The New Yorker made a splash in the sci-fi community earlier this year when they devoted their June 4th issue to science fiction. The issue itself raised a lot of discussion (What is Sci-fi? What is a sci-fi writer? Who is The New Yorker to weigh in on either? Perhaps literary readers should read more scifi. Perhaps more sci-fi fans should read more lit-fic) but with its next issue The New Yorker went back to its usual operating procedure and so slipped from the science fiction community’s consciousness. That’s a shame, because just last week in the October 15th issue of The New Yorker they printed one of the best science fiction stories I’ve read in a long time. ‘The Semplica-Girl Diaries’ is online in its entirety and free to read here (though I don’t know for how long).
I can understand why everyone wants to chime in when The New Yorker does a science fiction issue- that’s part of the reason TNYer did one in the first place, they wanted to attract interest from an audience that might not normally pick up their magazine. But then after the fuss is over, each go their separate ways. It’s a shame because sci-fi readers should be championing well-written, interesting stories like ‘The Semplica-Girl Diaries’ and The New Yorker should be making the extra effort to get their stories read by more people who might appreciate them.
Tags: Short stories