I haven’t quite got it in my hands yet, but there is a copy of the Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Short Stories, edited by Paula Morris and including my story “The New Neighbours” (first published in my recent collection Transported), on its way to me.
As Beattie’s Book Blog reveals, the lineup of authors included is:
Barbara Anderson, Jo Randerson, Charlotte Grimshaw, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Tim Jones, Damien Wilkins, Alice Tawhai, Duncan Sarkies, Fiona Farrell, Emily Perkins, Owen Marshall, Eleanor Catton, Sue Orr, Fiona Kidman, Tracey Slaughter, C. K. Stead, William Brandt, Patricia Grace, Vincent O’Sullivan, Carl Nixon, Elizabeth Smither, Julian Novitz, Justin Eade, Kate Duignan, Sia Figiel, Sarah Laing, Anna Taylor, David Geary, Kirsty Gunn, Bernard Steeds, Witi Ihimaera.
It’s a lineup that I’m very pleased to be a part of!
I am also pleased that Paula Morris chose “The New Neighbours”, which is an out-and-out science fiction story, albeit with a New Zealand setting, for inclusion. It’s another sign that science fiction is gaining a least a measure of acceptance in the wider New Zealand literary community, something which New Zealand Speculative Fiction Blogging Week should also encourage.
Here are the first few paragraphs of “The New Neighbours”, to give you the flavour of the whole.
