Q&A: London sci-fi author wins Nebula Award for space opera novel

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 23, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 23

A London sci-fi writer conscionable landed a prestigious Nebula Award.

A.D. Sui has been awarded Best Novella astatine the 60th yearly Nebula Awards for her book, The Dragonfly Gambit.

The Dragonfly Gambit is a abstraction opera with themes of romance, betrayal and disability, and the awards are voted connected by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). 

Sui is simply a Ukrainian-born, queer, disabled subject fabrication writer who besides has a forthcoming publication called The Iron Garden Sutra. She spoke with CBC's Josiah Sinanan connected Afternoon Drive. 

The pursuing interrogation has been edited for clarity and length.

Josiah Sinanan: Congratulations connected this award. How does it consciousness to person the Nebula Award for Best Novella?

A.D. Sui: Thank you truthful much. It was honestly a shock. Being conscionable nominated for the Nebula was ace exciting. And past winning was conscionable ne'er thing I considered. Like I wasn't watching the ceremonial due to the fact that I thought, 'Oh, you know, what are the chances?'  It was really my parent who sent maine the screenshot of my novella being announced arsenic the winner, and the archetypal happening that I asked her was: 'Is this AI-generated?' Like, this can't beryllium real. It's a immense surprise.

JS: Tell america a small spot astir the Dragonfly Gambit.

AS: The Dragonfly Gambit is simply a novella, truthful it's a shorter book, nether 4,000 words, thing you tin work successful an evening. It's astir a subject aviator who, aft a career-ending injury, comes backmost to the fleet but present comes backmost to bring down the full fleet and the full empire arsenic well.

JS: What inspired you to constitute that book? Like, wherever did that thought travel from?

AS: I've been fascinated by subject fabrication ever since I was a kid. I similar to archer radical that backmost erstwhile my household lived successful Ukraine, my benignant of sleeping country was separated by bookshelves, and we had each of these classical sci-fi authors connected the bookshelves. I would work the past names arsenic I would autumn asleep, and that was my benignant of bedtime routine. So I truly grew up connected subject fiction, and I've ever wanted to constitute it, but the stars conscionable ne'er benignant of aligned until I was successful my 30s

and this was what came out. Very classical sci-fi, space-opera-inspired but updated to beryllium much inclusive and more feminist. It's conscionable reflective of the current, existent climate.

LISTEN: London writer awarded the prestigious Nebula Award

JS: You were calved successful Ukraine, arsenic you mentioned there. How did you extremity up successful London?

AS: My household came to Canada rather a portion agone and I spent astir of my beingness successful Toronto. I really ended up successful London for postgraduate school, got my master's, got my PhD, went retired to the West Coast for my post-doctorate program, and past came backmost to London due to the fact that it conscionable truly feels similar the cleanable size metropolis and has a batch of practice neighbourhoods. I conscionable emotion period homes, so that benignant of pulled maine backmost to London.

JS:  One reappraisal of your novella that I privation to work to you from Kate, Kate Elliott, different author. She says this publication "hits similar a punch to the look and unrelentingly explores loving what you astir hate, adjacent erstwhile you request to destruct it." I thought that was truly compelling. Do you hold with that review?

AS: I deliberation Kate truly nails it. It is precise punchy, and there's a batch of precocious emotions passim the full novella. We don't privation to spoil thing successful lawsuit folks are going to spell and work it, but our protagonist does person a batch of these conflicted emotions astir benignant of the instauration that she was portion of, but besides astir the radical that she met, that she considered her friends and present she has a antithetic relationships narration with.

JS:  As an writer of the sci-fi genre, bash you consciousness this is simply a signifier of escapism? What's going done your caput arsenic you're creating these worlds? What bash you bask astir it?

AS: I deliberation it is simply a benignant of escapism, but not needfully a benignant of comfy escapism. I similar to comparison it to visualization and sports. It's benignant of similar intelligence practice. You enactment yourself successful the shoes of a quality who is going done immoderate really, truly atrocious things, and past you benignant of ticker them spell done it, and you ticker them come retired connected apical oregon not. It reminds you that maybe, arsenic the small guy, you, too, tin look immoderate beauteous atrocious things and combat against them.

I similar becoming idiosyncratic else. And I similar penning from this precise different, this precise perspective.

JS: Now you person written different publication since the merchandise of Dragonfly Gambit. The Iron Garden Sutra comes retired adjacent year. Tell america astir that.

AS: Yes, I americium truthful excited for the Iron Garden Sutra. That is going to beryllium a full-length novel, truthful it's going to beryllium beauteous thick.

That publication is astir a monk and a radical of scientists who each spell to this long-lost procreation ship. So, it is simply a vessel that's been floating done abstraction for thousands of years. They spell aboard to research it, and they extremity up warring something that they had not been expecting.

JS: I emotion it. That's a large small teaser. Well, Anna, I'm curious: you won this Nebula Award. You person your archetypal full-length publication coming out. What's adjacent successful your penning career? 

AS: The cool happening astir penning is that each time is precise breathtaking due to the fact that I get to beryllium down and constitute and that is by acold my favourite portion of the job. My 2nd favourite portion is due to the fact that of writing; I got to link with truthful galore different writers who are Canadian and American, who are from the planetary south, and from each implicit the world. I anticipation conscionable much of the same.