Proud


When I went to Readercon in 2013, I was asked to put down the most important line from my work on a sticker as a way of introduction. I wrote, without hesitation, “My life is described by the music of mute violins.” It is an opening to “Seven Losses of Na Re,” a magic realist story about Soviet Jews, memory, and history, that appeared in Daily Science Fiction.

A while ago, I sold a reprint of this story to Sisters of the Revolution, an anthology of feminist SF edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer. Here is the description of the anthology from PM Press:

Sisters of the Revolution gathers a highly curated selection of feminist speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more) chosen by one of the most respected editorial teams in speculative literature today, the award-winning Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. Including stories from the 1970s to the present day, the collection seeks to expand the conversation about feminism while engaging the reader in a wealth of imaginative ideas. (PM Press product sheet)

I’ve sold reprints before and since, and have been very proud of all of them all, but this one is special. I share a table of contents with many of my heroes, feminist writers who literally saved my life and changed it, informed it, enriched it, upheld me and so many others, without whom my work now would not be possible.

Contributors include: Angela Carter, Angelica Gorodischer, Anne Richter, Carol Emshwiller, Eileen Gunn, Eleanor Arnason, Hiromi Goto, James Tiptree Jr., Joanna Russ, Karin Tidbeck, Kelley Eskridge, Kelly Barnhill, Kit Reed, L. Timmel Duchamp, Leena Krohn, Leonora Carrington, Nnedi Okorafor, Octavia Butler, Pamela Sargent, Rose Lemberg, Susan Palwick, Tanith Lee, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Vandana Singh.

Inarticulate flailing of excitement goes here.

The anthology comes out in February 2015, and is available for preorder on PM Press, Powells, Amazon, and a variety of other retailers.

Sisters of the Revolution
Cover image of Sisters of the Revolution

Many thanks to the publishing people who helped this story along: to Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden, for publishing it in DSF, and to Marcheto for translating it into Spanish in Cuentos Para Algernon (congratulations  to Cuentos Para Algernon for winning a prestigious Ignotus Award in the Best Website category!), and of course, many thanks to Jeff and Ann Vandermeer for choosing to reprint it, and to Dominik Parisien for helping make this happen.

Happy New Year, everyone!