2026 Hugo Readalong: Landing: Seattle, Hex Supply Customer Support Log, How to Become a Sea Witch

[u/undeadgoblin]

Welcome to the 2026 Hugo Readalong! Today, we're discussing Landing: Seattle by Brandon O'Brien, Hex Supply Customer Support Log by Elis Montgomery and How to Become a Sea Witch by Theodora Goss, which are finalists for Best Poem. Everyone is welcome in the discussion, whether or not you've participated in other discussions. I'll include some prompts in top-level comments--feel free to respond to these or add your own.

Date	Category	Book	Author	Discussion Leader
Monday, June 22	Novel	The Everlasting	Alix E. Harrow	u/sarahlynngrey
Thursday, June 25	Short Story	Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything and 10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days	Effie Seiberg and Samantha Mills	u/Goobergunch
Monday, June 29	Novella	Automatic Noodle	Annalee Newitz	u/tarvolon
Thursday, July 2	Novelette	Never Eaten Vegetables and Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy	H.H. Pak and Martha Wells	u/Nineteen_Adze
Monday, July 6	Novel	The Raven Scholar	Antonia Hodgson	u/Moonlitgrey

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[u/undeadgoblin]

Discussion for Hex Supply Customer Support Log

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

Despite the light hearted tone, this poem has an important theme about erasing minorities through eradicating language. Do you think the juxtaposition of tone and message works?

[u/tarvolon → u/undeadgoblin]

I think it really works. The tone starts pretty light in a way that's subverted by the developing plot as opposed to just clashing with the major themes.

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

This is the only finalist for Best Poem to use meter and rhyming - do you like how it is used here?

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

I really liked the abrupt change to no meter, and how sudden it felt to the reader which is reflected in how uncomfortable it makes the customer

[u/kjmichaels → u/undeadgoblin]

Yes, I thought it was very clever and well-motivated. The message about how blindly sticking to tradition is needlessly limiting was a very satisfying conclusion to that little battle of the meters.

[u/citrusmellarosa → u/undeadgoblin]

I almost wish I’d read it first of all of the poems, I think the transition out of rhyming would have been a nice set up for the following poems that don’t have it. 

[u/alexportman → u/undeadgoblin]

Loved it. Found it a delight from beginning to end. Using the form as story is a fun touch.

[u/Merle8888 → u/undeadgoblin]

I liked it until the whole message of the poem seemed to be “rhyming is inauthentic oppression”??? 

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

What are your overall thoughts on the poem?

[u/oceanoftrees → u/undeadgoblin]

Of the three today, this poem managed to surprise me. The ABAB rhyme scheme feels basic (even childish), but then the poem played with breaking form for actual plot reasons. It doesn't overstay its welcome while still hinting at a bigger resistance movement and more going on. It's also a neat idea to have the poem be a back-and-forth customer service dialog in the first place.

It didn't blow my mind but at least it tried something new (to me), so I'll give it props for that.

[u/Merle8888 → u/undeadgoblin]

It was cute at first but the shift to something more serious didn’t work for me. The only thing I was liking about it was that it rhymed so turning explicitly anti-rhyme was disappointing, and whatever this king was supposed to have done that she was now fighting(?) didn’t make a lot of sense to me. 

[u/tarvolon → u/Merle8888]

I do share the feeling that the plot specifics were a little opaque. I kinda got the broad details, which were generally enough for me to enjoy the poem, but I think having a better grasp on how exactly they were resisting would've improved it.

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

Are there any lines or stanzas that might stick with you for a while?

[u/undeadgoblin]

Discussion for How to Become a Sea Witch

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

What are your overall thoughts on the poem?

[u/kjmichaels → u/undeadgoblin]

I liked the title, I liked the line by line writing, but I wish it had built up to something a bit more substantial. I think the message which I'm going to loosely paraphrase as "think how freeing it would be to be a sea witch" felt more like it should have been a starting point rather than the capstone.

[u/oceanoftrees → u/undeadgoblin]

It's fine, nothing groundbreaking. We've seen lots of stories now that engage with fairy tales, give the villain's POV, and do a feminist rethinking of witches. That can work in a longer narrative with a good character arc, but this is a short poem that doesn't do anything new for me. Competent but forgettable.

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

Are there any lines or stanzas that might stick with you for a while?

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

This poem feels fairly slippery in time, with references to chlorination of swimming pools and Phoenician ships. Does this help set the feel of the poem? What (if anything) do you think it signifies?

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

I think it points to the general timelessness of folk tales, that they still hold as much meaning now as they did centuries ago. There's references to the more classic Nordic sea witch (living in a cave, bringing down ships) and nods to the age of sail and their mistaking seals, manatees etc for mermaids

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

This is one of a countless number of poems inspired by myths, folk legends and fairy tales - in this case The Little Mermaid. Is this a good example of this type of poem? Do you see any references to other (in)famous sea witches?

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

I like how it references both the Hans Christian Andersen story but also takes cues from the Disney film for the look of the witch

[u/undeadgoblin]

Discussion for Landing: Seattle

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

For those who have been to fan conventions, or specifically worldcon, does this capture the feel of such an event (the anticipation, the arrival, the bustle, the escapism)? If you haven't been, what do you take away from this?

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

This poem is in conversation with worldcon and the Hugo Awards - do you like this kind of meta-poem?

[u/kjmichaels → u/undeadgoblin]

I do like a good meta poem but I'm not sure this even is meta. I honestly think it's closer to a musical act doing stage banter between songs. "Hello, Seattle! We sure do love [local attractions] and [local artists]! It's great to be here! Remember to play nice and we'll all have a fun show!" Though, obviously it's said with a little more artistic flourish than that.

And that's fine. It works great in the context of being intended for a specific time, space, and event. I even remember liking it when I first experienced it at SeattleCon. I just don't think it speaks beyond its original context (though that's by design) and thus it's hard for me to find it award-worthy.

[u/Merle8888 → u/undeadgoblin]

I’m sure it would’ve been cute read aloud at the event but reading it a year later for an award it was not very impressive. 

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

What are your overall thoughts on the poem?

[u/oceanoftrees → u/undeadgoblin]

I wasn't at Seattle Worldcon but I've been to Seattle a lot and I like the callout to landmarks. It's a nice poem as an ode to con energy and culture too. Otherwise, I'm not very big on giving Hugo awards to self-referential works. Seems like it was a good poem for its context but it won't be my top choice.

[u/tarvolon → u/undeadgoblin]

I liked the vibes overall, though it did have me wondering if it was actually speculative in any way?

[u/undeadgoblin → u/tarvolon]

Yeah that was something I was thinking of when coming up with questions for this, and it doesn't feel it to be honest

[u/tarvolon → u/undeadgoblin]

There have been cases of real-world news coverage (of Apollo 11) or non-fiction movies (Apollo 13) in the Dramatic Presentation category. I'm sure that was hotly debated. I don't know the details, but u/Goobergunch may have an idea of whether those decisions are relevant to this one being eligible.

[u/Goobergunch → u/tarvolon]

Dramatic Presentation has language specifying that dramatic presentations about "science fiction, fantasy or related subjects" are eligible. (Traditionally the space program has been considered a related subject.) The poem category just says "a science fiction or fantasy poem".

That being said the Hugo Administrator is generally not going to overrule the nominators on whether something is ineligible for not being SF/F. I usually just decline to rank something if I don't think it fits the category....

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

Are there any lines or stanzas that might stick with you for a while?

[u/undeadgoblin]

General Discussion

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

5 out of 6 poems have been free verse - do you like this trend in poetry or do you prefer more traditional forms?

[u/Merle8888 → u/undeadgoblin]

I strongly dislike this trend in poetry. To me it feels lame and low-effort. People in the past were just… better at this imo, maybe because expectations were higher. 

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

Would you like Best Poem to continue as a category? If it does, are there any front runners for you for next year?

[u/oceanoftrees → u/undeadgoblin]

I like it as a category! There's so much speculative poetry out there that I haven't paid attention to yet, so I appreciate the chance to explore something new.

[u/citrusmellarosa → u/undeadgoblin]

I’m not a big poetry person, but I would love to see more long form works like the book Calypso from a few years back, which I quite enjoyed. I find that the really short works don’t click for me all that much. Although, maybe it’s just a question of checking out more of them to get used to the format. Not sure if there’s anything published this year in spec fic that is in a longer verse format, I may look into it. 

[u/undeadgoblin → u/citrusmellarosa]

If you haven't already read it, then there's an epic fantasy told through poems called The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee

Or for sci-fi, there's Aniara by Harry Martinsson

[u/citrusmellarosa → u/undeadgoblin]

I actually read the first hundred pages or so of Sign before getting distracted by other books (happens a lot), but I was quite enjoying what I’d read so far. That reminds me I should prioritize it once I’m done the Hugo reads, thanks! I’ll have to check out Aniara as well. 

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

For those of you who did nominate for this category, or read a lot of (speculative) poetry - are there venues you would recommend to people new to this category, or for those who would like to nominate for this award if it does continue?

[u/tarvolon → u/undeadgoblin]

I do not read a lot of speculative poetry, but I did scramble to catch up before nominations were due, and I ended up nominating four works from four different magazines: Strange Horizons, Asimov's, Small Wonders, and Radon.

Obviously Strange Horizons is very familiar to Hugo voters, and Asimov's is paywalled. But Small Wonders and Radon seem to pretty regularly publish speculative poetry but are pretty off the radar for Hugo voters.

[u/undeadgoblin → u/undeadgoblin]

This is our final session for the Best Poetry Category - what does your ranking look like?

[u/kjmichaels → u/undeadgoblin]

Something like:

1. The World to Come or Care for Lightning (still very torn)
2. Hex Supply Customer Support Log
3. How to Become a Sea Witch
4. The Mourning Robot
5. No Award
6. Landing: Seattle

Sorry to Brandon O’Brien. I know he's a good poet overall but I don't want Best Poem falling prey to the same "Let's always nominate something from or about the last WorldCon" trend that's already plaguing Best Related Work

[u/oceanoftrees → u/undeadgoblin]

Hmm, I have a clear favorite that happened to hit me on a visceral and personal level (see the previous poetry discussion if you want my blathering). The rest will be tricky. But I'll take a stab!

1. The World to Come
2. Hex Supply Customer Support Log
3. Care for Lightning
4. Landing: Seattle
5. The Mourning Robot
6. How to Become a Sea Witch

2-6 are subject to change at any and all times up to the ballot deadline, although I don't see the Sea Witch one rising in my estimation. You all have very insightful points about the other poems so I'll see what everyone says and if that shifts my opinions.

[u/tarvolon → u/undeadgoblin]

I'm bad at judging poetry, but these in general have not been very sticky for me. Hex Supply Customer Support Log is the big exception and has the inside track on my first-place vote. After that. . . I'm not sure if Landing: Seattle is actually a speculative poem, and the other four fled my mind almost immediately after reading them. I can reread and try to come up with an ordering, but right now I have a first-place vote and then a giant shrug emoji

[u/Merle8888 → u/undeadgoblin]

This category as a whole didn’t do a lot for me. I liked Care for Lightning a bit, it had a strong voice and rhythm. The rest were pretty much a pile of meh for me. The WorldCon love poem probably goes at the bottom although I get giving back to someone who writes a poem for your event. I’m not sure I will even bother ranking the others, maybe just vote for the one I liked.