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Interzone (magazine)

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This article is about the science fiction magazine. For other uses, see Interzone (disambiguation).

Interzone
First issue cover
CategoriesScience fiction magazine
First issueSpring 1982
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Websitehttps://interzone.press

Interzone is a British fantasy and science fiction magazine. Published since 1982, Interzone is the eighth-longest-running English language science fiction magazine in history, and the longest-running British science fiction (SF) magazine.[1] Stories published in Interzone have been finalists for the Hugo Awards and have won a Nebula Award and numerous British Science Fiction Awards.

Publication history

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In 1981 Malcom Edwards, who was then a freelance writer, and David Pringle, who chaired that year's British Science Fiction Convention, independently became interested in starting a new science fiction (sf) magazine. Pringle had obtained permission from the convention committee to put that year's profit of £1,300 (equivalent to £6,300 in 2023) towards starting a magazine, and along with Simon Ounsley, Alan Dorey, and Graham James he created a proposal for a 112-page digest-sized magazine. Edwards' proposal was for a 32-page A4-sized magazine, to be funded by subscriptions; he interested John Clute, Colin Greenland, and Roz Kaveney in the idea and sent the proposal to the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA). Dorey was the chair of the BSFA at the time and put Edwards in touch with Pringle.[2]

The two proposals differed in more than just the size and page count: Pringle had imagined a magazine that would publish non-fiction as well as a range of science fiction, whereas Edwards's proposal was for a more literary style of fiction. Despite the differences, planning went ahead; it proved difficult to agree on who should edit the magazine, and eventually it was decided that all eight people involved should edit as an unpaid collective, with all of them reading every submission and agreeing on all editorial decisions. Pringle suggested the title, which came from the city of Interzone described in William Burroughs' novel The Naked Lunch. Charles Platt agreed to act as the American agent for the new magazine.[3] The first issue, in A4 format, was dated Spring 1982, and subscribers to the new magazine received a booklet edition of J. G. Ballard's story News from the Sun.[4][5] Edwards and Greenland obtained a grant from the British Arts Council that helped support the magazine in its first few years, and it was also assisted by donations from Clive Sinclair and Arthur C. Clarke.[6]

The unwieldy eight-person editorial collective did not last. Graham James was only credited as one of the editors for the first two issues, and Edwards lasted for only two more.[7][8] Kaveney departed after the seventh issue, and Clute and Dorey after the ninth, though they remained as advisors. Colin Greenland left after the twelfth issue, leaving Ounsley and Pringle as co-editors.[9][10] Three issues were produced in each of the first two years, after which the schedule settled down to a regular quarterly for five years before becoming bimonthly in late 1988 and obtaining newsstand distribution.[11][12][13] Ounsley left for health reasons after the Summer 1988 issue, leaving Pringle in sole charge.[14] Pringle's first issue, dated September 1988, began a short bimonthly stretch, and with the May 1990 issue it became monthly.[11][12]

Pringle was able to maintain this schedule for over a decade, but in 2002 it became erratic, with ten isssues that year. From May 2003 the magazine was bimonthly, though Pringle was still trying to keep it to a monthly schedule, but in November the change was made permanent. Only one more bimonthly issue appeared; the next, dated Spring 2004, was three months late, and the last one edited by Pringle.[15] For personal and financial reasons Pringle gave up the magazine, selling it that year to Andy Cox, who had been publishing another sf magazine, The Third Alternative, since 1994.[15][16][17] Cox returned magazine to a bimonthly schedule, starting with the September/October 2004 issue, and maintained it until the end of 2017.[5][13] The January/February 2018 issue was skipped, as was the July/August 2020 issue.[18] Cox looked into selling the magazine to PS Publishing, though he changed his mind on learning that they planned to produce only digital editions, and no print version.[19][20] Cox published only one issue in 2021 and another in 2022,[13] after which it was acquired by Gareth Jelley.[21] Jelley changed the format from A4 to paperback and published two more print issues, dated January and September 2023, and then converted it to a bimonthly electronic-only format, with no print version.[5][13]

Contents and reception

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The first issue included an extract from The Brothel in Rosenstrasse by Michael Moorcock, and stories by Angela Carter, M. John Harrison, John Sladek, and Keith Roberts, whose "Kitemaster" subsequently won the BSFA short fiction award for 1982.[22][23]

The science fiction historian Mike Ashley regards Interzone as one of the success stories of the 1980s in science fiction: the collective editorial team provided additional resources in the early days, and it grew steadily over the decade until it was well-established.[24]

The Third Alternative was subsequently renamed Black Static and published alongside Interzone. Under TTA Press, the magazine underwent a series of redesigns, notably switching from A4 to a compact perfect bound format in 2012. Gardner Dozois referred to Interzone in 2007 as the "handsomest SF magazine in the business".[25]

In 2006, the Science Fiction Writers of America removed the magazine from its list of professional markets due to low rates and small circulation.[27] However, within the genre field the magazine is still ranked as a professional publication.[28] As Dozois has stated, "By the definition of SFWA, Interzone doesn't really qualify as a 'professional magazine' because of its low rates and circulation, but as it's thoroughly professional in the caliber of writers that it attracts and in the quality of the fiction it produces, just about everyone considers it to be a professional magazine anyway."[29] It pays semi-professional rates to writers.[30]

In January 2021, after announcing a delay of issue 290 "for various reasons (some covid-related, some not)",[31] Andy Cox announced that he was stepping down as editor of Interzone, and selling the title to PS Publishing, who planned a quarterly digital-only title edited by Ian Whates.[32] However, the deal was later cancelled, with Andy Cox saying he was unhappy that existing subscriptions would not be honoured.[33]

Awards and recognition

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Interzone has been nominated 25 consecutive times for the Hugo Award for best semiprozine, winning the award in 1995. In 2005 the Worldcon committee gave David Pringle a Special Award for his work on the magazine. The magazine has also won the British Fantasy Award.

Each year, multiple stories published in Interzone are reprinted in the annual "year's best stories" anthologies, while other stories have been finalists for the Hugo and Nebula Awards.[34] In 2010 the magazine became one of only eleven magazines to have a story win a Nebula Award.[34] The winning story was the novelette "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" by Eugie Foster.[35] In addition, 16 stories originally published in Interzone have won the British Science Fiction Award for short fiction.

Interzone is the eighth longest-running English language science fiction magazine in history[34] and the longest-running British SF magazine.

Writers

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Interzone has been responsible for starting the careers of a number of important science fiction writers, including Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Kim Newman, Alastair Reynolds and Charles Stross, as well as publishing works by established writers such as Brian Aldiss, J. G. Ballard, Iain M. Banks, Thomas M. Disch, William Gibson, Robert Holdstock, Gwyneth Jones, Terry Pratchett, Christopher Priest, John Sladek, Brian Stableford, Ian Watson and many others. Interzone is also known for publishing new and upcoming writers, regularly publishing the works of Tim Lees, Aliette de Bodard, Gareth L. Powell, Eugie Foster, Jason Sanford, Val Nolan, Nina Allan, and others.

Interzone features regular columns by David Langford (Ansible Link– News & Gossip, Obituaries), Tony Lee (Laser Fodder – DVD Reviews) and Nick Lowe (Mutant Popcorn – Film Reviews). In 2010, Lowe won a British Science Fiction Award for his Mutant Popcorn column.

In 2008 a Mundane SF issue was published, guest edited by Geoff Ryman, Julian Todd and Trent Walters.[36]

Leeds-based artist Pete Lyon contributed many illustrations in the 1980s. He was nominated for the British SF Association Awards in 1987 for his cover work on the first Interzone magazine.

Bibliographic details

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The editorial succession at Interzone is as follows:[37][18][38]

  • Spring–Summer 1982. John Clute, Alan Dorey, Malcolm Edwards, Colin Greenland, Graham James, Roz Kaveney, Simon Ounsley, David Pringle.
  • Fall 1982 – Spring 1983. John Clute, Alan Dorey, Malcolm Edwards, Colin Greenland, Roz Kaveney, Simon Ounsley, David Pringle.
  • Fall 1983 – Spring 1984. John Clute, Alan Dorey, Colin Greenland, Roz Kaveney, Simon Ounsley, David Pringle.
  • Summer 1984 – Fall 1984. John Clute, Alan Dorey, Colin Greenland, Simon Ounsley, David Pringle.
  • Winter 1984 – Summer 1985. Colin Greenland, Simon Ounsley, David Pringle.
  • Fall 1985 – Summer 1988. Simon Ounsley, David Pringle.
  • September 1988 – Spring 2004. David Pringle.
  • September/October 2004 – July 2022. Andy Cox.
  • January 2023 – current as of August 2024. Gareth Jelley.

The October 1994 issue was guest-edited by Paul Brazier.[39]

Anthologies

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In the first years, several anthologies were published.

  • John Clute, Colin Greenland and David Pringle: Interzone – The 1st Anthology, Everyman Fiction Limited, 1985
  • John Clute, David Pringle and Simon Ounsley: Interzone – The 2nd Anthology, Simon & Schuster Limited, 1987
  • John Clute, David Pringle and Simon Ounsley: Interzone – The 3rd Anthology, Simon & Schuster Limited, 1988
  • John Clute, David Pringle and Simon Ounsley: Interzone – The 4th Anthology, Simon & Schuster Limited, 1989
  • John Clute, David Pringle and Simon Ounsley: Interzone – The 5th Anthology, New English Library Paperbacks, 1991
  • David Pringle: The Best of Interzone, Voyager, 1996

The second through fourth anthologies were reissued by New English Library.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "ANDY HEDGECOCK says politically engaged fantasy is thriving in the 21st century Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine," The Morning Star, 24 March 2015.
  2. ^ Ashley (2016), pp. 119-120.
  3. ^ Ashley (2016), p 120.
  4. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 121.
  5. ^ a b c Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Magazine Data File". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  6. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 122.
  7. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 123.
  8. ^ Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Magazine Contents Lists: Page 5677". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  9. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 126.
  10. ^ Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Magazine Contents Lists: Page 5678". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  11. ^ a b Ashley (2016), p. 127.
  12. ^ a b c Ashley (2016), pp. 360-361.
  13. ^ a b c d Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Interzone". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 23 December 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  14. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 126.
  15. ^ a b Ashley (2022), pp. 219-220.
  16. ^ Ashley (2022), p. 81.
  17. ^ a b Locus (May 2004), pp. 7, 60.
  18. ^ a b c Ashley (2022), p. 366.
  19. ^ Locus (March 2022), p. 32.
  20. ^ Ashley (2022), pp. 322-323.
  21. ^ Myman et al. (February 2023), p. 52.
  22. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 121.
  23. ^ "BSFA - Past Winners". British Science Fiction Association. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  24. ^ Ashley (2016), pp. 205, 231.
  25. ^ "Summation: 2007" from The Year's Best Science Fiction, 25th Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, editor. St. Martin's Griffin, p. xv.
  26. ^ Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Index by Magazine Issue: Page 68". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  27. ^ Gardner Dozois, The Year's Best Science Fiction, 2006
  28. ^ "2009 Magazine Summary," Locus Magazine, February 2010, page 55.
  29. ^ "Summation: 2009" from The Year's Best Science Fiction, 27th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois, St. Martin's Griffin, page xv.
  30. ^ Duotrope's Digest – Publication Details: Interzone
  31. ^ Cox, Andy. "INTERZONE #290 + BLACK STATIC #78". TTA Press. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  32. ^ Langford, David. "Ansible 403, February 2021". Ansible. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  33. ^ Langford, David. "Ansible 404, March 2021". Ansible. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  34. ^ a b c "Interzone Evaluated: Awards, Stories Reprinted, Issues Published" by Colin Harvey, Suite 101, 19 July 2010, Retrieved 18 Sep 2010.
  35. ^ Winners: 2009 Nebula Awards Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  36. ^ Andy Cox (3 May 2008). "Interzone 216: Special Mundane-SF issue". TTA Press.
  37. ^ Ashley (2016), p. 360.
  38. ^ Stephensen=Payne, Phil. "Magazine Contents Lists: Page 5729". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  39. ^ Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Magazine Contents Lists: Page 5698". Galactic Central. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.

Sources

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  • Ashley, Mike (2016). Science Fiction Rebels: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1981 to 1990. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-78138-260-8.
  • Ashley, Mike (2022). The Rise of the Cyberzines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1991 to 2020. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-80085-648-6.
  • "Pringle Exits Interzone". Locus. Vol. 52, no. 5. May 2004. pp. 7, 60.
  • "2021 Magazine Summary". Locus. Vol. 88, no. 3. March 2022. pp. 30–37. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  • Myman, Francesca; Sorg, Arley; Trombi, Liza (February 2023). "2022 Magazine Summary". Locus. Vol. 90, no. 2. pp. 49–58. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
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