Short Fiction Review: June–August 2019
Sometimes the stories that I review in a given month are all united by a particular theme. That is not the case this month. This time around, the only strand uniting these three stories is that each story features something I like. If (like me) you like smart stories about dis/ability and social structures, you should check out “Spectrum of Acceptance” by Nyla Bright, which appears in Escape Pod. If (like me) you like fables about Death or meditations on storytelling itself, you should check out “The Night Princes” by Megan Arkenberg, which appears in Nightmare Magazine. And if (like me) you like stories about happy queer couples or unconventional families, you should check out “A House With a Home” by Jon Mayo, which appears in Anathema Magazine.
Speculative Fiction in Translation #16: Looking Back on the Summer’s SFT
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sfitepisode16lookingbackonsummersftl/SFiT–Episode_16–Looking_Back_On_Summer_SFTl.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSRachel and Daniel return this month with a wide-ranging conversation about the SFT they’ve been reading/hearing about/wanting to read from the summer. While Rachel was reading Liu Cixin’s Supernova Era (tr. by Joel Martinsen), The Aayakudi Murders by Indra Soundar Rajan (tr. Nirmal Rajagopalan), and The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresan (tr. Will Vanderhyden), Daniel was finishing Laurence Suhner’s Vestiges in the original French, starting Jean Ray’s Whiskey Tales (tr. Scott Nicolay), and reading Francesco Verso’s Nexhuman (tr. Sally McCorry). Then they talk about some of their favorite short fiction from the summer, what they’re looking forward to in the fall, and the very sad closing of Haikasoru, Rachel’s favorite SFT imprint. Remember: with new stories and books coming to their attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt!
Speculative Fiction in Translation #15: An Interview with Julia Meitov Hersey
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sfitepisode15juliameitovhersey/SFiT–Episode_15–Julia_Meitov_Hersey.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThis month, Rachel has a special guest on the podcast! Julia Meitov Hersey (@JuliaMeiHersey), who translated the psychological-fantasy-thriller Vita Nostra from the Russian, comes on to talk about how she first started translating the complex, lyrical work of Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (@DyachenkoW); what makes translating speculative fiction unique; and her own future projects. Insightful and entertaining, this interview will send you straight to your local independent bookstore to buy Vita Nostra. You’re welcome! Remember: with new stories and books coming to their attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt!
Short Fiction Review: May 2019
My favorite stories from May all happened to be about resistance. They all had good and satisfying endings, although none of them had a clean ending where everything was wrapped up neatly with a bow. Then again, I don’t think resistance often works that way. First, I loved “Everything is Closed Today” by Sarah Pinsker. It’s delightful tale about skater girls, activism, and building community, and it appears in Do Not Go Quietly: An Anthology of Victory in Defiance edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner. Next, I recommend Joe Ponce’s “Raices (Roots),” which appears in Issue 7 of Anathema: Spec from the Margins. It’s a powerful and important story about immigration, border justice, and political consciousness. Lastly, if you love academic scholarship and theory — or, for that matter, if you hate those things — you must check out “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen in Issue 80 of Nightmare Magazine. Now, on to the reviews!
Book Review: Do Not Go Quietly: an Anthology of Victory in Defiance edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley
What are you fighting for? Your space? More space? Your territory? More territory? Your reputation? A better reputation? A better outcome? The best possible outcome? — Bianca Lynn Springgs “Plot Twist” from Do Not Go Quietly: An Anthology of Victory in Defiance Bianca Lynne Spriggs’ volume-closing poem “Plot Twist” challenges the reader with these provocative questions and many more, and had I been doing editors Jason Sizemore’s and Lesley Connor’s job, I would have been sorely tempted to put it first rather than last. However, since this poem’s challenges are as good a return to the real world we’re all stuck in as they are a microcosm of the themes this collection explores, I can absolutely see why they chose otherwise. Which is to say that Sizemore and Connor earned every nickle they could ever conceivably be paid for producing Do Not Go Quietly: An Anthology of Victory in Defiance.
Speculative Fiction in Translation #14: Biological and Artificial
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SFiTEpisode14BiologicalAndArtificial/SFiT–Episode_14–Biological_and_Artificial.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSApril brought us stories and books about the merging of the biological and artificial, zombification, organic routers, and much more. Plus we talk about what we’ve been reading, our favorite stories this month, and translations that we wish we could have yesterday. Remember: with new stories and books coming to their attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt! P.S. It’s Jen’s fault this is late! Sorry about that, folks!
