I’m on my way to Finncon, but I need to tell you about the new Clarkesworld which is available online as usual, and also in the bookstore.

This issue contains a story by Vajra Chandrasekera, who I see lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka. I love it when the Internet makes the world smaller like this. The second story is by Sunny Moraine whose bio, I note, uses non-gendered pronouns. That’s someone else for me to take an interest in. The reprints include an Ian McDonald story, and the non-fiction includes an article by Genevieve Valentine.

On the subject of Clarkesworld, I see that Neil’s proposed cyborg anthology, Upgraded, is fully funded on Kickstarter, so it will now definitely happen. There is an amazing line-up of writers already committed to the project: Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Xia Jia, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts & E. Lily Yu. What we need to do now is hit some of the stretch goals, because that means more stories and more money for the authors, both of which are very good things.

Finally the nominees for this year’s Chesley awards are out. Tor.com has the full lists, but I am mentioning them here because there are not one, not two, but three Clarkesworld covers nominated in Best Magazine Cover. That’s an amazing achievement. Well done, everybody.