I won a Hugo Award! Plus my Best Fan Writer speech
I fought a bad cold during the weekend of the 2026 Worldcon and, despite my best efforts, I fell asleep before the beginning of LACon V’s Hugo Awards ceremony. So imagine my surprise when I woke in the middle of the night and discovered I’d won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer.
This was the first time in many years I was unable to attend Worldcon. My friend Chris M. Barkley, who won the same award in 2023, agreed to accept the award on my behalf. Chris read the following speech, which touched on my life as a person on the autistic spectrum, how SF/F saved my life, and how our current president and secretary of health are continually attacking people on the spectrum.
Congrats to all this year’s Hugo Award winners! Please check out their writings and works. In addition, LACon V has released the 2026 Hugo Administrators Report along with the voting and nomination statistics for this year’s Hugo, Lodestar & Astounding Awards.
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Jason’s Best Fan Writer Speech
Oh shit, I guess I should have attended Worldcon!
Seriously, I didn’t expect this. I love the science fiction and fantasy genre and Fan Writers have long inspired me. The works by the other finalists in this year’s category – along with the many winners and finalists over the decades – have made me think, have led me to new stories and authors, and have helped this genre keep an eye on the past while also looking to the future. I’m honored people see my journalism and essays as worthy of standing among the writings of these wonderful people.
I want to thank the following people: My mother, who instilled in me a love for reading and writing; my children, who inspire me by living their best lives; Lucienne Diver, whose support for my stories means more than she’ll ever know; Chris Barkley, for his friendship and support; and last but not least Candace, whose love and support keeps me going.
I also want to thank all of my friends along with the readers and supporters of both my fiction and my Genre Grapevine. I couldn’t do this without you.
The science fiction and fantasy genre saved my life. Growing up in rural Alabama as a neurodiverse child – as someone on the autistic spectrum – I felt isolated and alone. Back then I didn’t understand why I couldn’t fit in with the other kids. Why so many teachers and adults kept saying there was something wrong with me.
When I was young, science fiction and fantasy stories not only gave me hope but also helped me understand and process the world in which we live. Our stories helped me realize that despite what I heard from so many others, there was nothing wrong with me.
I write about science fiction and fantasy because I want the genre to be welcoming to everyone who needs it, just as the scared and strangely different child I was back then needed the genre. I want everyone who discovers the power of science fiction and fantasy to also discover a genre community where they can thrive, and dream, and be accepted.
Unfortunately, our world keeps doing it damndest to make it difficult for people on the autistic spectrum to survive, let alone be accepted. We have a president and a secretary of health who are determined to stigmatize everyone on the spectrum. I refuse to stay silent about this, so I’ll close with a few words I wrote last year:
We've always been around. We'll always be here. Living, seeing, loving, dying.
We've been called autistic. On the spectrum. Different. Strange. Touched. Disabled. And words far worse. The slurs. The hate. The questions. The disappointment. The anger that we aren't normal as normal is called.
But we're still here despite their words.
We speak and are silent. We survive and struggle. We're independent and need help. We cry and hurt and scream and laugh and smile and wonder at a world that dismisses other ways of living and seeing and loving.
And we see much more than people expect. We struggle with social cues but see so many truths. We face difficulties understanding but understand what others ignore.
… We know society defines what's normal. We know many people want an empire of normality that excludes us. We know people hate us for contradicting how they see the world.
We've always been around. We'll always be here. Living, seeing, loving, dying.
We are as normal as life itself.
Note: This excerpt is from my essay “When They Say They've Cured Autism.” To read all my essays about autism and neurodiversity, please see my downloadable booklet Tips and Strategies for Neurodiverse Writers.
Glasgow Worldcon schedule
I’m attending this year’s Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland. I’m really excited about this because it’s my first Worldcon outside the USA and the first one I’ve attended in a few years.
I’ll also be reporting on Worldcon through my Genre Grapevine and social media accounts.
My schedule is below. I look forward to seeing everyone there.
Friday, August 9, 9 am
Stroll with the Stars
Festival Park, starting outside CrownePlaza
Join your fellow convention members, and perhaps some big names, for a gentle stroll (1.3 miles/2km) around Festival Park, across the river from the SEC, led by Farah Mendlesohn and Mike Scott. The route is wheelchair-accessible, and we will adjust our pace to match the abilities of the slowest walkers. Sign up at the Registration Desk by 18:00 the previous day, and meet at 09:00 outside the Crowne Plaza hotel’s main entrance.
Friday, August 9, 2:30 pm
How is the Hugo Award Administered These Days, Anyway?
Argyll 1
Let's gather during Worldcon to debate whether we should pursue incorporating WSFS and implementing more accountability within WSFS and the Hugo administration process. What are the pros and cons of such a solution, and should we make any changes? The intention is to specify what we expect for the future of the Hugo Awards.
Friday, August 9, 2024, 5:30 PM
Neurodivergent Approaches to Stories Participants
Alsh 1
Neurodivergent authors and readers approach the art of fiction in different ways from neurotypical people. Stories may be a way to understand and process the world. For neurodivergent authors, traditional advice on how to write fiction may actually be harmful or counterproductive. In this panel, a group of neurodivergent authors and readers will discuss both how they process fiction written by others and how they write their own stories.
Saturday August 10 at 13:00
Autographing
Hall 4
Saturday, August 10, 8:30 PM
AI and Creative Writing - Do Androids Dream of Winning a Hugo?
Carron
There has been a surge in self-published e-books written (largely) by ChatGPT whilst some magazine editors report being swamped by AI-generated stories. For now, these are easily identifiable and generally of poor quality. However, will a time come when AI-generated fiction is indistinguishable from human-generated stories and of a standard people might actually want to read? Should we accept that this is inevitable or resist the rise of AI fiction? And how do we resist?
Chicon Schedule
I'm attending Chicon, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention, later this week. I’m doing the following in-person events, so please come check them out. I’ll also be attending the Hugo Awards ceremony, where I’m a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer.
I look forward to seeing everyone there!
Autographing Session
Thursday, September 1
1:00 PM CDT, 2:00 PM EDTTable Talk (advance registration required, details here)
Friday, September 2
10:00 AM CDT , 11:00 AM EDTNeurodivergent Fan Meetup
Saturday, September 3
4:00 PM CDT, 5:00 PM EDT
Gen Con Writer's Symposium schedule
I’m a panelist at the Gen Con Writer's Symposium, which starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday. R. A. Salvatore is the Author Guest of Honor and a ton of other great authors will also be attending, including Maurice Broaddus, C.S.E. Cooney, Mary Fan, Jaym Gates, LaShawn Wanak, Carlos Hernandez and many more.
The Writer’s Symposium is a tiny part of the larger Gen Con but it’s a great way to interact with authors and also get advice on writing and publishing your own works. Definitely check it out!
Here’s my schedule:
Thursday, August 4
The Full-time Myth: Does every writer really want to do this full-time?
11:00 am in Atlanta
Jennifer Brozek, Erik de Bie, Jason Sanford, C. S. E. Cooney, Jerry Gordon
Writing Tools: Tools to help organize your writing
1 pm in Austin/Boston
Katherine Monasterio, Marie Bilodeau, Jason Sanford, Howard Andrew Jones, LaShawn Wanak (M)
Finding Novels a Home
3 pm in Atlanta
Jason Sanford
Friday, August 5
Finding Short Stories a Home
4 pm in Atlanta
LaShawn Wanak, Jason Sanford
Saturday, August 6
Submitting Your Work: Bye-bye, SASE! Modern methods of submitting work, the good and the bad
1 pm in Austin/Boston
Howard Andrew Jones, Jason Sanford, Carlos Hernandez, Steve Diamond
NFTs and the future of fiction. Can writers benefit from trying to introduce NFTs into their fiction writing?
3 pm in Atlanta
Gini Koch, Lucien Soulban, Jason Sanford, Chris Bell (M)
Imagining Alternate Futures: How to extrapolate a future for your setting
4 pm in Atlanta
Gini Koch, Donald J. Bingle, Paul Weimer, Jason Sanford
Defining Traits: How to distinguish one character from another without overdoing it
5 pm in Austin/Boston
Jennifer Brozek, Erin M. Evans, Jason Sanford, David Mack
Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer
For the second year in a row I’m a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Many thanks to everyone who supported my reporting and essays about the science fiction and fantasy genre, with most of these works published in my Genre Grapevine column on Patreon.
Worldcon is currently providing a Hugo Awards packet that includes a sampler of my 2021 fan writings. Here’s the sampler if you’d like to download it directly:
In addition, the contents of the sample can also be accessed online with the links below.
Essays, reviews, and special reports
No One Creates Alone (an essay exploring creativity that I’m particularly proud of)
Baen Books Forum Being Used to Advocate for Political Violence
Genre Grapevine Primer On the Latest Worldcon and Hugo Award Explosion
Samples of Genre Grapevine Columns