Welcome, lovers of speculative fiction (sf)! For the past few years, I’ve been reading a lot of sf in (English) translation and am constantly amazed at the rich diversity of the genre and its iterations around the world. I started reviewing SF in translation at SF Signal in 2014, and thanks in large part to John DeNardo’s support, I’ve forged some wonderful connections with publishers, authors, translators, bloggers, and readers who all recognize the importance of reading stories from other cultures and traditions. Thus we learn just how similar we humans are, and how fascinatingly different. Speculative fiction offers us a unique perspective on the different peoples who call this planet home, and translation is itself a way of turning the alien into the familiar. This is why I want this site to be a home for all sorts of information on the genre (and thus a continuation of the World SF blog created by Lavie Tidhar): we’ll have reviews of the latest SF in translation; interviews with authors, translators, publishers, editors, etc.; a massive and always-updated bibliography of every translated work of speculative fiction (yes, it’s a tall order, which is why I’m counting on you to help me); and many other features. So for those of you who have found yourself wondering what Romanian science fiction is like, or why people are so pumped about the Three-Body Trilogy, this is the place for you. I’ll be politely asking (i.e. demanding) contributions to this site from all of you wonderful readers, so get ready. Thanks, and in the words of a great starship captain…ENGAGE!

Rachel Cordasco has a PhD in literary studies and used to work as a developmental editor. She’s written for Strange Horizons, World Literature Today, the SFRA Review, Foundation, Locus, Tor.com, Skiffy and Fanty, and other publications. In 2016, Rachel started SFinTranslation.com, which tracks all speculative fiction that has been translated into English from other languages. Her translations of Italian speculative fiction have appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Samovar Magazine, Future Science Fiction Digest, World Literature Today, and The Silent Garden Volume 1. Rachel’s book, Out of This World: Speculative Fiction in Translation from the Cold War to the New Millennium, is out from the University of Illinois Press. You can follow her on twitter @Rcordas.

Questions/comments/suggestions? rachel@sfintranslation.com

Links to Rachel’s work are here.