Guy Gavriel Kay's World Fantasy Toastmaster Address

This seems to be making the rounds, but Guy Gavriel Kay has posted on his website the text of his Toastmaster’s address at this month’s World Fantasy Awards. This is of note because of his words about Robert Jordan’s recent passing. Kay notes that Jordan was never even nominated for a World Fantasy Award and that his impact of the field of fantasy should be acknowledged and celebrated.

We need to be large enough as a genre to acknowledge this without condescension. To note that editors and writers and publishers in this field flourish today because of Jordan's impact, that readers of fantasy find their favored genre centered in the culture now, and that the very recent, untimely passing of a profoundly important figure is worth remembering at the outset of a celebration.