The finalists for the inaugural Ignyte Awards have been announced, and PodCastle has been nominated for this prestigious accolade! Co-editors Cherae Clark and Jen R. Albert, former co-editor and special editions editor Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, host & assistant editor Setsu Uzumé, and audio producer Peter Adrian Behravesh are finalists in the Best Fiction Podcast category for their work on the podcast.

The Ignyte Awards both broaden and deepen the genre awards scene, including not only short story, novel, and art categories, but also awards for poetry, middle-grade, podcasts, and others — as well as two separate awards that celebrate contributions to genre in the pursuit of inclusiveness and equity. The Ignyte Awards reflect the business models, values, and imagination of the SFFH field, lighting a path of possibility for both new and veteran creators.

We’re excited to be nominated alongside such an amazing group of diverse creators. FIYAH has created a truly wonderful thing in such a short time frame — and they’ve managed to capture perfectly the variety of perspectives that the genre community has to offer. We are so honored.

We would like to extend our deep gratitude to PodCastle’s wonderful listeners, to the Escape Artists group of podcasts, and to the entire PodCastle team, past and present, who work tirelessly to bring you the best of fantasy fiction every week.

The team joins several other wonderful podcasts on the shortlist: NIGHTLIGHT (Tonia Thompson), LeVar Burton Reads (LeVar Burton), Beneath Ceaseless Skies (Editor Scott H. Andrews), and OBSIDIAN (Co-Creators, Producers, and Writers Adetola Abdulkadir & Safiyah Cheatam).

Nominations were sourced from the Ignyte Awards Committee: 15 BIPOC voters on FIYAHCON staff of varying genders, sexualities, cultures, disabilities, and locations throughout the world. Voting is open to the wider SFF community until September 11, 2020. Visit the convention’s website to vote now!

The winners of the 2019 Ignyte Awards will be announced virtually at FIYAHCON, October 17-18, 2020.