Tag: anthology

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OUT NOW: Sinophagia ed. by Xueting C. Ni

We’re delighted to be wishing Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror edited and translated by Xueting C. Ni a very happy book birthday!

Sister to Ni’s British Fantasy Award-winning Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, Sinophagia brings 14 short stories from contemporary Chinese horror writers to English-speaking audiences for the very first time. Whether your tastes lie in the supernatural or the much closer to home, this groundbreaking anthology has a horror story for every reader. Not one to miss as the spookiest time of the year approaches!

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An anthology of unsettling tales from contemporary China, translated into English for the very first time.

Fourteen dazzling horror stories delve deep into the psyche of modern China in this new anthology curated by acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting C. Ni, editor and translator of the British Fantasy Award-winning Sinopticon.

From the menacing vision of a red umbrella, to the ominous atmosphere of the Laughing Mountain; from the waking dream of virtual working to the sinister games of the locked room… this is a fascinating insight into the spine-chilling voices working within China today – a long way from the traditional expectations of hopping vampires and hanging ghosts.

This ground-breaking collection features both well-known names and bold upcoming writers, including: Hong Niangzi, Fan Zhou, Chu Xidao, She Cong Ge, Chuan Ge, Goodnight, Xiaoqing, Zhou Dedong, Nanpai Sanshu, Yimei Tangguo, Chi Hui, Zhou Haohui, Su Min, Cai Jun, and Gu Shi.

“A pleasure and a torment.” —Locus

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Jólabókaflóðið with the authors of Nordic Visions

Jólabókaflóðið, or the Yule book flood, is the annual release of books in Iceland in the months leading up to Christmas, a tradition where many people in Iceland are gifted new books that they curl up with on Christmas Eve. Not a bad tradition at all, in our humble opinion!

We brought a selection of translated speculative stories from the Nordic countries to English-speaking readers this year in Nordic Visions: The Best of Nordic Speculative Fiction ed. by Margrét Helgadóttir. To celebrate the festive season, we asked Margrét and some of the contributors to tell us about Jólabókaflóðið and a time when they’ve gifted, or been gifted, a memorable book at Christmas…

Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson, author of “Hamraborg Babylon”

In Iceland, the Yule Cat eats you if you don’t get any new clothes for Christmas. This fact of life is known to us from a young age. When I was growing up, I sometimes wondered if the Yule Cat’s appetite might have changed since the old days. I never felt as much at risk of being devoured by a monstrous feline as those rare occasions when I didn’t get a book for Christmas.

People say we started this tradition because of shortage in the latter world war. Books were something we could produce, and from then on almost everyone gets one for Christmas. Today, the tradition is so well-established that we call it the Christmas Book Flood and try to get anyone that’s willing to listen aboard.

The publishers get really stressed at the beginning of autumn, some still putting finishing touches on the last manuscripts being sent out (yes, things can happen too fast in Iceland). The introverted authors all get kicked out into the world to do marketing. Poor, wretched things. At least we’re all in it together. “Being in the flood” as an author brings with it its own unique frantic energy, running between readings or lectures or whatever it is you find yourself doing to promote. Inevitably, you get sick of yourself and your own words and voice. Then it’s good to have other writers with you in the trenches. If only to bitch and moan about everything and nothing to each other.

There is something about reading the first few pages of a new book on Christmas Eve before you go to bed. (That’s when we open the presents, by the way, none of this morning nonsense.) It’s a ritual that’s become so sacred to me that I make sure I always do have a new book ready on Christmas Eve – just in case I’m not gifted one. Then I can tell the Yule Cat it was a gift to myself.

The Flood also sweeps you up. Few can resist such a current. As autumn fades and winter darkness tightens its grip, you get the hankering to read all the new novels the authors and publishers are so frantically trying to market (that hard work pays off, evidently). And it’s really great to get a “December book” (or two). Farewell, I’ll see the sun come spring. Now is the time for reading.

But people do worry. About reading, literacy, the Icelandic language. And they have reason to. Still, all in all, the Flood still flows fairly strong, resulting in me still feeling like a giant monster should eat me if I don’t get a book. A fairly healthy notion, in my opinion.

Maybe you should also fear the Yule Book Flood Cat. Have an unopened book ready on your bedside table, just in case. Look carefully and you might catch it eyeing you through the window, licking its chops, slit pupils expanding like spilled ink on paper.

There, there. Nothing to fear, with a book in hand. Something to stave off the darkness. With it, the spring sun will rise before we know it.

Margrét Helgadóttir

I have been fortunate to receive books as Yule gifts over the many years, and I know I—when a child—sometimes would sneak away to some hidden corners for a quiet reading time, to recover after all the noisy fuss of the family dinner party. My family has lived all over and so I have also received books in several languages.

My brother gave me Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea in Danish many years ago, when he lived in Denmark and I was around 20, I think. I had not read much, if any, Hemingway at that time. I’m happy that this novel was my introduction to his work. Such a great tiny story about the stubborn fisherman and his battle with a great fish over many days.

Today I’m a big fan of Hemingway’s unique writing style, how he could tell epic stories with so few words, and the way he used facts in his work. For me as a writer, Hemingway has been one of the authors whose prose I can only gasp at, it sets such a high level of quality. If feeling low, I will excuse myself with “Well, I’m not Hemingway …”.

Such is the power of Yule gifts, they have a huger impact than you’d think.

Johanna Sinisalo, author of “A Bird Does Not Sing Because It Has an Answer”

I have several loved ones who not just enjoy literature but are or would like, one day, to be writers themselves. One Christmas I gave everyone of them Rabbit Back Literary Society by Finnish writer Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. This is his first novel, but as he already was an experienced and awarded short story author, I could expect quality, and that I got: this far, his works have been translated into 15 languages and still counting.

Rabbit Back Literary Society tells a wintery twinpeaksian tale about a small Finnish community boasting an unlikely amount of talented writers. Ella, a young teacher, is invited to their prestigious society, and soon she begins to find out that something very weird is going on in Rabbit Back. What has happened to Laura White, the leading lady of the Society? Why are the written books changing in mysterious ways? And then there is The Game the writers are playing – feared, cruel, unavoidable.

Rabbit Back Literary Society is kind of a horror story, but quite down-to-earth, even funny, and between its lines the novel manages to discuss and comment the process of writing in a disturbingly accurate way. Finnish Weird at its best!

Jakob Drud, author of “Heather Country”

About fifteen years ago, my brother had just graduated as a philosophy major, and since he was clearly interested in what makes humans tick, I wanted to introduce him to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. I’d read most of the series and laughed a lot at the way Going Postal handled old mail-related themes. It also didn’t require knowledge of the other books, so it seemed a good place to start the series. One online order later, I had a gift to wrap, and he had a gift to open. He read it and liked it.

The following Christmas, I thought, why not give him another Pratchett novel? Not a bad idea after last year’s success, right? And with so many hilarious Discworld books to choose from, nothing could possibly go wrong, could it?

Except, of course, that I happened to buy him Going Postal a second time.

He did laugh when he unwrapped it, though.

Karin Tidbeck, author of “Sing”

My father is notoriously difficult when it comes to Yule gifts. He loves books, to the point where he just crammed a fifteenth bookcase into his apartment. He’s always reading and will devour everything from philosophy to biographies to fiction. Naturally, the perfect gift is a book. But because he’s always reading, it’s very hard to find something fitting that he hasn’t already consumed. But we have a common interest: medical mysteries and adventures. He’s a doctor and his books on pathology were at eye level when I was a child. Those and my mother’s Stephen King novels made me a macabre child. Last Yule, I found a book called Allt är gift (Everything Is Poison) by chemistry professor Olle Matsson and sneakily inferred that my father hadn’t read it. He loved it. It’s a history of 30 different poisons that have changed history, rich with anecdotes and interesting facts. I got him another book on poison murders for his birthday. It’s just a way of saying “I love you and will steal the book after you’re done so we can talk about cyanosis over coffee”.

Maria Haskins, author of “Lost and Found”

Many years ago my dad gave me a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo that he found in a Swedish antikvariat, AKA a store that sells old books. It’s an illustrated edition, in Swedish translation, from 1899. It’s a heavy, thick book, its pages thin and yellowed, the print small and shapely, the illustrations plentiful and exquisitely detailed. Likely, this book is the oldest thing I own, and it’s not at all in pristine condition. The red, black, and gold binding is worn, and some of the pages are loose, but the book is still beautiful and I have read and re-read it more times than I can remember. It remains one of my all-time favourite books, and one of my favourite possessions. These days, I have an ebook copy of the English translation as well, but nothing really compares to reading that dusty-smelling old tome.

Tone Almhjell, author of “The Cormorant”

My excellent brother came to books quite late, in his twenties. But when he did, he became every writer’s dream reader. You know, the kind who stops every few pages to stare into the distance and really think things through – ideas, consequences, character development. Eivind is just always ready to have his mind boggled. Therefore, one Christmas about ten years ago, I gave him a little library of the mind-boggliest kind: science fiction books.

Most of them were preloved paperbacks from my own shelves, like an omnibus from the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Some were childhood obsessions, like Dune. Some were classics, like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Solaris, and Childhood’s End. There were short story collections, alternative histories, some cyberpunk. My brother’s favourite so far – he’s still slowly working his way through the pile – is Ringworld by Larry Niven, because of the awesome concepts. Like speaking in chords! It’s the gift that I can keep on giving. Maybe some Becky Chambers and Martha Wells this year?

Emmi Itäranta, author of “The Wings that Slice the Sky”

When I think of my childhood Christmases, I think of the scent of a pine tree – we always had a real one, as my mother disliked plastic – and the pile of books unwrapped from their shiny paper, waiting to be cracked open like portals to new worlds. My younger brother and I were allowed to bring our mattresses to the living room and sleep under the Christmas tree, and stay up reading as late as we liked: an exception not permitted at any other time of the year.

Detective stories were my favourites. Any present-giver could not go wrong with Nancy Drew (whose first name was Paula in the Finnish translations, presumably because Nancy was considered too foreign – imagine my shock when I learned years later that in English she was known as Nancy!) or The Dana Girls.

Like most readers, I grew out of these formulaic mysteries at some point and purged the volumes from my home library, so sadly none of them remain on my shelves. But they formed an integral part of my childhood: eating chocolate and going on adventures forged from words in the middle of dark winter nights under the Christmas tree.

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Meet the contributors to Nordic Visions!

Storytelling has been a major force in the Nordic countries for thousands of years, renowned for its particular sense of dark humour, featuring pacts with nature and a view of the worlds you seldom find in other places.

Featuring 16 stories across fantasy, science fiction and horror from the best contemporary speculative authors from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and The Faroe Islands, many in English for the very first time, Nordic Visions edited by Margrét Helgadóttir is out this October and today we’re introducing you to its contributors!

PREORDER NORDIC VISIONS

Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson  is an Icelandic novelist who lives in Reykjavík, Iceland. He explores the weird in all its multitudes, usually in fantastical novels and black metal lyrics. His Hrímland  duology, starting with Shadows of the Short Days in 2019, merges Icelandic history and folklore with fantasy literature. Its sequel, The Storm Beneath a Midnight Sun, was released in 2022. These days Alexander is very occupied with infusing the mundane with the fantastical. He works in both Icelandic and English, translating back and forth as necessary. The language he chooses to write in is dictated by the work itself—a convenient excuse. Some people try to call him a musician, which he disagrees with for some reason. More details can be found on his website at alexanderdan.net

Emmi Itäranta is a Finnish author who writes fiction in Finnish and English. Her debut novel Memory of Water from 2014 has won numerous awards, including a James Tiptree Jr. Award honours list mention and the Kalevi Jäntti Prize for young writers in Finland. She has also published two other award-winning novels: The Weaver and The Moonday Letters. Emmi’s work has been translated into more than twenty languages. She returned to her native Finland in 2021 after 14 years in the UK. Find out more at her website: www.emmiitaranta.com

Hannu Rajaniemi was born in Finland. At the age of eight, he approached the European Space Agency with a fusion-powered spaceship design, which was received with a polite ‘thank you’ note. Hannu is a co-founder and CEO of HelixNano, a venture- and Y Combinator[1]backed synthetic biology startup building the world’s most advanced mRNA platform to enable previously impossible applications across human and non-human biology, including COVID-19, climate and cancer. Hannu studied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Oulu and Cambridge and holds a PhD in string theory from the University of Edinburgh. He co-founded a mathematics consultancy whose clients included the UK Ministry of Defence and the European Space Agency. He is the author of four novels including The Quantum Thief (winner of the 2012 Tähtivaeltaja Award for the best science fiction novel published in Finland and translated into more than twenty languages). His most recent book is Summerland, an alternate-history spy thriller in a world where the afterlife is real. His short fiction has been featured in Slate, MIT Technology Review and The New York Times.

Jakob Drud is a Danish author who currently lives in Aarhus, Denmark, with his two children. He’s been writing for the last twenty years and loves fiction that surprises, brings new insights, and makes him laugh— something that the fantastic genres are perfect for. His first novel for children, titled The Man from Sombra, was published in 2022. Many of his stories can be read online, the links can be found at http://jakobdrud.com. On Twitter Jakob is @jakobdrud, if tweets about writing and life are your thing.

Johann Thorsson is an Icelandic author whose short stories have appeared in publications both in Icelandic and English, such as Fireside Fiction and The Apex Book of World SF series. His first novel, Whitesands from 2021, set in the United States, blends Nordic noir with the supernatural. He grew up partly in the Middle East and eastern Europe but now lives in Reykjavik with his wife, two kids and ever-decreasing space on his bookshelves. He can most often be found wasting time on Twitter as @johannthors

Johanna Sinisalo is a Finnish author and screenwriter who has won, among others, the Finlandia Prize and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. Johanna has been called ‘the queen of Finnish speculative fiction’. Much of her work deals with societal topics, such as equality and environmental issues. Johanna’s writing has been translated into around twenty languages, of which four novels in English, all praised by readers and critics alike: the Tiptree-winner Not Before Sundown (U.S. edition Troll–A Love Story), Birdbrain, The Blood of Angels, and her latest novel from 2016, The Core of the Sun, which made the Tiptree honour list. Her novelette Baby Doll was shortlisted for the Theodore Sturgeon Memo[1]rial Award in 2008 and the Nebula in 2009. You can find several of Johanna’s short stories in English in many anthologies such as Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Volume Four (2017), and she has also edited The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy, an anthology of Finnish speculative fiction. As a screenwriter, Johanna’s most known work is the original story for the 2012 cult SF comedy movie Iron Sky.

John Ajvide Lindqvist is a Swedish author with a background as both a magician and a stand-up comedian. Today he’s a well-known author with several acclaimed novels and short stories, several within horror and fantasy. His debut novel was Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In), in 2004, and his works include novel titles such as Hanteringen av odöda (Handling the Undead), Människohamn (Harbour), Lilla stjärna (Little Star), and also the short story collection Pappersväggar (Let the Old Dreams Die). ‘Border’, one of the short stories in this collection, was made into a feature film in 2019. Lindqvist was also a writer for the television series Reuter & Skoog (1999) and wrote the screenplays for Swedish Television’s drama series Kommissionen (2005) and for the film Let the Right One In, based on his novel. His work has been awarded several times, especially in connection with the script for the film Let the Right One In, but also the Selma Lagerlöf Prize. His work has also been nominated for awards such as Tiptree, Hugo, BFA and Stoker. John is married to the author Mia Ajvide and lives in the archipelago of Roslagen, Sweden. Find out more on his website: www.johnajvidelindqvist.com

Karin Tidbeck is a Swedish author who lives and works in Malmö as a freelance writer and translator and writes speculative fiction in Swedish and English. They debuted in 2010 with the Swedish collection Vem är Arvid Pekon? Their English debut, the 2012 collection Jagannath, received the Crawford Award and was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. The novel Amatka was shortlisted for the Locus Award in 2018. Their 2021 novel, The Memory Theater, was named one of the best speculative fiction books of the year by The New York Times. Karin’s short fiction is published at Tor.com, Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed and more. They dedicate their free time to games, historical fencing and Forteana. Find them online at karintidbeck.com and on Instagram as @ktidbeck

Kaspar Colling Nielsen is a Danish author who debuted with Mount København (Mount Copenhagen) in 2010. The sequel was published in 2013—a futuristic narrative called Den Danske Borgerkrig 2018-24 (The Danish Civil War 2018-24). Both works are on the borderline of novel and short story collection, where the grotesque, tragicomic, and social satirical intertwine in a unique form of narrative art. The topical Det europæiske forår (The European Spring) came out in 2017 and was shortlisted as the best foreign novel for the Prix du Livre Inter in France in 2019. His short story collection Dengang dinosaurene var små (When the Dinosaurs Were Small) was published in 2019, and the novel Frelsen fra Hvidovre (Salvation from Hvidovre) in 2021. Kaspar’s books have been translated into twenty-one languages.

Lene Kaaberbøl is a Danish writer whose work primarily consists of children’s fantasy series and crime fiction for adults. She’s the author of the book series The Shamer Chronicles, Katriona, W.I.T.C.H., Nina Borg (with Agnete Friis), Madelein Karno, and Wild Witch. Several of her books have been made into movies (such as The Shamer’s Daughter), and her Wild Witch book series provided the basis for a Danish children’s fantasy film of the same name. Lene received the Nordic Children’s Book Prize in 2004. In 2009 Lene, and her co-author Agnete Friis, were awarded the Harald Mogensen Prize by the Danish Criminal Academy (Det danske Kriminalakademi, DKA) for the novel The Boy in the Suitcase.

Margrét Helgadóttir is a Norwegian-Icelandic author and anthologist living in Oslo, Norway. Her short fiction appears in many venues, such as Slate, Luna Station Quarterly, Girl at the End of the World, and Sunspot Jungle, to name a few. Her debut book—The Stars Seem So Far Away—was a finalist at the British Fantasy Awards 2016, and is an apocalyptic road tale set in a far-future Arctic world. Margrét is the editor of the anthology Winter Tales (2016) and the anthology series Fox Spirit Books of Monsters, seven volumes published between 2014 and 2020. Three volumes were shortlisted for the British Fantasy Awards as Best Anthology (2016, 2017 and 2018), and Margrét was also awarded Starburst Magazine’s Brave New Words Award in 2018 for her editorial work on Pacific Monsters. Read more on her website: https:// margrethelgadottir.wordpress.com

Maria Haskins is a Swedish-Canadian writer and reviewer of speculative fiction, who currently lives just outside Vancouver, Canada, with a husband, two kids, a snake, several birds, and a very large black dog. Maria’s work has appeared in The Best Horror of the Year Volume 13, Strange Horizons, Black Static, Interzone, Fireside, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Flash Fiction Online, Mythic Delirium, Shimmer, Cast of Wonders, and elsewhere. Her short story collection Six Dreams About the Train was published by Trepidatio Publishing in 2021. Find out more on Maria’s website: mariahaskins.com, or follow her on Twitter, where she is @mariahaskins.

Rakel Helmsdal is a Faroese multi-artist. She has so far published twenty-five books (novels, short story collections and picture books), as well as plays, short stories, and poems. Rakel sees herself as a storyteller for all age groups, and she chooses the medium—texts, plays, poems, pictures, sculptures—depending on what she feels that the story requires. Rakel is the co-author of the book series Little Monster and Big Monster, together with Icelandic author and illustrator Áslaug Jónsdóttir and Swedish author Kalle Güettler. The books have so far been published in nineteen languages. Rakel’s works have been nominated five times for the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Children and Youth Literature Prize. Her novel Hon, sum róði eftir ælaboganum (She Rowed After the Rainbow), from 2014, received the West Nordic Children and Youth Literature Prize 2016. She has also been nominated for the ALMA Award (Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award) on four occasions.

Tone Almhjell is a Norwegian author who writes fantasy in both English and Norwegian. She has a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Oslo. She was working as a journalist when, in a fit of bravery and/or madness, she decided to quit her job, sell her flat, and write fiction full-time. Her debut novel, The Twistrose Key, was first published in the U.S. in 2013 by Penguin but has since been published all over the world. The novel, a middle-grade portal fantasy, was very well received. Among other accolades, it was named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year as well as one of the best debuts for young readers in 2013 by the American Booksellers Association. The companion book, Thornghost, also received great reviews and was nominated to ARK’s award for children’s books in 2016. Tone currently lives in Oslo, Norway, with her husband, two sweet kids, and two stubborn cats. Her story in this anthology, ‘The Cormorant’, is inspired by a fairy tale from Northern Norway by Regine Normann. It’s Tone’s first story for adults.

Thore Hansen is a Norwegian author, illustrator, and cartoonist. Hansen debuted with the short story collection Grimaser (Grimaces) in 1975 and has since published many books for children and adults—almost fifty in total. He is known for his characteristic illustrations, and in addition to his own publications, he has also illustrated several books written by other authors. He is particularly well-known for his collaboration with Tor Åge Bringsværd on the tales of Ruffen and Det blå folket (The Blue People), among others. Hansen has won several prizes for his work, including The Norwegian Ministry of Church and Education’s Cartoon Prize (1980), and the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church’s Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature—a total of five times, the Nordic School Librarian Association’s Children’s Book Prize (2002), and the Book Art Prize (2004). In 2020, he won the Norwegian Cartoonist Forum’s honorary prize, ‘Sproing’.

Tor Åge Bringsværd is a Norwegian author who writes both for children and adults. He is the recipient of several awards as an author and playwright, including the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, the Ibsen Prize, and the Arts Council Norway Honorary Award. He has been translated into several languages (despite his name having two impossible Norwegian letters that almost no one outside Norway knows how to pronounce). He lives with his wife in a small village in southern Norway, where a river occasionally flows through their garden. While there are few fish in the river, there are, on the other hand, ducks and beavers. Beneath a big apple tree at one end of the garden, Tor Åge spends most of the year writing in his office cabin, complete with a weather pig (Nasse Nøff, a.k.a. Piglet) on the roof and a lively badger family beneath the floor. When the cold comes and ice freezes on the sidewalks, he prefers to escape south to Lanzarote, that blessed pile of rocks off the coast of Africa. His life motto is: Coincidences are our friends.

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Six Solaris titles are 2023 Locus Awards finalists!

The Locus Science Fiction Foundation has announced the top ten finalists in each category of the 2023 Locus Awards and a number of Solaris titles have made an appearance.

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal is nominated for Science Fiction Novel while The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison and Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse are nominated for Fantasy Novel. Roanhorse makes another appearance in Novella for Tread of Angels and is joined there by Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Ogres, and Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance ed. by Jonathan Strahan rounds off this year’s nominees with its Anthology nomination.

We’re sending huge congratulations to all of our authors and their fellow nominees! The winners will be announced at the Locus Awards Ceremony in Nile Hall at Preservation Park in downtown Oakland, California on 24 June 2023.

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Solaris to publish anthology of contemporary Nordic speculative fiction

Solaris is delighted to announce Nordic Visions: The Best of Nordic Speculative Fiction from anthology editor Margrét Helgadóttir, to be published in October 2023.

Storytelling has been a major force in the Nordic countries for thousands of years, now Nordic Visions celebrates the wealth of contemporary speculative fiction from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Faroe Islands. Fifteen stories, many appearing in English for the very first time, by the likes of John Ajvide Lindqvist, Hannu Rajaniemi, Tor Åge Bringsværd and more make up a wholly unique anthology with themes of loneliness and humanity’s impact on the wilderness.

World English Language Rights were acquired by Michael Rowley, with Chiara Mestieri editing.

Margrét Helgadóttir on the anthology:

“Despite storytelling being a major force for thousands of years in the Nordic countries, much of the speculative fiction hailing from this region has been unknown to the English-speaking world. I’m very happy to be able to bring out this anthology with stories from some of the best short story writers in these genres from the Nordic countries of Sweden, Iceland, The Faroe Islands, Norway and Finland. I hope this collection will provide some glimpses of what goes on at the speculative scene in this part of the world.”

Chiara Mestieri:

“I am thrilled to be working with Margrét on such an eclectic collection of speculative fiction, bringing together some of the most exciting names in the Nordic countries. Delving into the cultural legacy and discovering the genre landscape of Nordic countries through these tales – ranging from the spooky to the fantastic, to the dystopian, to the delightfully strange – was an absolute treat for me, and I can’t wait to share it with readers worldwide.”

Margrét Helgadóttir is a Norwegian-Icelandic writer and anthology editor living in Oslo, Norway. Her stories have appeared in a number of both magazines and print anthologies and her debut book The Stars Seem So Far Away, was a British Fantasy Awards finalist in 2016. Margrét is editor of the anthology Winter Tales (2016) and the book series Fox Spirit Books of Monsters, seven volumes published between 2014 and 2020. Three volumes were shortlisted for the British Fantasy Awards as Best Anthology (2016, 2017 and 2018), and Margrét was also awarded with Starburst Magazine’s Brave New Words Award in 2018 for her editor work on Pacific Monsters.

For press enquiries please contact Jess Gofton, PR & Marketing Manager: jess.gofton@rebellion.co.uk.

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Meet the contributors to Sinophagia!

Earlier this year we were so excited to share the news that we’re publishing an anthology of horror from China in Spring 2024. Edited and translated by Xueting C. Ni, who also edited and translated the British Fantasy Award-winning collection Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, Sinophagia will translate 14 horror stories from China into English for the very first time.

Today we’re delighted to introduce you to all 14 contributors!

Yimei Tangguo

“A Piece of Candy,” or “Poison Candy” to her readers, is a renowned suspense writer, attracting millions of dedicated fans. Her sharp writing style, and alluring plotlines, have cemented her place as China’s unshakable queen of horror.

Cai Jun

Author, screenwriter, and committee member of the China Writer’s Association, Cai Jun has published about thirty novels, many short stories, and has won multiple awards including the Liang Yusheng Award for Outstanding Contribution and the Hundred Flowers Literature Award.

Chi Hui

The former deputy chief editor of Science Fiction World, Chi Hui has published almost a dozen sci-fi and fantasy novels, and has earned such accolades as the Galaxy, Nebula and Coordinate awards. Her short works are available in English on Clarkesworld, and Apex magazines.

Chu Xidao

A member of the Shanghai Writer’s Association and ex-creative director to an advertising company, Chu Xidao now works mainly on novel and screen writing, with great acclaim for her series Demon Born. She was also head script writer for the C-Drama Warrior of Destiny.

Chuan Ge

A self-professed “story grave-digger,” Chuan Ge is a suspense writer famous for his short form suspense and deduction fiction, managing to create high tension in an exceptionally short space of time.

Fan Zhou

As a new writer, with a very serious day job, Fan Zhou spends her spare time writing in secret about the type of conspiracy, corpses and crime she wishes she could banish purely to the pages of fiction.

Goodnight Xiaoqing

Goodnight Xiaoqing is one of the “hot authors” jointly endorsed by almost all China’s major online publishing platforms, with millions of followers calling themselves “The Qing Clan.” Her books include The Imprisoned Fox, The Avenger’s Song and Ghostly Fragrance.

Zhou Haohui

Suspense author, screen writer and cutting-edge director, Zhou Haohui is most known as the creator of the Death Notice franchise, China’s hottest suspense drama, whose live action adaption drew a 100 million views within days of its release.

Gu Shi

An urban planner by day, a speculative fiction writer by night, Gu Shi’s short fiction works have won two Galaxy Awards and three Chinese Nebula Awards. Her stories have been translated into English, published in Clarkesworld, Xprize’s Sci-fi Ocean Anthology and Sinopticon.

She Cong Ge

The pen name of Xu Yufeng, She Cong Ge published his first supernatural horror, Ghost Stories of Yichang, in 2010, and shot to fame online. He quit his day job in 2013 to help in adapting his books Snake City and The Secret Tunnel for TV and film.

Su Min

A sci-fi and screen writer, Su Min’s signature works have won reader voted awards at both the 2019 Chinese Sci-Fi Gala, and the 2020 Gravity Award for Best Short Fiction, whilst The Reconciliation won a “Youth Star” from the China Science and Science Fiction Association.

Hong Niangzi

Hong Niangzi, “The Red Lady,” has written 16 novels, including her Seven Colour Horrors series. Her flair and dynamic style have earned her the title “The Empress of Horror.” Published in Italy, Korea, and Vietnam, this is the first time her work will be available in English.

Zhou Dedong

Considered China’s “godfather of suspense fiction”, Zhou Dedong has been editor-in-chief of Youth, Friends and Motto magazines, and has published almost a dozen books, which have been translated across the world .

Nanpai Sanshu

Nanpai Sanshu, (“Third Uncle of the Southern Sect”), is the pseudonym of Xu Lei. One of the founding figures of China’s tomb raiding genre, his signature work, The Graverobber Chronicles, launched a multi-award winning, multi-media experience covering film, TV, comics and games.

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OUT NOW: The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories

With an all new cover, The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin is out now!

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An enthralling collection of new and classic tales of the fearsome Djinn, from bestselling, award-winning and breakthrough international writers.

Imagine a world filled with fierce, fiery beings, hiding in our shadows, in our dreams, under our skins. Eavesdropping and exploring; tormenting us, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviours, victims, childhood friends.

And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places.

There is no part of the world that does not know them. They are the Djinn.

With stories from Neil Gaiman, Nnedi Okorafor, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherine Faris King, Claire North, E.J. Swift, Hermes (trans. Robin Moger), Jamal Mahjoub, James Smythe, J.Y. Yang, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Logan, K.J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Maria Dahvana Headley, Monica Byrne, Saad Hossain, Sami Shah, Sophia Al-Maria and Usman Malik.

‘A sparkling array of talent and imagination.’ — SFX

‘Exquisite and audacious, and highly recommended.’ — The New York Times

‘Gorgeous.’ — Tor.com

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Sinopticon wins a British Fantasy Award!

This past weekend the phenomenal Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, edited and translated by Xueting C. Ni, won Best Anthology at the British Fantasy Awards!

The winners of this year’s British Fantasy Awards were announced at FantasyCon, where Premee Mohamed’s A Broken Darkness and These Lifeless Things were also shortlisted for Best Horror Novel and Best Novella respectively.

If you couldn’t make it to FantasyCon this year, Xueting kindly shares her acceptance speech below!

We’re so delighted to see Sinopticon recognised and celebrated in a category with five other fantastic anthologies:

  • Dreamland: Other Stories, ed. Sophie Essex (Black Shuck Books)
  • Out of the Darkness, ed. Dan Coxon (Unsung Stories)
  • There Is No Death, There Are No Dead, ed. Aaron J. French & Jess Landry (Crystal Lake)
  • When Things Get Dark, ed. Ellen Datlow (Titan)
  • The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction, ed. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Jembefola Press)

If you haven’t treated yourself to Sinopticon yet, for a limited time you can grab the eBook for just 0.99 exclusively from our website!

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Announcing the first contributors of Sinophagia!

Following the success of the British Fantasy Award-nominated anthology, Sinopticon, we were delighted to announce the acquisition of Sinophagia!

This anthology of Chinese horror, edited and translated by Xueting C. Ni, will be released in 2024, and we’re thrilled to share the first of the contributors with you today…

Cai Jun
Chi Hui
Chu Xidao
Chuan Ge
Fan Zhou
Goodnight Xiaoqing
Gu Shi
Hong Niangzi
She Cong Ge
Su Min
Yimei Tangguo
Zhou Dedong
Zhou Haohui

Keep your eyes peeled for more news about the forthcoming anthology as we approach the spookiest time of the year!

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Solaris to publish Chinese horror anthology from Xueting C. Ni

Solaris is delighted to announce Sinophagia from editor and translator Xueting C. Ni, to be published in Spring 2024.

A sister to Ni’s British Fantasy Award-nominated anthology, Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, Sinophagia collects 14 dazzling tales of contemporary Chinese horror that have been translated into English for the very first time.

World English Rights were acquired by Michael Rowley.

Xueting C. Ni on the anthology:

“I’m very excited to bring be able to bring out this anthology with many masters of Chinese horror, this collection has been carefully curated, to go beyond people’s expectations, of hopping vampires, and hanging ghosts, and whilst I think it’s a fascinating insight into the psyche of modern China, I hope my readers will also find it, absolutely spine chilling.

There has never been a collection like this before, and as with Sinopticon, I have selected a wide range of voices, from China’s most well-known creepy story tellers to bold upcoming writers with a sense of urban horror.”

Editor Michael Rowley:

“Sinophagia, like Sinopticon before it, is a hugely exciting project that will push the boundaries of Western understanding and appreciation of Chinese genre fiction; a world Xueting has unparalleled insight into as an anthologist, editor, and translator. I couldn’t be more excited to be working with her again on such a ground-breaking collection.”

Xueting C. Ni was born in Guangzhou, during China’s “re-opening to the West”. Having lived in cities across China, she emigrated with her family to Britain at the age of 11, where she continued to be immersed in Chinese culture, alongside her British education, realising ultimately that this gave her a unique a cultural perspective, bridging her Eastern and Western experiences. After graduating in English Literature from the University of London, she began a career in the publishing industry, whilst also translating original works of Chinese fiction. She returned to China in 2008 to continue her research at Central University of Nationalities, Beijing. Since 2010, Xueting has written extensively on Chinese culture and China’s place in Western pop media, working with companies, institutions and festivals, to help improve understanding of China’s heritage, culture and innovation, and introduce its wonders to new audiences. Xueting has contributed to the BBC, Tordotcom and the Guangdong Art Academy. She has created non-fiction works, including From Kuanyin to Chairman Mao (Weiser Books) and curated fiction in translation, including Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction (Solaris). Xueting is currently working on new books of non-fiction and on bringing more outstanding contemporary Chinese fiction to Anglophone audiences. She lives just outside London with her partner and their cats, all of whom are learning Chinese.

For press enquiries please contact Jess Gofton, PR & Marketing Manager: jess.gofton@rebellion.co.uk.