The 2022 Ignyte Awards Shortlist

April 18, 2022 1:23 PM

"The Ignyte Awards Committee Is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2022 Igynte Awards. The Awards seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscape of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts towards inclusivity within the genre. To that effect, the committee feels that these creators, creations, entities and perspectives from 2021 present the brightest lights in speculative fiction’s future." 19 of the shortlisted works are readable for free online, including many short stories and novelettes. Voting is open now (anyone can vote) and closes June 10th.
posted by brainwane (9 comments total)

brainwave, you bring us the best things. This is fantastic - thanks!!
posted by Silvery Fish at 3:42 PM on April 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

I’m not familiar enough with these to vote, but it’s great fodder for my to-read list!!
posted by obfuscation at 4:15 PM on April 18, 2022

Oooooh Boy!!

Indeed, this is relevant to my interests.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:25 PM on April 18, 2022

Of the novels, I have already enjoyed Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (FanFare). It's excellent and you can read an excerpt here.
posted by brainwane at 5:43 PM on April 18, 2022

I really loved The Unbroken. Colonialism and collaboration and the twisty allegiances of nation and family.
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:35 PM on April 18, 2022

Light From Uncommon Stars had me in tears for so much of it. Ryka Aoki said that the book was written less for trans kids than it is for the friends/family of trans kids but it really connected with my own journey with trauma, of going from a place persistent emotional and physical abuse to finding a different world and growing into an adult surrounded by people who love me for who I am, warts and all

I love that it's on this list and highly recommend it, wild premise and all
posted by paimapi at 8:34 AM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Seconding paimapi - Light From Uncommon Stars was truly a special book in a lot of ways.

I'm a little surprised Becky Chambers' Psalm for the Wild-Built didn't make the list for Novella, but no list is perfect. Looking forward to digging into some of the titles I don't know!
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:15 AM on April 19, 2022

FIYAHCON is a virtual convention centering the perspectives and celebrating the contributions of BIPOC in speculative fiction.
posted by porpoise at 7:04 PM on April 19, 2022

Per the end of the Ignyte shortlist:

The short list is derived from 15 BIPOC+ voters made up of FIYAHCON Staff and previous award winners, of varying genders, sexualities, cultures, disabilities, and locations throughout the world. They are referred to as the Ignyte Awards Committee. The Committee was not limited to selections authored or otherwise created by BIPOC. Public voting on the shortlist does not permit write-in nominations. Each year, we ask winners to be part of the subsequent year’s committee to ensure fresh perspectives and to help prevent repeated nominations of the same popular authors as recognized in many other genre awards.

There are a lot of awards out there for sf/f. Locus, Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Clarke, Dragon, tons -- they do have different lenses through which to view the field. My own "oh I hope this gets on a list SOMEwhere" item: the horror comic The Low, Low Woods written by Carmen Maria Machado with art by Dani Strips and Tamra Bonvillain. The kind of story you might expect from Carmen Maria Machado, feminist and eerie and textured about the ways people feel trapped, with gorgeous art.

One thing I like about the Ignyte Awards is how sensible the categories are! For instance, there is a "Best anthology/collected works" category, and there's a "Best creative nonfiction" category, and a "Critics Award" -- which helps elucidate stuff that gets muddled in the Hugos' "Best Fan Writer" and "Best Related Work" categories.
posted by brainwane at 3:57 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]