In August, science fiction writer N. K. Jemisin, who happens to be black and female, won the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novel with the third in her Broken Earth trilogy, Stone Sky. The award, presented at Worldcon 76 in San José, California on August 19, 2018, represented a monumental achievement. Each of the three novels in the series has won the award: The Fifth Season (2016), The Obelisk Gate (2017), and now Stone Sky. Not only has the whole trilogy been honored by the Hugos, but Jemisin has made Hugos history by winning three years in a row.

Her wins represent a victory over a loudmouthed, aggressive alt-right faction intent on keeping women and minorities out of science fiction, which they seem to regard as a white male preserve. Two groups calling themselves the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies, seemingly emboldened by the shameful 2014 Gamergate incident during which white supremicist gamers trolled, attacked, and bullied gamer women,  worked to undermine diversity in the Hugos. (In case you don’t know what Gamergate is all about, here’s a handy guide:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/?utm_term=.1a01602cfc52 )

Here’s an article giving background on the Hugos/Puppies incident as well as a link to Jemisin’s rousing acceptance speech at 2018 Worldcon: https://www.vox.com/2018/8/21/17763260/n-k-jemisin-hugo-awards-broken-earth-sad-puppies

Good on you, Worldcon. Find out about the awards here: http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2018-hugo-awards/