On Sunday, April 13, 2014, I was honored to accept awards from the Writers of the Future contest both as a first place quarterly winner, and then as the Golden Pen grand prize winner.
I’ll post more about the workshop and the experience itself, but for now, here is a link to the award ceremony.
TRANSCRIPTS of my acceptance speeches (I left out the “ums”) are included below.
My introduction and speeches begin at 02:07:00 and at 02:46:05.
TRANSCRIPT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF AWARD FOR FIRST PLACE:
Note: This speech is really in two parts — my thanks, and then my comments on the power of stories, and the value of supporting diversity in our genre.
“Wow. A bit surreal. It’s an amazing set, and an amazing show. They’ve worked so hard on it. And thank you to Lady Gaga for her earrings, that’s nice.
All right. First, I want to say thanks to Vanessa Golitz, the illustrator of my story. It’s an amazing illustration and unfortunately she can’t be here, she’s in Germany, I really wish she could share this stage with me, she really deserves some attention, some appreciation.
So, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped me get to this point. First and foremost, Shelly, my friend, partner and muse for so many years, I would not be here without you, so thank you.
To my family, particularly my parents, who were “we don’t know what this science fiction thing is, but if you want to be a writer, we’ll support you.”
To Writers of the Future, Galaxy Press, Author Services, the judges, the instructors Tim and Dave, to everyone involved, they work so incredibly hard to make this happen, their hearts and their souls are in it, and it is truly appreciated, thank you very much.
To Clarion West, Cascade Writers, Horrific Miscue Seattle, the Kitsap Writers group, to my editor Beth Meacham and my agent Cameron McClure … that’s so Hollywood, thank you to my agent … thank you, thank you to everybody who has believed in me, supported me, and helped me just to reach this point, and I hope I don’t let you down.
I was just really inspired by what Orson Scott Card said, by what Leland [Melvin] said, and I just wanted to echo that a little bit, and share what I think is one of the most valuable lessons that I have learned as a writer. And that is that stories truly do have power. They have the power to shape our lives, they have the power to shape our future.
I’m sure we can all remember the stories we read growing up, or that were read to us, that shaped our perspectives of good and evil, of right and wrong, of masculine and feminine, of so many things that have shaped us, through stories. And as Leland noted, science fiction stories have inspired the technologies that shape our lives today.
Stories have power.
And I think one of the greatest powers that stories have — well, look at your fellow audience members, and … you’re not looking … okay … and just, in your mind, pick out the person that looks least like yourself, be it age, race, gender, a haircut you would never choose, whatever the case may be, and just imagine that as we leave the theatre this evening, as you walk through that door — ZAP — your consciousness is transferred into their body and their mind.
Tonight you go home to their home. Tomorrow, you go to their job. You face the challenges they face, you … perhaps the prejudices they face. You experience what they experience. You feel what they feel. What an amazing experience that would be. And that sounds like the stuff of magic. That sounds like science fiction.
But that is the power that stories have right now. That ability to allow you to actually experience someone else’s life.
That is such an amazing power. I’m geeking out a little bit about it right now, but that is an amazing power! And as someone once said, with great power comes great responsibility.
And so the thing I wanted to share (get to the point), was, you know, what I’ve learned as a writer is how important it is to look at the world around me with open eyes, an open mind, and compassion in my heart, and to truly see the wonder and the diversity of the world and the people around me, and to try and reflect that in my stories, not just my own experience but the experience of others.
First and foremost because it benefits me as a writer, it is a selfish reason, it makes my stories richer, more original, and potentially reaches a larger audience, so I can’t argue with that.
But I think just as importantly, there are so many people out there whose experiences, story after story, are either ignored or missed, unintentionally perhaps, or they find themselves being badly stereotyped in story after story, and I think being able to put other people’s experiences into our stories is just a very valuable and important thing, because of that power that stories have.
And finally, I would say just support diversity as readers, support a diversity of voices in what you read. We have so many … Nnedi Okorafor, Nalo Hopkinson, Nisi Shawl, N.K. Jemisin … so many amazing, diverse voices coming up in our genre, and so many more in the wings just waiting for you to seek them out.
And I say, seek them out. Because again, it benefits our genre. It makes it richer, and creates a genre with so many more unique voices, and we gain in knowledge, and wisdom, and an understanding of our fellow human beings. And again, that can’t be a bad thing.
And that is the power that stories have. That is the power we have as writers, as readers, and the opportunity I think we all have together — to write a future, together, that has less inequality, and is just more full of wonder, equally, for everyone.
Thank you.”
ACCEPTANCE OF GOLDEN PEN AWARD FOR 2014
“I prepared some thoughts so I wouldn’t pull a Neil Gaiman … although I’d be lucky to be him … you know , really, all I can say is, I would not have wanted to judge this year. Every single story in that anthology deserved first place, and every single story in that anthology deserved this award. And of the four … well, except maybe Orson Scott Card, I think he’s doing pretty well and probably doesn’t need the extra boost.
I think of Leena [Likitalo], who taught herself English by reading Robert Jordan and J.R.R. Tolkien, and is writing in a second language and does so so beautifully. And Megan [O’Keefe], this was her second story she’d ever written that got her first place here, and that just speaks to her scary talent. And Terry [Madden], just this person of quiet grace, whose stories punch you in the gut. I would not want to meet her in a literary alley.
I feel completely honored, and I truly appreciate this, and thank you Author Services and Galaxy Press, and I hope to pay it forward. And thank you, just thank you so much. “
