New issue! Kinney, Im, reviews

In this week's issue we bring you a first professional sale: "Meltwater" by Benjamin C. Kinney:

The church lies at the edge of the Mediterranean fracture, below cliffs barely eight thousand years old. Glacial melt pours down the precipice, filling the air with a fine frigid mist. Rime ice coats the façade, making the church look like a sharp-clawed hand locked in melting wax. Another fork drops me off in a flyer, leaving me alone in the valley with my pack and what few memories I can carry.

Benjamin has also written about the genesis of the story on his site, here.

Also in this week's issue: a poem by Christina Im, and reviews of Jessica Jones, Gemma Files' new novel, and Paul March-Russell's book on science fiction and modernism. Just a click away!

I spent most of this weekend working (with assistance) on this year's iteration of the SF Count (our annual look at reviews coverage in sf; last year here). We're hoping to get it out at the end of April, so I don't want to give away the highlights yet, except to say that mostly it's not highlights, as per usual. This will be the sixth iteration of the count, the third to look at race as well as gender, and it seems so far that what improvements there have been remain, for the most part, small, local, and transient. And beyond who gets reviewed, there's the question of who does the reviewing: we're always on the lookout for new reviewers, particularly those from historically marginalised backgrounds of all kinds. If you think it's something you might enjoy, please do consider getting in touch with our reviews team (reviews@strangehorizons.com).

Last but not least, some social news: there will be a Strange Horizons tea party at the upcoming UK Eastercon! The full programme isn't quite live yet, but I can tell you, special people, that it will be on Sunday afternoon, at 4pm, in the Presidential Suite. If you're going to be there, it would be lovely to see you.

-- Niall