More SF news of a Scottish flavour this week, via the good offices of Charlie Stross who told us Edinburgh publisher Mercat Press were putting together a collection. Vikki from Mercat told us that the book was in its early stages, but already it’s beginning to take shape and it looks quite exciting to me. At this stage of course details are still being added, but Mercat could tell us that Andrew J Wilson and Neil Williamson are editing the collection, which will be called Nova Scotia: An Anthology of Scottish Speculative Fiction. As Mercat’s release put it:
“Over the past 20 years, authors living and working in Scotland, such as Iain M. Banks, Alasdair Gray and Ken MacLeod, have become some of the most influential figures writing speculative fiction at the international level.
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing such genres as science fiction, fantasy, horror, the supernatural, magic realism, alternate history or any other imaginative treatment of the short story form.”
The book is attempting to explore Scotland and her cultural identity from various unusual angles, drawing on a fine tradition established by such classic authors as Robert Louis Stevenson, Neil Gunn and James Hogg. The contributors include the first ever National Makkar of Scotland(that’s Poet Laureate to non-Scots), Edwin Morgan (who is well-known for using both technological and SF themes in his wonderful poetry – anyone interested should read Planet Wave in his Collected works), Matthew Fitt (who has done some serious work in keeping the Scots language alive in print, notably with But’n’Ben A Go Go, an entire near-future SF novels written in BroadScots which was great fun) and also the always-excellent Ken MacLeod, Willie Meikle (a great local writer who has had a hugely enjoyable series printed in the US mixing up the Jacobite rebellion and vampires to delightful effect) and there’s that Charlie Stross person again (he does get about) among others.
Mercat are hoping to have Nova Scotia launched by the time Worldcon arrives in Glasgow and also to promote the book at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival (also in August), so you are going to be hearing more about this exciting collection (but you heard it here first!). Having worked with Mercat in the past with their fine range of Scottish history and culture books I think this is going to be something to really look forward to. And with such a fine list of contributors I believe it is going to appeal to more than just Scottish SF fans; naturally we will blog more details as we hear them.
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