Archive for Announcements

2021 Award Voters Packet

Here’s where you can find our offering for 2021 award consideration in one convenient download, or check it out episode by episode. The zip file includes all three ebook formats, the PDF in A4, and MP3s (335 MB).

 PDF Link    EPub Link 

  • Ignyte Awards: Voting is open to the public and closes May 21st.
  • Hugo Awards: Members of DisCon III are eligible to vote on the 2021 Hugo Awards. You can check your membership status, or become a voting member, at the 2021 DisCon III registration page. Voting closes November 19th.

Voter Packet Episodes

Special thanks to Matt Dovey and Jen Albert for their invaluable assistance preparing the voter packet!

Escape Pod is an IGNYTE AWARD Finalist!

We were still reeling from the news of being finalists for the Best Semiprozine Hugo (alongside our sibling podcast Podcastle!) and the Best Short Form Editor(s) Hugo when we got more good news last week: Escape Pod is a finalist for the Ignyte Award for Best Fiction Podcast!
The Ignyte Awards are awarded at FiyahCon and “seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.”
Working to be a more inclusive magazine at all levels is something we’ve been actively working on for the past several years, and we’re so very honored that our work has been noticed.
The work towards the goal of supporting underrepresented voices in genre work doesn’t end with this nomination, but it is an amazing milestone to mark our journey! Thanks to all who nominated us, and congrats to all of the Ignyte Award Finalists!

Announcing Black Future Month

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Escape Pod is pleased to announce a new special project for 2021: Black Future Month, a month-long celebration of Black voices in science fiction.

We are excited to have Brent Lambert of FIYAH Magazine as our guest editor. For this special event, we are only accepting submission from authors of the African diaspora and the African continent. This is an intersectional definition of Blackness, and we strongly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and members from other underrepresented communities within the African diaspora.

Episodes will air in the month of October and feature two original works of short fiction as well as two reprints.

Submissions will be open from March 1 – April 30. Stories must be between 1,500 – 5,000 words, and manuscripts do not need to be anonymized.

Pay rate, content, and format will follow Escape Pod’s regular guidelines.

The term Black Future Month is inspired by N.K. Jemisin’s essay titled, “How Long ’til Black Future Month,” (as well as a recent short story collection with the same title), and timing is aligned with Black Speculative Fiction Month (October).

Submit your stories via our Moksha Portal for this project!

Thank You From A Parallel Universe

Because this year’s Hugo Award Ceremony was virtual, the Escape Pod team was given the opportunity to pre-record and submit an acceptance speech. While we did not win the award for Best Semiprozine, we wanted to share this video with all of you as a way to say thank you for your support over the past 15 years and counting!

2020 Flash Fiction Contest Winners

List of winners

In what was a very close race, including a tie for third, the winners of the Escape Pod Flash Fiction Contest for 2020 are…

“Butterfly” by Drew Czernik

“In Roaring She Shall Rise” by Rajiv Moté

“Death Poems of the Folded Ones” by Carol Scheina

“The Day the Sun Went Out” by Hannah Whiteoak

Congratulations and we’ll hear these stories on an upcoming episode of Escape Pod.

Thanks to all the authors who entered stories and special thanks to all the readers who voted!

Flash Fiction Contest Finals

We’re down to the final stories in the flash fiction contest! Final voting will run from Fri, Jun 5, 2020 and close Fri, Jun 12, 2020, with the top three stories being crowned the winners of the contest.

Contest voting is open to everyone, not only authors who entered stories! Find all the details at our community forums.

Flash Fiction Contest Semi-Finals

Voting is now open for the semi-final round of our flash fiction contest! Semi-final voting will run from Wed, May 27, 2020 close Wed, Jun 3, 2020 (just after midnight UTC).

Contest voting is open to everyone, not only authors who entered stories! Find all the details at our community forums.

Flash Fiction Contest Voting Open

Voting is now open for our flash fiction contest! Preliminary rounds of voting will run weekly through May 25, 2020. Semi-final voting will run from May 27, 2020 to June 3, 2020, and the finalists will be determined starting June 5, 2020.

Contest voting is open to everyone, not just authors who entered stories! Find all the details at our community forums.

Flash Fiction Contest Submissions Closed

Submissions to the Flash Fiction Contest have now closed. We received a total of 224 stories!

Preliminary rounds of voting will run from April 27, 2020 through May 25, 2020. Semi-final voting will run from May 27, 2020 to June 3, 2020, and the finalists will be determined starting June 5, 2020.

Contest voting is open to everyone, not just authors who entered stories! Find all the details at our community forums.

BREAKING! Escape Pod is a Finalist for the Hugo Award! As is Alasdair Stuart!

Twice means it’s not a fluke! We are thrilled to announce that Escape Pod is again a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine! Our excellent team’s work of fifteen years has led up to this recognition, and we’re so grateful to those who nominated us! We would be nothing without you, our authors who trust us to bring their stories to our audience, and our narrators who help us get the stories there.

In extra special news, one of our hosts and owner of Escape Artists himself, Alasdair Stuart, was nominated for the Hugo for Best Fan Writer! Congrats, Alasdair! Other Escape Artists staff or alum nominees include Sarah Gailey and Shiv Ramdas!

Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis, WorldCon 2020 has moved to a virtual convention. However, the con staff is working hard to bring the best virtual convention they can, which will hopefully include some of the Escape Pod team as part of programming. If you have a membership, please consider keeping it to support the con, be able to access the virtual programming, and to keep your Hugo voting rights!

Here’s the full 2020 ballot.

Congratulations to all of the finalists!

Thank you from the bottoms of our heart for your support!

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