Aliette de Bodard on Writing Cultures: Insider vs. Outsider

Aliette de Bodard, contributor to the Apex Book of World SF and currently has a novel out from Angry Robot Books, has a piece on Writing Cultures: Insider vs. Outsider: It’s not the point of this post, but I think we can argue for a long while about what “authentic” means. It’s nowhere as clear-cut...

Why There Is No Jewish Narnia

The Jewish Review of Books has an article entitled Why There Is No Jewish Narnia which is one-part essay and one part review of the novels The Magicians (by Lev Grossman) and Ha-Mayim  she-bein  ha-olamot (The  Water  Between  the  Worlds) (Hagar Yanai). Here's an excerpt: Indeed, one wonders why, amidst all the initiatives to solve...

The Speculative Ramayana Anthology: Call For Submissions

Indian publisher Zubaan Books will be releasing a Speculative Ramayana Anthology and the editors are Anil Menon and Vandana Singh. They're currently open to submissions and you can read their guidelines here.

Innsmouth Free Press Multiethnic Issue TOC

Innsmouth Free Press will be releasing a multiethnic issue on June 1, 2010 and to whet your appetite, they've posted the table of contents: Sanford Allen – Kali Yuga Nadia Bulkin – Red Goat, Black Goat Gustavo Bondoni – Eyes in the Vastness of Forever Raymond G. Falgui – The Hunger Houses Travis King –...

Australian SpecFic Snapshot 2010

Last week, Kathryn Linge, Random Alex, Girlie Jones, Rachel the Mechanical Cat, TansyRR and EditorMum interviewed several people in the Australian SpecFic scene. Here's the links, courtesy of Kathryn Linge: Marianne De Pierres, Richard Harland, Karen Miller, Margo Lanagan, Ben Peek, Narelle Harris, Paul Collins, Damien Broderick, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Angela Slatter, Dion Hamill, Garth...

Rich Horton on Non-US/Non-UK anthologies, 2009

Reviewer and editor Rich Horton has posted his summary on the Non-US/Non-UK anthologies for 2009, which includes books like The Apex Book of World SF, Exotic Gothic 3, and X6. Here's an excerpt: The Apex Book of World SF is actually a reprint anthology, but several stories appeared there for the first time in English,...

The Bulgarian Science Fiction between the East and the West – IV. Ye Shall Not be Forgotten by Valentin Ivanov

This article originally appeared in Valentin Ivanov’s bilingual blog. This excursion across the years and names cannot last forever. It was never meant to be complete and I am not even going to pretend that it was objective -- I was simply telling you about my favorite SF books and writers from my country. Before...

Bulgarian Science Fiction Between the East and the West – III. The Golden Age of Bulgarian Hard SF by Valentin Ivanov

This article originally appeared in Valentin Ivanov’s bilingual blog. While the previous trends in Bulgarian SF can easily by associated with one or two names, hard SF is too broad for that, explaining the lack of personal names in the title of this post. American and British Golden Age SF trickled through the Bulgarian SciFi...

Bulgarian Science Fiction Between the East and the West – II. Svetoslav Minkov and the Diabolic Fate of SF Writers Who Tried Their Hand at Publishing by Valentin Ivanov

This article originally appeared in Valentin Ivanov’s bilingual blog. Svetoslav Minkov was born in 1902. The timely end of WWI saved him from the military career, his family was preparing for him, and he plunged into literature. It is difficult now to figure out why this successful librarian (working in the National Library), and even...

Bulgarian Science Fiction Between the East and the West – I. Ivan Vazov – Near-future SF from a Century Ago by Valentin Ivanov

This article originally appeared in Valentin Ivanov's bilingual blog. I honestly admit it - this post was timed to take advantage of the announcement of the anthology "Diamonds in the Sky" (http://www.mikebrotherton.com/diamonds/), to try reaching more English-speaking readers, because the SF of my country is confined to a small readership by our unique language. This...