Summer is here! Keep reading to hear about the 2026 Nebula Conference, some of my upcoming stories and poems, and the best spec poem I’ve read so far in 2026.
The 2026 Nebula Finalists!
Nebulas recap
My poem “To Be the Change”, published last March by Strange Horizons, was a finalist for the inaugural Nebula Award for Poetry, and I was able to travel to Chicago earlier this month for the Nebula Award conference.
It was truly a pleasure to meet my fellow poetry finalists Angela Liu, Casey Aimer, and Jennifer Hudak, as well as so many other incredible authors. Check out all the finalists’ work in the Nebula Awards Showcase 61, available now.
Recent Publications
Published by Strange Horizons, May 11 | Read for free online
If you only read one of my poems this year, I hope you’ll make it this one. “The Mermaid Speaks of Social Justice From the Bathtub” is my weird meditation on complicity in modern systems of oppression. Plus, people like Eugenia Triantafyllou and Jennifer Hudak are saying nice things about it!
“SOLD: One Soul, Gently Used” (poem)
Published by Haven Spec | June 25 for subscribers, July 2 for free online
Haven Spec is a dream market for me, so I'm so thrilled to have my slipstream fantasy poem 'SOLD: One Soul, Gently Used' in this issue. If you like your free verse fantasy bargains with a side of capitalist commentary, you won't want to miss this one!
“The First Three Deaths of Briar Thrush” (microfiction)
Published in Brigids Gate Press’s Women of the Weird West anthology, June 16 | Learn more here
A 100-word story filled with revenge, death, and fury in the Weird West.
“Beauty’s Captor” (poem, reprint)
Published by Daikaijuzine, June 21 | Read for free online
"Beauty's Captor" reimagines Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of the vines. It was originally published in Star*Line last summer, and I’m thrilled that it’s now free to read.
“37.4 Hours Before My Brother’s Execution” (flash fiction)
Published in Short Circuit #20 | Read for free online
"37.4 Hours Before My Brother's Execution" is a dystopian flash piece free to read in Short Circuit #20 - and in short story dispensers! If you’re into surveillance, thunderstorms, cybernetics, and dark endings, you might enjoy this brief spark of political horror.
Upcoming
Coming Soon
“The Science of Transient Cartography” in After the Storm (July 19) - reprinted cli-fi/futuristic short story imagining the maps of the future
“< view advertisement source code >” in Strange Horizons - a poem in code that’s a not-so-futuristic take on tech giants' suppression of mutual aid | Free to read once Strange Horizons’ fundraiser hits $20k
“To Be the Change”, my Rhysling- and Nebula-finalist poem, will be reprinted in the 2026 Rhysling Anthology
Currently Reading: Ash Vale’s “consumed”
Do yourself a favor and read Ash Vale’s incredible poem “consumed.” It’s a gorgeous trans horror piece that’s inhabited my brain relentlessly since it was published in Nightmare Magazine last month
Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you next month!
Best,
Nico