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\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7<\/a> \ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddfa<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \ud80c\udda3<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We want progressive speculative fiction.<\/span><\/p>\n This means: fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, steampunk, weird west, solarpunk, lunarpunk, magic realism, post-apocalyptic and more. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n We want experimentation and depictions of underrepresented, as well as marginalized groups. Take us by surprise. Use points of view that are uncommon. We want full and round characters with depth. We want emotional relationships and unique settings. We want beauty and charm and fuzzy feelings and sadness. We want revolution and utopia and hope, and we want texts to talk about.<\/span><\/p>\n We encourage you to stray from the norms. We want mold-breaking stories, with unusual forms.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We preferably <\/strong>want texts from writers from or living or having experience with Luxembourg.<\/span><\/p>\n We accept texts in: Luxembourgish,<\/strong> English, <\/strong>and German. <\/strong>(Sadly, both of us are not any good in French, and can therefore not guarantee proper spelling in French. We are actively searching for someone who could help us, and as soon as that someone is found, we will update this section).<\/span><\/p>\n We accept multilingual texts<\/strong>, as long as it is Luxembourgish, English, German, and French.<\/span><\/p>\n We want fiction and non-fiction under 2000 words<\/strong> (for the moment). The minimum is 25<\/strong>0 words (microfiction)<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n We want poetry not bigger than 3 pages<\/strong> (please keep to the formatting suggested in the formatting <\/strong>section).<\/span><\/p>\n We want clear prose and good style. To be fair, we are not prescriptive or grammar experts, on the contrary, we let things slide a lot because we believe in showing off raw, unfiltered texts in the style and tone the author had anticipated from the start. We also approach language differently than most editors. Standard grammar of a language is never a true depiction of the language reality. We will therefore guide you on artistic paths and decisions with our editorial comments, rather than correct every single sentence structure or choice of words.<\/span><\/p>\n However, we demand some adherence to basic<\/em> grammar rules, no matter what language.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \ud80c\udda3<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We don’t want incomplete stories. There has to be plot structure and narrative design. We don’t want snippets or insights or scene descriptions, without any meaning behind it, unless it is poetry, and even then it has to have some kind of structure.<\/span><\/p>\n If you don’t know where to start, we recommend the following resources:<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t necessarily want horror. <\/strong>We know it belongs to the speculative fiction spectrum, but it often brings with it unnecessary violence and harm. That being said, we don’t want meaningless violence, casual death, or glorification of such. We refuse stories with r-pe, pornography, sadistic violence, gore, bestiality, child abuse, and blatant racism, as well ass transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, or hate speech as focal point of the story. But horror,<\/strong> if done well and subtle yet exciting, we will consider.<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t want blatant capitalist or right-wing propaganda.<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t want resubmitted stories that have previously been refused, even if changed.<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t necessarily want already published stories, simply because of the problems that may arise with the contractual rights.<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t want clich\u00e9s. Tropes are fine. There is a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t want simultaneous submissions. We do, however, accept multiple submissions (don’t overdo it though).<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t mind spelling mistakes, it happens, even to us, but if every third word is written wrong, and it’s not a literary device that has some effect on the text, we don’t want it. There is no shame in using a spellchecker (we do too).<\/span><\/p>\n We don’t want stolen content.<\/span><\/p>\n Also, Strange Horizon<\/em> has compiled a list with story plots and subjects that are rather common and used a lot, lacking a bit of originality, and we generally agree with this list<\/a>. If your story structure is listed on there, make sure it has something unique to it. Challenge yourself! We appreciate that a lot and want to see the best of you!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \ud80c\udda3<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our definition of speculative fiction matches the following quote:<\/span><\/p>\n “[…] ‘Speculative fiction’, as now most often used, does not clearly define any generic boundary, it has come to include not only soft and hard sf but also Fantasy as a whole […]. [T]he term has been useful precisely because <\/em>it allows the blurring of boundaries, which in turn permits a greater auctorial freedom from genre constraints and ‘rules'” (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction<\/a>). <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n While we generally agree that speculative fiction originates from science fiction, we believe the term encompasses all of the genres. We see speculative fiction as an umbrella term.<\/span><\/p>\n However, on a more formal level, we believe speculative fiction is an interplay of three elements: novum, cognition, <\/strong><\/em>and estrangement<\/strong><\/em> — a theory established by Croatian literary critic Darko Suvin. <\/strong>To summarize Suvin’s concept, the following quotes will suffice:<\/span><\/p>\n “By ‘cognition’ Suvin appears to mean the seeking of rational understanding, and by ‘estrangement’ something akin to Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt<\/em> […]. Perhaps the most important part of Suvin’s definition, and the easiest with which to agree, is the emphasis he puts on what he and others have called a Novum, a new thing \u2013 some difference between the world of the fiction and what Suvin calls the “empirical environment”, the real world outside.” (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction<\/a>). <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Now, this refers to science fiction, what about fantasy? Well, fantasy works similarly, the only difference is:<\/span><\/p>\nPLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING PAGE CAREFULLY!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
WHAT WE WANT<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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WHAT WE DON’T WANT<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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SPECULATIVE FICTION: A DEFINITION<\/strong><\/h3>\n