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Lynne M. Thomas wins third Hugo Award

October 30, 2013
Lynne M. Thomas. Photo courtesy John O’Halloran.

Lynne M. Thomas
Photo courtesy John O’Halloran.

Lynne M. Thomas, curator of Rare Books and Special Collections for NIU Libraries, walked away from the 71st World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon) in September with her third World Science Fiction Society Hugo Award, the most prominent award for excellence in science fiction and fantasy work.

For the second consecutive year, Thomas was presented with the award for Best Fancast for her collaborative work on “SF Squeecast,” a monthly podcast featuring group discussions about science fiction topics with her co-hosts Paul CornellElizabeth BearSeanan McGuire and Catherynne M. Valente.

The podcast, which debuted in June 2011, has reached an audience as large as 2,500 listeners.

Thomas also won a Hugo Award in 2011 in the category of Best Related Work for her book “Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It.”

This year, Thomas was also nominated for two additional awards: Best Related Work for “Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them” and Best Semi-Prozine for Apex Magazine.

The Hugo awards are not voted on by an exclusive academy of science fiction experts, but by a group of individuals who have chosen to participate in voting. This aspect of the award makes receiving a nomination much more significant because it means that the award is a direct recognition from the science fiction and fantasy community.

SF Squeecast logoBeyond the nominations, in the 60-year history of the Hugo Awards, there have been less than 75 people to win three or more Hugo Awards.  Thomas has accomplished this feat in just three years. She has been part of the science fiction and fantasy community for less than 10 years.

“I am always humbled to receive recognition from the community I am now a part of,” Thomas said. “This feeling does not get old.”

There is no shortage of projects and ideas to keep Thomas’ focus.

She recently released “Glitter and Mayhem,” a compilation of fictional stories about parties, roller derby and nightclubs with a science fiction and fantasy theme. Thomas edited this work with her husband, Michael Damian Thomas, along with John Klima.

Thomas plans to expand and explore her creative efforts within the science fiction and fantasy field.

“As always, none of the things I do would be possible without the support of my colleagues in the field and at NIU,” Thomas said.

by Constance Ervins