Cast of Wonders is the leading voice in young adult speculative short fiction, founded in 2011 by Graeme Dunlop and Barry J. Northern. It became a part of the Escape Artists family of podcasts in 2016 alongside genre siblings Escape Pod, PseudoPod and PodCastle. It is presently edited by Katherine Inskip, with assistant editor Andrew K. Hoe.
Cast of Wonders is a qualified market for the SFWA and the SCBWI.
Every week we present short stories from some of today’s best genre fiction writers, featuring everything from hard science fiction, to urban fantasy, horror, steampunk, superheroes and more. Our stories are defined by their deep emotional resonance and that critical spark of wonder.
We pay our authors and narrators, but our episodes are always 100% free for you. We are funded entirely through listener donations and sponsorship, so if you like what you hear, please consider supporting us through Patreon or PayPal!
Our episodes are produced and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You can find us on social media at Facebook and Twitter, or join the discussion at our fan forums.
Visit our Wikia for a sortable list of episodes and more information.
General comments or questions can be sent to backstage@escapeartists.net.
Awards
- “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by Lisa Hicks. 2019 Hugo Finalist (Short Story)
- “Random Play All and the League of Awesome” by Shane Halbach, narrated by Justin Thomas James. 2018 Parsec Award finalist (Small Cast, Short Form)
- “Hacker’s Faire” by Rati Mehrotra, narrated by Wilson Fowlie. 2018 Sunburst Award finalist.
- Cast of Wonders is a 2015 Parsec Award finalist in the Best Magazine or Anthology category
- CAMP MYTH: PHOENIX WATCHING by Chris Lewis Carter, narrated by Kate Baker, Adam Black, Tina Connolly, Graeme Dunlop, Christiana Ellis, Marguerite Kenner, Alethea Kontis, Barry J. Northern, Alasdair Stuart, and Ian Stuart. 2014 Parsec Award finalist (Long Form)
- “Now Cydonia” by Rick Kennett, narrated by Marguerite Kenner. 2013 Parsec Award winner (Small Cast, Short Form)
Cast of Wonders’ theme songs “Appeal to Heavens”, “Neversus”, and “August” are by Alexye Nov, available from Promo DJ or his Facebook page.
Cast of Wonders is a production of the Escape Artists Podcast Network. Be sure to check out our sister shows: Escape Pod for science fiction, PseudoPod for horror, and PodCastle for fantasy.