The collective principle asserts that... no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.
-- Aneurin Bevan

Issue 2012.23

Short stories

• ‘American Golgotha’, Joe Pitkin - art by Martin Hanford
• ‘Lacuna’, Anne E. Johnson - art by Rebecca Whitaker
• ‘Survive!’, Cory McMillen - art by Eric Asaris
• ‘Thick on the Wet Cement’, Rebecca J. Schwab - art by Cécile Matthey

Novelettes

• ‘Elm’, Jamie Killen - art by Lisa Grabenstetter

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We’re extremely proud to present the five stories in this issue, as each one—whether it be a modern retelling of the dryad myth, a subtle tale of alienation and social misfits, a deconstruction of racist science, a terrifying parable of alien voices, or a queer cyberpunk—is powerful and challenging and beautiful and angry and in some way takes The Future Fire somewhere it hasn’t been before. I’ve been very excited watching this issue grow over the last three months.

We’re also very pleased to be in the middle of putting together two specialist anthologies this year. The first, Outlaw Bodies, a queer, trans, feminist, body-positive cyberpunk themed volume co-edited by Lori Selke, is more-or-less complete, and we hope it will be in press within about month of this issue. The second, We See a Different Frontier, a pro-rate paying colonialism-themed anthology co-edited by Fábio Fernandes is currently open for submissions (see the CFS on our blog). Support for both of these projects has been massive, and we’re both humbled and delighted by the generosity and enthusiasm of the speculative fiction community that has bought into these ideas. We can’t wait to share them with you.

In the meantime, enjoy the wonderful stories in this issue of The Future Fire. Peace!

Djibril al-Ayad, June 2012