/lit/ - Literature

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/game-thrones-george-rr-martin-141100764.html

>Game of Thrones author George RR Martin has been criticised for making what viewers said were racially and sexually insensitive comments at an awards show.

>On Friday (July 31), the author digitally hosted the 2020 Hugo Awards, which celebrate achievements in the field of science fiction and fantasy.

>Martin has since been heavily criticised by many viewers for mispronouncing the names of several nominees, many of whom are people of colour – including this year's winner of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, Rebecca F Kuang – which Martin has since apologised for.

>He also spoke at length to praise writers HP Lovecraft and John W Campbell, who both won Retro Hugo Awards this year but have been condemned for the racist views they held during their lifetime.

>Writer Andrew Liptak called Martin's stint "embarrassing" and "tone-deaf", and noted it was "in stark contrast to the messages of the winners, who spoke about confronting and overturning the long-standing barriers that have largely blocked them out of the field".

>Elsewhere, Martin made a joke about the Oscar statuette not being a man and instead being a "golden eunuch", which former Best Fan Writer Hugo nominee Natalie Luhrs labelled "gender essentialist and transphobic".