Editor Michi Trota becomes first Filipino to win a Hugo Award

Uncanny Magazine on Saturday won Best Semiprozine at the Hugo Awards, held this year at the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City, Missouri.

With this win, Chicago-based Filipino-American editor Michi Trota claims the title of being the first Filipina to receive a Hugo Award. Trota shares the honor with editors Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, Erika Ensign, and Steven Schapansky.

Michi Trota @GeekMelange of @UncannyMagazine gives a touching and deeply true speech about the need for reaching all SF/F fans in the world.

— Jason Sanford (@jasonsanford) August 21, 2016

Thank you to my @UncannyMagazine family I love you all so much, I'm so proud to be a Space Unicorn!

— Michi Trota (@GeekMelange) August 21, 2016

Trota is also managing editor of website Geek Melange, where she declares her Filipino heritage proudly. She writes that she has been a fan of '80s cartoons, anime, and classic sci-fi/fantasy literature and soundtracks since childhood.

Uncanny Magazine is an online science fiction and science fantasy magazine that publishes poetry, prose, and non-fiction works. The magazine has featured stories that eventually went on to receive a Hugo Award.

The Hugo Awards was launched in 1955, recognizing the finest in the science fiction/fantasy genre. The Best Semiprozine was launched in 1984 and was first awarded to Locus, an Oakland-based monthly magazine.

Here is the full list of this year's winners, via the Hugo Awards official website:

BEST NOVEL

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

BEST NOVELLA

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor.com)

BEST NOVELETTE

“Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, trans. Ken Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015)

BEST RELATED WORK

No Award

BEST GRAPHIC STORY

The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM

The Martian screenplay by Drew Goddard, directed by Ridley Scott (Scott Free Productions; Kinberg Genre; TSG Entertainment; 20th Century Fox)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM

Jessica Jones: “AKA Smile” written by Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, and Jamie King, directed by Michael Rymer (Marvel Television; ABC Studios; Tall Girls Productions;Netflix)

BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM

Ellen Datlow

BEST EDITOR, LONG FORM

Sheila E. Gilbert

BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST

Abigail Larson

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Uncanny Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Michi Trota, and Erika Ensign & Steven Schapansky

BEST FANZINE

File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

BEST FANCAST

No Award

BEST FAN WRITER

Mike Glyer

BEST FAN ARTIST

Steve Stiles

— Aya Tantiangco/BM, GMA News