We’re thrilled to learn that Seoung Kim’s Cast of Wonders story Park’s All-Night Ramyun and Snack Emporium is listed as one of the notable works of 2023 in the 2024 edition of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Hugh Howey and John Joseph Adams. You can see the full list of recognised stories at the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 web pages, and read/listen to the story here.
Every year in September, Cast of Wonders celebrates Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information.
In the last year, we’ve seen countless attempts to silence the voices of others. Tennessee’s “drag ban“, the sacking of university staff associated with Diversity, Equality and Inclusion activities in Florida, and the disinvitation of queer erotica author Chuck Tingle from the Texas Library Association literary conference are just a few examples that speak to a concerted political effort to close down and undermine inclusive voices. In the SF world, we have our own examples of appalling behaviour: YA author and 2022 Astounding Award finalist Xiran Jay Zhao was ruled ‘ineligible’ for the 2023 award on specious political grounds, and a number of other authors (esp. those published in China) saw their works discounted from the longlisted nominations for no clear reason. The casual manner in which the privileged perpetuate discrimination is something that many of us need to be on guard against in our own actions. Sadly, this year has also seen far worse atrocities perpetuated against the innocent in the ongoing conflicts around the world, particularly in Gaza, and the silence of the West presents deep questions of culpability here. Isabel J. Kim’s Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole is a powerful call to action, and very much sets the stage for Cast of Wonders’ call for 2024 Banned Books submissions.
For Banned Books Week 2024, we want to see stories that challenge collective silence, that show the risks and consequences of inattention and inaction. We want the voices of the silenced and unwanted to be centered, in stories that demand to be heard.
At Cast of Wonders, we welcome stories that portray the full spectrum of human experience. We don’t challenge stories; we want stories to challenge us! Cast of Wonders looks for stories that evoke a sense of wonder, have deep emotional resonance, and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without gratuitous or explicit sex, violence, or pervasive obscene language.
Preference for this submission window is under 5,000 words with an absolute limit of 6,000 words. Flash submissions under 1.5k are also very welcome!
Submissions must adhere to Cast of Wonders guidelines, and our standard rates apply (8c/word for original fiction, $20/$100 for reprints depending on length). Submissions will be accepted from April 15-30 through our Moksha Portal – we can’t wait to read what you send in!
Associate Editor Somto Ihezue and author Innocent Chizaram Ilo are currently working on a short film based on Innocent’s story Our Skin Will Now Bear the Testimonies, which was published by Cast of Wonders during our 2019 Banned Books Week event. This a HUGELY exciting project, and it’s just reached its Kickstarter funding goal – check out the campaign for a sneak peak at how On Our Skin is developing, and maybe help the team reach their stretch goals?
The Locus Recommended Reading List is a great resource for the best fiction of the year – and we’re over the moon to see Park’s All-Night Ramyun and Snack Emporium, by Seoung Kim, in the limelight. This story aired as part of a Little Wonders duology in Episode 539.
The rocket team also have a story on the list: Andrew Dana Hudson’s The Uncool Hunters which was published in Escape Pod #894
Our next submissions window will be a themed call for Halloween stories. We’re looking for shorter pieces this year, covering a range of genres and themes that would also appeal to the audiences of our sister publications. So, that means…
Terrifying cats!
Kids battling tentacles!
Magic pumpkins!
Creepy space shenanigans!
…and almost anything else you can think of. The key ingredient, as always, is speculative fiction that suits a teen+ audience. We’d like all the stories to have a clear connection to Halloween, whether the festival itself, the traditions of tricks/treating, or just spooky genre tropes.
We’ve got a 3000 word limit on these submissions, but on the plus side we’re also looking to accept several different pieces for our Halloween event. We’ll be open to submissions during the first two weeks of February via our Moksha Portal. Do check our submissions guidelines page as well and remember to anonymise all submissions!
We’re thrilled to share that there are two Cast of Wonders stories on the BSFA 2023 longlist – you can see all the longlisted nominees here on the BSFA page, but for now we’d just like to congratulate Ember Randall (Notes from a Trans-Inclusive Gender Apocalypse) and Angela Liu (The Time Traveler’s Cookbook) on their incredibly well deserved nominations!
We had such a flood of submissions in August/September that we’ve decided to push our Halloween 2024 window back from next month to February 2024. The schedule page has been updated to reflect this.
We’re absolutely thrilled to share that Simons, Far and Near by Ana Gardner, published as Cast of Wonders 485 in February 2022 (and reissued with new commentary as a Staff Pick Cast of Wonders 518), is a finalist for the WSFA small press award! This is one of our favourite stories of 2022, and we’re thrilled to bits that it’s been recognised alongside the other amazing finalists.
You can listen to/read the story on the links above.
Every year in September, Cast of Wonders celebrates Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information.
Joining the editorial team for this year’s call is Cast of Wonders Associate Editor, Simon Pan. Thank you, Simon, for the wonderful theme this year!
In times of conflict, division and change, it is more important than ever to build bridges of understanding. We most commonly encounter the stories of others through news articles or in classrooms, kept at a scholarly or journalistic distance and often biased to favour privileged perspectives. Our own truths may also remain unvoiced and unknown, misunderstood even by those around us.
When it comes to illuminating these truths, stories have a key part to play: they help us to learn and appreciate things from perspectives we might never otherwise consider, and allow us to reshape our own experiences within the transformative lens of fiction. When we share our stories, we guide sparks of kinship and understanding, using narrative and emotion to help others experience a small window into another’s reality.
For Banned Books Week 2023, we want to see stories of discovery, of learning, of misconceptions unraveled, and how stories can serve as a guiding light to help us understand a new perspective, or to teach us valuable lessons when all other methods fail us. What that something is…well, that is up to you!
At Cast of Wonders, we welcome stories that portray the full spectrum of human experience. We don’t challenge stories; we want stories to challenge us! Cast of Wonders looks for stories that evoke a sense of wonder, have deep emotional resonance, and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without gratuitous or explicit sex, violence, or pervasive obscene language.
Preference for this submission window is under 5,000 words with an absolute limit of 6,000 words. Flash submissions under 1.5k are also very welcome!
Submissions must adhere to Cast of Wonders guidelines. Submissions will be accepted from June 1 to June 14 through our Moksha Portal – we can’t wait to read what you send in!
We’ve decided to push back our Banned Books Week submission window to the second half of May, and our next general submissions window to July.
We will be opening as scheduled in the second half of April to young authors only, i.e. authors under the age of 20 as of the end of April.
See our schedule page and submissions guidelines page for more information.
Presenters: Marguerite Kenner and Alasdair Stuart
Hey folks, welcome to an Escape Artists metacast. I’m Marguerite Kenner. And I’m Alasdair Stuart.
For those of you who have never heard a metacast before, think of this like a mini State of the Union address, a way for us to update you about what’s been happening at EA. The big thing is our news that EA now stands for the Escape Artists Foundation — we’ve become a nonprofit. We want to share with you how we got there, answer some questions, and explain what it means for you. (Continue Reading…)
General Submissions: We’re currently ~80% through Stage 1 for our November general submissions, and hope to be making Stage 2 decisions in early February.
Seasonal/Holiday submissions: We’ll be opening to submissions again in the first half of February, seasonal/holiday submissions. This is to cover Halloween 2023, Christmas/Winter Holidays 2023, and any other special event that you have a story that you think would be a good fit for!
Full guidelines are here: https://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/
We look forward to reading your stories!