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.