I was going to bury the lede but screw it, I’m too excited. Last weekend, my poem “The World To Come” won the first ever Nebula Award for Best Poem.

Here’s a closeup of the trophy because it’s SO BEAUTIFUL

At the Nebula conference, I was able to hang out with three of the other nominated poets and the President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, and let me tell you, the spec fic poetry community is absolutely wonderful. We all agreed that poetry is nothing to be afraid of! If anything, it’s playful — both for the writer and the reader. If you’re at all curious about speculative poetry, check out the nominated works; all but one of the poems are freely available online. And if you want to get seriously inspired, check out the speeches given by Ryka Aoki, who introduced the Best Poem category (and who is an absolute delight!) and N.K. Jemisin, who gave an incredible speech as SFWA’s newest Grand Master. You won’t regret it.

The rest of my summer is going to be pretty relaxed, until things ramp back up again for World Con and the Hugo Awards at the end of August. Until then, I’ll be home: tending my garden, spotting birds, and petting my cat. Oh — and also writing, because the work never stops, and thank goodness for that.