How I Spent My Afternoon

Today I received the 2016 Governor’s Award for Arts in Ohio, in the category of Individual Artist (along with Janice Lessman Moss, who is a fiber artist), and the award came in the form of some very striking prints of flowers, made by Paula Wilmot Kraus, each chosen with specific intent for the particular recipient. Mine, for example, was of poppies, which look sort of otherworldly. It was a lovely gift, given during a lovely lunch and ceremony.

I had been genuinely surprised to be given the award, since in the history of the award, which stretches back a couple of decades at least, it was only very rarely given to a writer, and never before to one who specialized in science fiction. So I was delighted to received it and very happy the Ohio Arts Council decided to go a bit into left field for the choice. And of course it’s nice to be recognized by one’s state for what one does, which in my case is to sit in an office in the tiny rural town of Bradford and write about the whole rest of the universe.

Thanks, folks. It’s deeply appreciated.

36 Comments on “How I Spent My Afternoon”

  1. Photo by Athena Scalzi, incidentally.

    Also, for those thinking “I thought Scalzi wasn’t accepting any awards this year,” that’s specifically for work created in 2015, which keeps me out of the running for Hugos, Nebulas, etc. This award is, more or less, a career award, and I felt good accepting it on that grounds.

  2. How I imagine they chose the flowers:

    “Hey, I finished the prints for the award for that Scalzi guy!”
    “Great, thanks Paula – wait, what’s this?”
    “Poppies. Didn’t you say he liked them?”
    “I said he talks a lot about puppies on his blog! Puppies!”

    Sorry.

    Oh, and congratulations for the award of course!

  3. Congratulations! As a fellow Ohioan I am happy to have bestowed this upon you. Or is it bestowen? Well, having had nothing to do with it actually, I am very happy to have you feted by our state.

  4. Congratulations, Sir! Despite the fact the fact that you didn’t Bryant any awards this year, they seem to plague you anyway! But that’s a great problem to have!

  5. Congratulations! And poppies are otherworldly. Just recall Margaret Hamilton in her green makeup intoning, “Poppies….” while casting a spell over Dorothy.

  6. Excellent sir, congratulations!
    Nice pic Athena. I especially like the lighting that gives Krissy an indigo hair streak. It looks pretty :-D

  7. Congratulations. How cool of the Ohio Arts Council to choose a science fiction writer and a fiber artist. Great picture!

  8. Congrats – a grand day out. Recover from the lurgi soon!

  9. Congratulations on your wonderful recognition, and may you spend many more afternoons such as this one! Events of this type affirms the work that you perform, and says you that you’re doing it ‘right’!
    So, don’t stop now, because certainly the best is yet to come.

  10. Congrats! And what a nice idea to give a personalized print as the award, instead of a generic certificate.

  11. Congrats, & that’s a remarkably well-composed picture of you. You look happy, contented. Don’t normally talk about these things but the reds against those blues came out really fine for a composition. But what’s with the shadow? Otherwise, a signature pic, to me.

  12. Very well deserved and how lucky for all Ohioans that you were there in left field. What a beautiful pierce of art for an award. Lucky is the man who can stand next to a beautiful woman.

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