At a convention in washington dc. the hugos are like the nobel prize for sci fi writing. mary robinette kowal is chair of the discon iii event and a multiple hugo award winner herself she s nominated for best novel this year. many congratulations on that nomination. the last year, to be perfectly frank, as felt like being trapped inside a dystopian sci fi novel for everyone. what impact do you think it has had or will have on the tone and the content of this year s event? science fiction always reflects the zeitgeist of the moment. during the atomic error, that is when we had all of this atomic punk. it s something that you see the golden age of science fiction so i am absolutely certain that we will see a lot of things that are influenced by pandemic, not necessarily pandemic direct lee, but things that reflect the sense of being trapped, of being isolated from ourfriends and family, i am sure that is