Who wants to see speculative poetry recognized with a permanent Hugo Award? We do! And by “we,” I mean a very cool group of poets and writers who are working to make specpo a consistent feature on the Hugo ballot. Ringleader Holly Lyn Walrath is here to talk about the Speculative Poetry Initiative. Thanks to Holly for answering my questions!
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Myna: First, what does the Speculative Poetry Initiative hope to achieve? Why is this important, and why now?
Holly: Our goal is to add a permanent category to the Hugo Awards for speculative poetry (science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre poetry). The Hugo Awards are hosted at Worldcon each year, a convention that has been going on since the 1950s. Each year, the Hugos highlight the best speculative fiction, but there has never been an official category for poetry.
In 2025, Seattle Worldcon is hosting the first-ever speculative poetry special Hugo. However, this is not a permanent addition to the Hugo Awards, and we want to change that.
We feel speculative poetry deserves to finally be recognized by the larger science fiction community. To use the words of SPI member and this year’s poet laureate of Worldcon, Brandon O’Brien:
“Poetry is a touchstone of the history of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.”
Speculative poetry has always been here, and we want to highlight the amazing community of poets writing and publishing in today’s SFFH world.
Myna: How can readers support the Initiative? How can editors and publishers help?
Holly: There are a lot of ways to help us get a poetry Hugo!
- People can read the proposal and follow our progress at Speculative Poetry Initiative.
- On that website, there is a contact form for folks who want to provide public feedback and stay up to date on the initiative.
- If you are a WSFS member, please consider attending the online business meetings happening in July. The more people who show up and support this goal, the more likely it is to pass.
- If you’re an editor or publication, you can also fill out the form on our website to be listed as a sponsor of this project.
- Share! We need people to share about this and discuss it online. Our hashtag is #PoetryHugo and we would love to further the conversation.
Myna: How did the Initiative come together?
Holly: I think the idea has always been in my mind as a speculative poet and speculative poetry publisher (at Interstellar Flight Press). I founded IFP with the goal of highlighting underserved genres. We publish primarily books that would not be published by the “big four” publishers (poetry, short story collections, novellas, and other odds and ends).
I have been a member of the SFPA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association) for a while and was involved in advocating for more transparency in the awards there. In 2024, I joined the SFWA Poetry Committee as co-chair with the entire goal of furthering underserved genres in SFFH, and getting a Nebula Award in poetry. That group succeeded, and in 2025, the Nebula Award will have a new poetry category. (You can read about that project here.)
The idea for a poetry Hugo specifically probably first emerged from conversations with Brandon O’Brien at previous Worldcons and World Fantasy Cons. We have discussed it for years, but when Seattle decided to host its first ever special award and poet laureate, I knew this was the year it needed to happen.
The Speculative Poetry Initiative grew out of the SFWA Poetry Committee. Wendy Van Camp, fellow co-chair, Brian Garrison, current SFPA President, and Casey Aimer (creator of the SFWA Poetry 101 page) are all SPI group members.
Myna: What are the next steps for the group?
Holly: If the proposal for a speculative poetry Hugo is accepted, then it will need to be ratified at the 2029 Business Meeting. We will keep the website up for public feedback during the time between now and then. If the category passes, then we’ll be thrilled to say that there will be a poetry category at most of the major genre awards including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, and Aurora Awards. And that will be a lovely future to look forward to.
Myna Chang 