The Best American Fantasy series has undergone a series of important changes, starting with the publisher. Underland Press has acquired the Best American Fantasy series, and will publish the third volume, "Real Unreal," in January of 2010. BAF4, tentatively titled "Imaginary Borders," will appear in March 2011. BAF3 contains work by, among others, Stephen King, Lisa Goldstein, Peter S. Beagle, and John Kessel, as chosen by guest editor Kevin Brockmeier with assistance from series editor Matthew Cheney. The cover of BAF3 was designed by John Coulthart.
The guest editors for volumes 4 through 6 will be: Minister Faust, Junot Diaz, and Catherynne M. Valente. Each of these critically acclaimed writers will bring excellence and expertise to the position. BAF4 will include work published in 2010, as the series skips a year to accommodate the time needed for the change in publisher and general reorganization.
"Victoria Blake at Underland has worked hard to create the perfect home for this unique series," BAF co-founder Jeff VanderMeer said, "and the guest editors we've put in place reflect an exciting diversity of opinions about and approaches to fiction. Each will bring their own spin to the volume they edit, and that's going to be great in terms of keeping the series vital and relevant."
Starting with BAF4, the series will consider stories published in English in Latin American publications, as well as translations of Latin American writers into English in North American publications. In short, any story published in English in a Latin American or North American publication or website, and written by a Latin American or North American resident, is eligible for inclusion in BAF. (As and when possible, and keeping in mind constraints such as expense and a need for additional personnel, the Best American Fantasy series eventually hopes to consider material published in Spanish and Portuguese.)
A series of staffing changes have also occurred. Matthew Cheney, who has done wonderful work on the first three volumes, will be stepping down as series editor due to other demands on his time. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer will perform the role of series editor going forward, while Cheney remains in an advisory position. Former first readers Clayton Kroh and Tessa Kum will serve as assistant editors for BAF beginning with volume 4. Fábio Fernandes and Larry Nolen have been added in an editorial capacity, especially as regards the Latin American publishing community. Further staff additions will occur over the next year as necessary.
Guidelines for BAF4 will be made available by January of 2010. Any publications sent to Matthew Cheney will be forwarded to the VanderMeers. Publications should not be sent to the guest editors at this time. Please address queries to POB 4248, Tallahassee, FL 32315. The BAF website will be updated with all of this information shortly.
Guidelines for BAF4 will be made available by January of 2010. Any publications sent to Matthew Cheney will be forwarded to the VanderMeers. Publications should not be sent to the guest editors at this time. Please address queries to bestamericanfantasy@gmail.com or POB 4248, Tallahassee, FL 32315. The BAF website will be updated with all of this information shortly. Bookmark http://www.bestamericanfantasy.com and http://www.bestamericanfantasy.blogspot.com for future updates.
27 February 2009
BAF Moving to Underland Press!
We are pleased to announce that the Best American Fantasy series is moving to Underland Press for the future, starting with Best American Fantasy 3, guest-edited by Kevin Brockmeier. We owe thanks to Prime and Sean Wallace for helping the series get launched, and thanks to Victoria Blake at Underland for giving us a new home.
Kevin has made his preliminary selections for BAF 3, and once I have secured reprint rights for all the stories, I'll announce the contents -- it's a pretty exciting list!
BAF 3 will be published by Underland in early 2010.
Kevin has made his preliminary selections for BAF 3, and once I have secured reprint rights for all the stories, I'll announce the contents -- it's a pretty exciting list!
BAF 3 will be published by Underland in early 2010.
17 February 2009
Volume 2 ... still coming...
As Jeff has noted, volume 2 of Best American Fantasy got held up because of the economic downturn that has affected the entire publishing industry. According to Amazon.com, it is now in stock there, and with luck it will be available elsewhere soon.
21 June 2008
Best American Fantasy 2008: The contents
We have now finally settled on the contents for Best American Fantasy 2008 (to be released this fall) and tracked down all the permissions, which means I can now announce the stories that will be included:
(x-posted to The Mumpsimus)
(And also check out Jeff's announcement.)
"Bufo Rex" by Erik Amundsen (Weird Tales)Thanks to Ann & Jeff VanderMeer for great work on this volume and our previous one. And now our next guest editor, Kevin Brockmeier, is already reading his heart out for volume 3...
"The Ruby Incomparable" by Kage Baker (Wizards)
"The Last and Only" by Peter S. Beagle (Eclipse 1)
"Mario's Three Lives" by Matt Bell (Barrelhouse)
"Interval" by Aimee Bender (Conjunctions)
"Minus, His Heart" by Jedediah Berry (Chicago Review)
"Abroad" by Judy Budnitz (Tin House)
"Chainsaw on Hand" by Deborah Coates (Asimov's)
"The Drowned Life" by Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse 1)
"The Naming of the Islands" by David Hollander (McSweeney's)
"Light" by Kelly Link (Tin House)
"The Revisionist" by Miranda Mellis (Harper's)
"In the Middle of the Woods" by Christian Moody (Cincinnati Review)
"Story with Advice II: Back from the Dead" by Rick Moody (Mississippi Review)
"Ave Maria" by Micaela Morissette (Conjunctions)
"Logorrhea" by Michele Richmond (Logorrhea)
"Memoir of a Deer Woman" by M. Rickert (Fantasy & Science Fiction)
"The Seven Deadly Hotels" by Bruce Holland Rogers (shortshortshort.com)
"How the World Became Quiet: A Post-Human Creation Myth" by Rachel Swirsky (Electric Velocipede)
)(x-posted to The Mumpsimus)
(And also check out Jeff's announcement.)
07 April 2008
Best American Fantasy 3: The Guest Editor
Here's the press release:
BEST AMERICAN FANTASY ANNOUNCES NEXT GUEST EDITOR
Prime Books and Best American Fantasy are pleased to announce that the next guest editor for the annual anthology series will be the critically acclaimed and bestselling writer Kevin Brockmeier, who will edit Best American Fantasy 3 (to be released in September 2009 by Prime Books, an imprint of Wildside Press). Michael Chabon called the first volume of BAF "an important -- no, a crucial -- map of the richness and strangeness and startling range of the modern American short story" and Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review. The second volume, guest-edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, will be published this September.
Well known for his novels The Brief History of the Dead and The Truth About Celia, Kevin Brockmeier is also an eminent short story writer, having received three O. Henry Awards (one, a first prize), the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award, and an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award. His stories have been published in a wide variety of venues, including The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, McSweeney's, and The Oxford American, and have been reprinted in Best American Short Stories, The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and the first volume of Best American Fantasy. Brockmeier's short fiction has been collected in Things That Fall from the Sky and his most recent book, The View from the Seventh Layer. He has also published two children's books, City of Names and Grooves: A Kind of Mystery. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Series editor Matthew Cheney said, "The challenge for finding our next guest editor was to find someone who would be able to maintain the high quality of the series while also bringing their own slant and perspective. Kevin is perfect -- he was one of the writers included in our first volume, making him already part of the family, and he's also one of the few writers to have appeared not only in Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Awards, but also The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.”
Best American Fantasy 3 will contain stories published during 2008. Publishers who want to be sure their work is considered for inclusion should continue to send copies to Matthew Cheney and to Jeff & Ann VanderMeer, who who will remain involved with BAF to coordinate distribution of materials to future guest editors and assist with public relations and administrative tasks. Guidelines and addresses are available at http://bestamericanfantasy.com.
BEST AMERICAN FANTASY ANNOUNCES NEXT GUEST EDITOR
Prime Books and Best American Fantasy are pleased to announce that the next guest editor for the annual anthology series will be the critically acclaimed and bestselling writer Kevin Brockmeier, who will edit Best American Fantasy 3 (to be released in September 2009 by Prime Books, an imprint of Wildside Press). Michael Chabon called the first volume of BAF "an important -- no, a crucial -- map of the richness and strangeness and startling range of the modern American short story" and Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review. The second volume, guest-edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, will be published this September.
Well known for his novels The Brief History of the Dead and The Truth About Celia, Kevin Brockmeier is also an eminent short story writer, having received three O. Henry Awards (one, a first prize), the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award, and an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award. His stories have been published in a wide variety of venues, including The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, McSweeney's, and The Oxford American, and have been reprinted in Best American Short Stories, The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and the first volume of Best American Fantasy. Brockmeier's short fiction has been collected in Things That Fall from the Sky and his most recent book, The View from the Seventh Layer. He has also published two children's books, City of Names and Grooves: A Kind of Mystery. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Series editor Matthew Cheney said, "The challenge for finding our next guest editor was to find someone who would be able to maintain the high quality of the series while also bringing their own slant and perspective. Kevin is perfect -- he was one of the writers included in our first volume, making him already part of the family, and he's also one of the few writers to have appeared not only in Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Awards, but also The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.”
Best American Fantasy 3 will contain stories published during 2008. Publishers who want to be sure their work is considered for inclusion should continue to send copies to Matthew Cheney and to Jeff & Ann VanderMeer, who who will remain involved with BAF to coordinate distribution of materials to future guest editors and assist with public relations and administrative tasks. Guidelines and addresses are available at http://bestamericanfantasy.com.
24 October 2007
Ain't It Cool News Likes BAF
Without question, I really think this is the best genre anthology of the year. Best American Fantasy did something more ambitious than any of the others could even dare. It might have single-handedly disproved the notion of the 'SF ghetto'.
--Adam Baum
Ain't It Cool News
READ THE FULL REVIEW
04 October 2007
Buy a BAF, Get a Hobart
Hobart is a young literary magazine, and editor Aaron Burch is so excited that a story he published, Catherine Zeidler's "Pregnant", is included in Best American Fantasy that he's named Prime Books to be Hobart's Small Press of the Month and he is willing to send a back issue of Hobart to anybody who orders BAF from now on. (Although I expect he'll have to put some limitations on that, as millions of you are now about to go buy more copies...)
If you're interested in Hobart, be sure to stop by the website ... and do consider subscribing -- it's an attractively-designed magazine with eclectic content (in a good way).
(cross-posted from The Mumpsimus)
If you're interested in Hobart, be sure to stop by the website ... and do consider subscribing -- it's an attractively-designed magazine with eclectic content (in a good way).
(cross-posted from The Mumpsimus)
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