us” Severance: “Cold Harbor” The Wheel of Time: “The Road to the Spear”

Best Game or Interactive Work

Blue Prince Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

“Tabletop roleplaying in the world of Citizen Sleeper 2!” on Quinns Quest

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Dispatch Hades II Hollow Knight: Silksong

Best Editor Short Form

Scott H Andrews Jennifer Brozek Neil Clarke Lee Harris Michael Damian Thomas Sheila Williams

Best Editor Long Form

Carl Engle-Laird Jaymee Goh Lee Harris Jenni Hill Joe Monti Diana M Pho

Best Professional Artist

Lulu Chen Kelly Chong Dave Kellett Tran Nguyen John Picacio Tom Roberts

Best Semiprozine

Escape Pod khōréō magazine On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic Strange Horizons The Deadlands Uncanny Magazine

Best Fanzine

Ancillary Review of Books An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog Galactic Journey Intergalactic Mixtape Journey Planet nerds of a feather, flock together

Best Fancast

A Meal of Thorns Eating the Fantastic Hugo, Girl! Octothorpe The Coode Street Podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists

Best Fan Writer

Jay Brantner for “Tar Vol” Alex Brown James Davis Nicoll Roseanna Pendlebury Jason Sanford Örjan Westin

Best Fan Artist

Terri Ash Geneva Bowers Sara Felix Richard Man España Sheriff Yuumei

Best Poem

“Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness “Hex Supply Customer Support Log” by Elis Montgomery “How to Become a Sea Witch” by Theodora Goss “Landing: Seattle” by Brandon O’Brien “The Mourning Robot” by Angel

More from Octothorpe

Oct 22, 2026

John is at Fantasycon, Alison is wrong, and Liz is right. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: None

Oct 8, 2026

John, Alison and Liz are live from Octocon! An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: It’s a live recording!

Sep 24, 2026

John parties, Alison queues, and Liz betrays. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode:

Sep 10, 2026

John is tired, Alison is listening to music, and Liz is catsitting. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: Clowns (Chapter 1), Hugo Award statistics (Chapter 3)

Aug 27, 2026

John, Alison, and Liz fix the Hugo Awards once and for all. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode:

See all episodes →