Excelsior!
A look at the outgoing editor's view of the past few years, and an introduction to the new era of the magazine.
The Political Debate in Science Fiction
Last year, there was a storm brewing over sexism and minority voices being underrepresented in the science fiction community. That debate hasn't gone away, but in the finest SF tradition, it has mutated.
Voices Seldom Heard
by Issue Editor Isaac Bell If you're reading this, then you're a member of a minority. You're a fan of science fiction, or fantasy, or speculative fiction in general (and just knowing the latter term marks you as a member of an even smaller group). Despite the wide popularity of shows and movies we might claim [...]
A Modest Proposal: Literary Awards for Science Fiction
By Jean Asselin A rant of the most eloquent kind about the way science fiction awards are being overrun by fantasy authors.
The Leaky Pipeline: Where are the Women in Science Fiction?
By Scholarly Editor Kathy Kitts Yearly from 2010, VIDA, a women in literary arts organization, has conducted a study on how women fare versus men in publishing. They totaled the number of female and male literary reviewers, reviews and bylines in approximately fifteen of the major literary venues from the Boston Review to The Times Literary Supplement. What they discovered is that men publish more than women nearly two to one.
Inertia and the Paper Ceiling
By Fiction Editor Douglas McKinney Authors generally don’t need to be told how hard it is to get published. They have the rejection letters to prove it, after all. Even bestselling authors needed that first big break to get noticed. The second issue of James Gunn’s Ad Astra showcases fiction from three women this time [...]
Editorial – To the Stars, Through Difficulties
by Isaac Bell, Issue Editor —I wasn’t aware of the danger when I sat down to dinner with friends at the end of our two-week writing workshop...
Editorial – The Universal Motivator
by Douglas McKinney — In sum, James Gunn’s Ad Astra presents you with thirteen Featured Selections dealing with a broad spectrum of themes centered on communication and information. Just as I did when reading these works for the first time, I hope you will find within them plenty to think about.
What does “Communication and Information” mean anyway?
What do we mean when we talk about "Communication and Information?" That's quite a broad topic, don't you think? After all, everything we say and write is information, and every act of sharing constitutes communication. How can we center the theme of Ad Astra around such a nebulous concept?