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Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Juliana!

Ich möchte auf diesem Wege, wenn auch ein bißchen verspätet, meiner Tochter Juliana zu ihren dreißigsten Geburtstag gratulieren!

Was immer Du auch tust, ich bin mir sicher, daß ich Grund habe, auf Dich stolz zu sein. Ich wünsche Dir aus ganzem Herzen alles Gute für Deinen weiteren Weg und hoffe, daß ich Dich in diesem Leben noch einmal wiedersehen werde.

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Nova 30 published

Small publisher p.machinery has recently announced the publication of Nova 30, the anniversary issue of the German science fiction story magazine that I edit in collaboration with Michael Haitel. It includes new stories by Kasten Kruschel, Horst Pukallus, Norbert Stöbe, Markus Müller, Tom Turtschi, Wolf Welling, Thomas A. Sieber, Michael Schmidt and Uwe Post as well as a classic reprint in new translation by Jack Vance.

Traditionally we regard every tenth issue as a small anniversary that we elebrate with something special. This time the issue presents statements by the three founders of Nova – Ronald H. Hahn, Helmuth W. Mommers and myself – and all previous co-editors as well as appreciations by prominent readers from inside and outside of the science fiction scene, among them critic Josefson and renowned German writer Dietmar Dath.

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Essay on Lem republished

The Science Fiction Club Deutschland e.V. (SFCD), Germany’s largest science fiction association, has recently reprinted my essay “Triumphe eines Ahnungslosen” in issue #271 of its club magazine Andromeda Nachrichten, initially published in Das Science Fiction Jahr 2006 (Heyne), edited by Wolfgang Jeschke and Sascha Mamczak. It’s a critical assessments of Stanislaw Lem’s (1921 – 2006) late essays on artificial intelligence, networks and computer technology mostly featured in the renowned online magazine Telepolis and later collected in several books.

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Nova 29 published

Small publisher p.machinery has just announced the publication of issue #29 of Nova, the magazine for contempory German science fiction stories that I edit together with Michael Haitel. It includes new stories by Tino Falke, T. Elling, Tom Turtschi (this year’s winner of the Deutsche Science Preis/German Science Fiction Award for his story “Don’t Be Evil” in Nova #28), J. A. Hagen, Moritz Greenman, Uwe Post, Frank Hebben, Norbert Stöbe, Peter Stohl and Martin Wambsganß, a guest story by Canadian writer Louis B. Shalako and a nonfiction feature about the so-called simulation hypothesis with, as I think, mind-bending essays by Erfan Kasraie, Fabian Vogt and Wolfgang Mörth.

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New ambient pieces on Soundcloud

I have recently added two more electronic ambient pieces to my Ambient Etudes series, hosted on Soundcloud. “Ambient Etude 8” is based on a live performance in Second Life on Asmita Duranyaja’s art sim interstellART. “Ambient Etude 8” was initially the background sound for a unique event that took place in Second Life in 2017, a live staged science fiction machinima movie, utilizing the Second Life infrastructure and live-streamed to Youtube, based on a script by Thorsten Küper aka Kueperpunk Korhonen.

The script, by the way, was later turned into a story published in Nova #26 and won both the Deutsche Science Fiction Preis and the Kurd Laßwitz Preis, the two leading German science fiction awards.

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Thank you for 2019

I have already embarked on what I hope will be the first year of a new Golden Twenties (preferably without a Great Depressions towards the end of the decade). Though it’s a little belated I don’t want to miss, however, to thank a number of people for their help and support in the previous year:

My co-editors of Nova, Dirk Alt, Michael Haitel, Thomas Sieber and Christian Steinbacher, for a smooth and efficient collaboration that couldn’t have been any better; my fellows Wilfried Bienek, Olaf Kemmler, Jacqueline Montemurri, Horst Pukallus, Michael Steinmann and Tomas Juriga for fun and inspirational talks during our regular meetings in Wuppertal; Asmita Duranjaya, Kueperpunk Korhonen (aka Thorsten Küper), Moewe Winkler, Xuemei Yiyuan and the ladies of the Little Yoshiwara for their collaboration and support in Second Life; Frank W. Haubold, Helmuth W. Mommers and my publishers Fabylon and p.machinery for being loyal colleagues; my readers and reviewers for their encouragement; my cousin Martina for another year of mutal support and last not least my lovely Twigg for all the time we were blessed to spend together.

I also like to wish my daughter Juliana all the best for a happy and successful new year. I have no doubt that you will continue to make your way.

 

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Nova 28 published

Shortly before Christmas me and my co-editors managed to complete our last task of the year and have the latest issue #28 of our award winning science fiction magazine Nova published. It includes new stories Dirk Alt, Marcus Hammerschmitt, Wolfgang Moerth, Tom Turtschi, Uwe Schimunek, Tino Falke, Victor Boden, Paul Sanker and Wolf Welling, a poem by Volly Tanner and a guest story by renowned Romanian science fiction writer Liviu Surugiu. Of special interest for the science fiction community should be, in the nonfiction section, a discussion about the recent renaming of the James Tiptree jr. Award with statements by Dirk Alt, myself and, a special honor for our magazine, Tiptree biographer Julie Philips.

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