Author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie
This may be my favorite award trophy ever.
I was selected as the winner in the 6th annual Japanese Twitter Literature Awards in the foreign works category (for my Japanese collection, 紙の動物園, Hayakawa, edited by 古沢嘉通 (Yoshimichi Furusawa)). Thank you to the readers who enjoyed my stories and voted for me, and a great thanks goes out to Armadillo Hidaka, who created this awesome creature.
My Japanese short story collection,『紙の動物園』, has been chosen by Japanese writers, translators, and reviewers as the best translated SF in Japan of 2015! I’m in great company, and huge thanks to Hayakawa Publishing and my translator, Mr. Yoshimichi Furusawa, who deserve the bulk of the credit.
So … this happened.
I’m speechless. Congrats to all the nominees and I’m so honored to be among you.
I’m going to keep this simple and short. My position on slates is perfectly captured by Elizabeth Bear and Aliette de Bodard in their respective blog posts.
TL;DR:
First of all, I’m going to state up front that I will never willingly participate in a slate. If I learn that I have been included on a slate, I will ask to be removed, and I will bring as much force to bear on that issue as I legally can.
Additionally, I’m going to rely on the discretion of readers and fans of goodwill, who I think are pretty smart people. If you see my name on a slate, please assume that it’s being done by ruiners to punish me, and that whoever put it there has ignored my requests to remove it. I have nothing but contempt for that kind of behavior, and I’m frankly not going to do anything to please them at all.
My colleagues, of course, are free to deal with the situation as they see fit, up to and including refusing nominations. As for me, well—while I reserve the right to turn down an award nomination at my discretion, I’m not about to be forced into it by the action of trolls and reavers. I expect my readers to be able to make up their own minds about my work, and decide for themselves if it’s worthy of an award or not, and vote accordingly in a fair and sportsfanlike fashion.
Thanks.