ChiZine Publications is re-launching their online speculative fiction ‘zine, The Chiaroscuro/ChiZine.com, “as well as creating the ChiHub, an online navigation page from which all things ChiZine will originate. The project will institute an upgraded, streamlined design for both ChiZine.com and the hub page, courtesy of CZP designer Erik Mohr and coder Barry King.”
Co-Publisher Brett Alexander Savory says “We’ve been toiling at this behind the curtain for some time now. As both the magazine and publishing house grow—and they are, more and more every day—fine tuning our online presence and making everything more accessible becomes key. Thankfully we have an epic team to make it possible.”
Savory launched The Chiaroscuro/ChiZine.com in 1997, “in an effort to expand the ever-shrinking world of Canadian dark literature.” Sandra Kasturi joined him in 1999. In 2008, after considering the publication of a ChiZine anthology, they expanded into print publishing with the launch of ChiZine Publications alongside the ‘zine. “We’re pretty insufferable right now,” jokes Kasturi in the current issue of Rue Morgue. “We figured there’d be a small audience for what we’re trying to do, but the recognition has been a really great surprise. It’s like getting everything you ever wanted handed to you on a plate.”
Savory says the April-June issue will be the “mega-issue” of ChiZine, and will contain nearly 200 short stories and poems from various spec-fic alumni, who have previously featured in the ‘zine, or were contest judges, including contributions from Neil Gaiman, Stewart O’Nan, Mike Carey, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Gary Braunbeck, Tom Piccirilli, Sarah Langan,Tim Lebbon, Bruce Boston, Marge Simon, and Robert J. Wiersema. “It will also mark the start of ChiZine.com‘s three-month donation drive, which aims to raise enough money for the magazine to continue publishing at its current rate of seven cents per word for short fiction and $10 per poem.”
Currently available content includes:
Fiction:
“I, Cthulhu” by Neil Gaiman
“The Girl with the Halo” by Matthew Sanborn Smith
“W.W.P.D.” by Patricia Lee Macomber
“Lament” by Tom Piccirilli
“Before and After” by Sunil Sadanand
“Holy Mackerels” by Ursula Pflug
Poetry:
“Beware of Attics” by Andrew Blythe
“a promise fulfilled” by Brian Rosenberger
“Beachhead” by Marge Simon & Michael Fosburg
“Glass, Redux” by Robyn Herrington
“Mr. Poe’s Last Express” by Ed Lynskey
“The Surrender” by Rain Graves, with artwork by Daniele Serra
“Their Shades are Legend” by Bruce Boston
“ms & mr frankenstein” by Phyllis Gottlieb
Columns:
book review of The Crossing (by B. Michael Radburn) by Chris Hallock
“Compromise and the Lost Art of Artistic Vision” by David Niall Wilson
Edward Whitt interviews Deep Cuts