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Arley Sorg

Arley Sorg is an associate literary agent at kt literary. He is a two-time World Fantasy Award Finalist and a two-time Locus Award Finalist for his work as co-Editor-in-Chief at Fantasy Magazine. Arley is also a SFWA Solstice Award Recipient, a Space Cowboy Award Recipient, and a finalist for two Ignyte Awards, for his work as a critic as well as his creative nonfiction. Arley is senior editor at Locus, associate editor at both Lightspeed and Nightmare, a columnist for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and an interviewer for Clarkesworld. He takes on multiple roles, including slush reader, movie reviewer, and book reviewer, and ran a series of interviews on his site: arleysorg.com. He has been a guest instructor or speaker at a range of events—and for a variety of audiences—from Worldcons to WisCons, from elementary students to PhD candidates. He was a guest critiquer for the 2023 Odyssey Writing Workshop and the week five instructor for the 2023 Clarion West Workshop. Arley grew up in England, Hawaii, and Colorado, and studied Asian Religions at Pitzer College. He lives in the SF Bay Area and writes in local coffee shops when he can. Arley is a 2014 Odyssey Writing Workshop graduate.

Interview: Malka Older

When I was a kid I adored Tolkien—I remember in 4th or 5th grade taking the time to draw out fifty individual stars for a school poster about favorite books. I’m rereading it now and while some of it holds up—the worldbuilding, for example—so much of it does not. It’s not just the classism, racism, sexism; there are also a lot of weird clunky plot choices and bent-over-backwards justifications for what are presented as unassailable principles and long descriptions that I mostly skimmed as a kid.

Editorial: January 2023

In this issue’s short fiction, Erin Brown grows a little hope in “Skyscrapers That Twist to the Sun,” and “Broodmare” by Flossie Arend gives us a dark glimpse into the future; in flash fiction, Ruth Joffre turns the lens on us in “A Brief Catalog of Humans, as Observed by the Cryptids of Encante,” and “Monsters” by Liz Colter peels away some uncomfortable layers; for poetry, we have “As the Witch Burns” by Marisca Pichette and “I Should Have Been A Pair of Ragged Claws” by Alice Towey. Plus an interview with Infomocracy, And Other Disasters, and The Mimicking of Known Successes author Malka Older. Enjoy!

Editorial: December 2022

In this issue’s short fiction, Victor Forna takes us on a search for home in “Parebul of the Mother, Asked in Moonlight,” and something allures from beyond in Jennifer R. Donohue’s “Into the Dark”; in flash fiction, Jennifer Hudak gives a taste of preserved magic in “Sturgeon Moon Jam,” and Sam Kyung Yoo draws a daring, imaginative escape in “The End of a Painted World”; for poetry, we have “Luminous” by Timmi Sanni and “What Chimerae Read” by Mary Soon Lee. Plus essay “All the King’s Women: Annie Wilkes is the Mother Goddess of Cocaine” by Big Girl (PM Press) and Number One Fan (Mira) author Meg Elison. Enjoy!

Interview: Patrice Caldwell

I love getting to explore new worlds, to fall in love with characters who become real to me, and be moved by the words on the page. Genre fiction got me through the height of the pandemic, and it’s also gotten me through so many times when I felt unmoored. Just being able to dive into a world, to for a moment be somewhere else, it’s the best gift.

Editorial: November 2022

In this issue’s short fiction, Z.K. Abraham’s protagonist finds a strange allure in the sounds coming from next door in “The Typewriter,” and Aimee Ogden’s “SOC 301: Apian Gender Studies (Cross-Listed with ZOL 301)” explores a different kind of dorm life. In flash fiction, Simo Srinivas takes us on an unusual quest in “Plum Century” while Kelsea Yu’s “Harvest of the Deep” takes us on a harrowing journey underwater. For poetry, we have “The Space Between Seconds” by Kelsey Hutton and “The Werewolf and the Fox Spirit Are Neighbors” by Amy Johnson. Plus an interview with A Phoenix First Must Burn and Eternally Yours editor Patrice Caldwell. Enjoy!

Editorial: October 2022

In this issue’s short fiction, Kelsey Hutton brings the curtain down on Giselle in “Queen of the Wilis” and Aigner Loren Wilson’s “The Black and White” takes us on a monstrous road trip with badass sisters; in flash fiction, Eurydice reconsiders this whole… Orpheus thing in Avi Burton’s “Quantum Eurydice,” and something’s fishy in Stephen M.A.’s “Short Swims From Great Heights”; for poetry, we have “The Road” by Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí and “Wolves Heaven” by Abu Bakr Sadiq. Plus essay “Reclaiming a Traditional African Genre: The AfroSurrealism of Ngano” by Drinking From Graveyard Wells author (and author of Fantasy poem “The Himba Destroyer”) Lisa Yvette Ndlovu. Enjoy!

Interview: Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists, Part Two

Ostensibly a readers’ poll, the Locus Awards are decided by an open vote: anyone can participate, and there are no requirements, other than the ability to cast the vote. This means these awards potentially reflect the tastes of a broader range of individuals—but presumably still folks who love genre fiction. So, who better to talk about fantasy fiction than the top ten finalists of the Locus Awards in the Best Fantasy Novel category?

Interview: Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists, Part One

We invited the authors of the top ten Best Fantasy Novels (according to the Locus poll) to participate in a brief collective interview, to discuss their work, their careers, and other things. We asked them all the same ten questions, with the request that they respond to at least seven of them, and let them pick whichever questions they want to answer. We are breaking the interview into two parts, across two issues, for space. We hope you find their responses as interesting as we did!

Editorial: August 2022

In this issue’s short fiction, Eliza Chan explores gender and power across generations in “The Tails That Make You,” and P H Lee’s  “A True and Certain Proof of the Messianic Age, with two lemmas” brings us folklore through an algorithmic lens; for flash fiction, Mary Soon Lee explores classic fairy tales through a different lens in “Introduction to Couture 101,” and M. H. Ayinde grows something new in “Girlfriend Material”; for poetry, we have “The God’s Wife” by Nana Afadua Ofori-Atta and “The Himba Destroyer” by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu. Plus! A collective interview (part one of two) with several of the Top Ten Finalists for this year’s Locus Awards, from the Best Fantasy Novel category! Enjoy!

Interview: RF Kuang

RF Kuang is a Marshall Scholar, Chinese-English translator, and the Astounding Award-winning and the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy