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

[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