A Singularity

Apex Magazine Plans An Issue Of Arab/Muslim Writers (WarrenEllis.com)

So to quickly summarize, the editor, Cat Valente, of a speculative fiction magazine called Apex Magazine I will be likely picking up after I post this, has declared that one particular issue in the future will carry narratives from Muslim and Arab writers as a feature theme. This is in result to another author, Elizabeth Moon, writing a blog post that apparently made a lot of writers angry/shocked, and, to quote a friend, made a well known troll of the writing sphere sound like the voice of reason.

Here it he link to the actual Moon blog entry in question although it’s proceeding commentary was deleted. But I think what you should take out of this is what Cat Valente has decided to do in response. I have often wondered what it’d be like to read novels from different cultures. I’ve read some English translated Japanese novels, spin offs of popular manga series I like. Manga is an interesting import since it has been a narrative mode in Japan since before America’s inference post WW2, and the cultural differences I think is what made their speculative fiction so interesting and innovative to me.

I’m not sure I could imagine what might come of a Muslim or Arab speculative fiction, but now I am very curious and hopeful. Anyone else want to read that particular issue with me and discuss it later?