Five Years of Strange Horizons

Jed Hartman notes that yesterday was the fifth birthday of Strange Horizons. Certainly, I may be somewhat biased, being a columnist for them, but I was a Strange Horizons fan long before they asked me to join the crew. Five years of putting out a weekly magazine -- no easy task. All of the staff are volunteers, but the writers are paid, and this has helped the magazine maintain a level of quality and consistency that is impressive. The diversity of the stories, poems, articles, and essays is impressive, and there's rarely an issue that doesn't have at least something of interest. They get criticized sometimes because the magazine can be difficult to label, because much of the fiction they publish plays around with the borders and outlines of expectations, and because the editors have an interest in various styles and forms of writing. I think this is a strength, even though it means that inevitably we end up disappointed or even annoyed by some stories, some essays, some poems. So what? Next week, there's something new. It's a joy to check in every Monday, just to see what odd items they have discovered now.

You can read through the archives and find much pleasure there is to be had. Or we can indulge in a moment of nostalgia and tribute -- here are some pieces from the September 1, 2000 issue:
Editorial by founding editor Mary Anne Mohanraj
Fiction: "Triage" by Tamela Viglione
Poetry: "Surreal Domestic" by Bruce Boston
Interview: Nalo Hopkinson
Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of FIre by Jen Larsen
Art Gallery: Rebecca Kemp
Many thanks to everybody who has worked on Strange Horizons over the years -- the editors, the proofreaders, the behind-the-scenes techies and development folks, the writers, the readers. I look forward to the magazine's tenth birthday with great anticipation for what marvels will be discovered between now and then.

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