Speculative Fiction in Translation #7: Croatia, Quebec, and Condomnauts
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SFiTEpisode7CroatiaQuebecAndCondomnauts/Sfit-Episode7-CroatiaQuebecAndCondomnauts.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSJuly brought us speculative stories, books, and collections translated from the Chinese, Spanish, Croatian, French, Finnish, Portuguese, and Swedish. So much great stuff! From post-apocalyptic science fiction to Swedish horror to magical realism from Quebec, you’ll have no problem finding excellent reading material. Plus, you can check out reviews of these and other stories around the internet. I also tell you about my current reading and translation work (still working on that Italian surrealist noir!) With new stories and books coming to our attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt! Show notes:
Short Fiction Review: June 2018
My favorite story last month was “In the End, It Always Turns Out the Same” by A.C. Wise, which appears in The Dark Issue 37. It’s a smart, dark take on the Scooby Doo formula that pauses and asks, “Aren’t they too young for this?” Like poetry and space opera? Go read “I Sing Against the Silent Sun” by A. Merc Rustad and Ada Hoffmann, which appears in Lightspeed Magazine Issue 97. In this harrowing yet hopeful story, a poet-revolutionary is hunted by a god of silence. (Also, this story makes me happy because of its genderfluid and nonbinary representation.) I also enjoyed “The Sweetness of Honey and Rot” by A. Merc Rustad, which appears in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue 254 (21 June 2018). It’s a story about the costs of resistance, and it features original, inventive worldbuilding and gorgeous, detailed prose.
Speculative Fiction in Translation #6: Japan in June
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SFiTEpisode6JapanInJune/Sfit-Episode6-JapanInJune.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSJune, sweet June. It’s brought us two novel-length works of Japanese SFT, short fiction from the Chinese and Bengali, and a lot of reviews. This has also been a month of discussions about adding an SFT category to the Hugo Awards and Italian micro speculative fiction from over a dozen authors (featured on the SFT site). With new stories and books coming to our attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt! Show notes:
Short Fiction Review: May 2018
This month, I have two stories that will give you heavy, negative feels (but in a good way, I promise!), and one story that can probably cheer you up afterward. In “One Day, My Dear, I’ll Shower You with Rubies” by Langley Hyde, which appears in Podcastle Episode 520 (May 1, 2018), a genocidal wizard is put on trial years after the war, and his daughter is called to testify against him. She won’t forgive him, and he won’t apologize. This story is challenging, unique, surprisingly real. Want a story about a succubus in the age of social media? Check out “Sucks (to Be You)” by Katharine Duckett, which appears in Uncanny Magazine Issue 22 (May/June 2018). It’s thoughtful and deeply unsettling in the very best way. Finally, I loved “Our Side of the Door” by Kodiak Julian, which appears in Lightspeed Magazine Issue 96 (May 2018). It’s a warm, beautiful portal fantasy that left me thinking about ethics and gender.
Speculative Fiction in Translation #5: Frankenstein, Future Fiction, and Wiscon
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SFiTEpisode5FrankensteinFutureFictionAndWiscon/Sfit-Episode5-FrankensteinFutureFictionAndWiscon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSMay is absolutely filled to the brim with SFT. With five short stories, seven novels/collections, interviews, reviews, and more, you’ll never be at a loss for something to read. Rachel also talks about the SFT panel at Wiscon (the annual feminist science fiction convention in Madison, Wisconsin) and what she’s been reading and translating. And a huge congratulations to Rodrigo Fresan and Will Vanderhyden for winning the 2018 Best Translated Book Award for The Invented Part (Open Letter)! With new stories and books coming to our attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt! Show notes:
Speculative Fiction in Translation #4: Francesco Verso, Italy and Japan
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SFiTEpisode4FrancescoVersoItalyAndJapan/Sfit-Episode4-FrancescoVersoItalyAndJapan.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSItaly and Japan dominate this week’s episode, which includes SFT updates for April and an interview with the very talented and very busy Italian author/editor/publisher Francesco Verso. Rachel fills you in on the Chinese, Italian, Korean, Dutch, French, and Spanish short SFT available in the past month, several novels, excerpts you can read online, reviews, and a new feature on her site: Daniel Haeusser reviewing short SFT each month. With new stories and books coming to our attention each week, make sure to check the SFT website for updates. Enjoy, and keep reading! A bientôt! Show notes:
