photo by: R.B. Lemberg

Lawrence writer Bogi Takács

Lawrence writer Bogi Takács has won one of the science fiction world’s most prestigious awards.

Takács was announced as one of the winners of a Hugo Award, which recognizes excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy, on Aug. 1. The Lawrence resident, originally from Hungary, won the “Best Fan Writer” award for reviews and critiques of works published in the field.

The Hugo Awards are typically presented annually at the World Science Fiction Convention, but this year the winners were announced via an online ceremony. Takács, who uses the pronouns they and their, was sitting on their couch when they discovered they had won.

“I was really happy,” Takács said. “I was just surprised. I didn’t expect to win.”

Takács has been nominated for Hugo Awards twice before, but this was their first win.

photo by: R.B. Lemberg

Lawrence writer Bogi Takács

The writer came to America — and to Lawrence — in 2014. Takács is an agender trans person and is well known for writing on subjects related to queerness. In addition to writing reviews and critiques of others’ works, Takács also writes their own works. “The Trans Space Octopus Congregation,” a collection of stories by Takács, and “Algorithmic Shapeshifting,” Takács’ first poetry collection, both came out in 2019.

Takács won a Lambda Literary Award — a prize given for published works that explore LGBT themes — in 2017 for their work editing “Transcendent 2: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction.”

Takács is currently pursuing a doctorate in speech and hearing science at the University of Kansas.

Takács said their book reviews cover a wide range of subjects, and that they typically read about 250 books a year. They try to write something about books at least once a week, whether that be for an article, on their website or even just on Goodreads, Takács said.

“If I’m not talking about books then something bad has happened. It’s just my default that I talk about books I read,” Takács said.

Hugo Award winners are voted on by the members of the World Science Fiction Society. To read the works Takács submitted for consideration when named a finalist, visit their website, Bogi Reads the World.