The Bestiary Anthology: Sneak Peek
Ann and I have (rather quietly) put together a unique new project over the past few month: a Bestiary with the imaginative working title of…Bestiary. In an A-Z format, with a couple extras, the anthology will contain all original fiction. Think of it as a cryptozoological text for the twenty-first century, although some entries go far back into history. (Ivica Stevanovic is on board as an artist.)
For this project we wanted to assemble the writers ahead of time and then sell the anthology, so a huge thank you to our contributors for being willing to send us material on such a speculative basis. The antho will make the rounds to editors in August.
Although we’re still in the editing phase, we do now have our final line-up, revealed here in its entirety for the first time. We think it’s a stellar group of writers. Certainly what we consider a kind of dream team, and in several cases our first opportunity to work with favorite writers who we hadn’t yet had a chance to publish. It’s a little overwhelming to think we have an original Michal Ajvaz—terrifically funny and pointed—and an original Vandana Singh and an original Karen Lord and Cat Valente and…well, if we keep going we’ll wind up listing everyone!
A: “The Auricle” by Gio Clairval
B: “Bartleby’s Typewriter” by Corey Redekop
C: “The Counsellor Crow” by Karen Lord
D: “Daydreamer by Proxy” by Dexter Palmer
E: “Enkantong-bato” by Dean Francis Alfar
F: “The Figmon” by Michael Cisco
G: “The Guest” by Brian Conn
H: “Hadrian’s Sparrikan” by Stephen Graham Jones
I: “Ible” by Brian Evenson
J: “Jason Bug” by Joseph Nigg
K: “The Karmantid” by Karen Heuler
L: “The Liwat’ang Yawa and the Litok-litok” by Rochita Loenin-Ruiz
M: “Mosquito Boy” by Felix Gilman
N: “N—– (Bolus Barathruma)” by Reza Negarestani
O: “Orsinus Liborum” by Catherynne M. Valente
P: “Pyret” by Karin Tidbeck
Q: “Quintus” by Michal Ajvaz
R: “Rapacis X. Loco Signa” by L.L. Hannett
S: “Snafu” by Micaela Morrissette
T: “Tongues of Moon Toad” by Cat Rambo
U: “The Ugly-Nest Rat” by Eric Schaller
V: “The Vanga” by Rikki Ducornet
W: “Weialalaleia” by Amal El-Mohtar
X: “The Xaratan” by Rhys Hughes
Y: “Yakshantariksh” by Vandana Singh
Z: “Zee” by Richard Howard
&: “Ampersand” by Karin Lowachee
(Not shown: a creature whose name begins with invisible letter, written by an anonymous writer who is not one of the editors…)
July 13, 2011 at 9:11 pm
This looks beyond awesome. I can’t wait. A couple I know and it’s gonna be like a literary walk in a candy store with the rest I’m sure. Any idea on a tentative date?
July 13, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Thanks! Totally depends on who picks it up! Usually anthos are pre-bought based on commitments, but we wanted to actually have all the stories in hand this time. jv
July 13, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Terrific group of writers. Also pleased to see that Stevanovic is involved. Will he be illustrating specific stories or contributing general bestiary-relevant images?
July 14, 2011 at 2:03 am
What a fantastic table of contents! Can’t wait for this one.
July 14, 2011 at 6:33 am
I want this now! NOW!
July 14, 2011 at 7:12 am
Very cool idea!
July 14, 2011 at 5:14 pm
I’d like to buy a vowel, please. Or possibly a letter Q.
July 14, 2011 at 8:44 pm
This sounds fantastic! I cannot wait for its release. I’ll be staying tuned to this for a release date and whoever picks it up.
August 15, 2011 at 10:36 am
[...] to launch this fall from their imprint, Cheeky Frawg Books. Contributors to their upcoming Bestiary anthology have also been [...]
August 17, 2011 at 11:56 am
[...] Dark Fictions for Atlantic and two indie anthologies ODD? (Is it Odd Or Are You Too Normal?) and BESTIARY. Jeff’s latest books are the novel Finch, the story collection The Third Bear, and the coffee [...]
August 17, 2011 at 11:58 am
[...] Dark Fictions for Atlantic and two indie anthologies ODD? (Is it Odd Or Are You Too Normal?) and BESTIARY. Jeff’s latest books are the novel Finch, the story collection The Third Bear, and the coffee [...]
November 15, 2011 at 7:03 am
[...] version has been lightly copy-edited from the original. For a full Bestiary table of contents, click here. Come back tomorrow for another piece by Ajvaz and an interview with the author. (Photo credit [...]
December 13, 2011 at 7:14 pm
[...] Ecstatic Days (the website of author Jeff Vandermeer): Ann and I have (rather quietly) put together a unique new [...]
December 30, 2011 at 7:25 pm
[...] ‘Smoke Billows, Soot Falls’ (Chapbook), ed. Simon Marshall-Jones (Spectral Press) Forthcoming ‘Snowglobes’, Chilling Tales 2: In Words, Alas, Drown I, ed. Michael Kelly (EDGE Publishing) Forthcoming ‘A Girl of Feather and Music’, Postscripts (PS Publishing, UK) Forthcoming ‘Rapacis X. Loco Signa’, Bestiary, ed. Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Forthcoming [...]
August 6, 2012 at 12:15 pm
[...] KAREN LORD: My immediate future will be filled up with writing and editing the sequels I mentioned earlier, but I have written a short story which will be coming out in a VanderMeer anthology. [...]
November 8, 2012 at 9:37 pm
[...] stood up then, and read from VanderMeer’s Bestiary Anthology. Her section was “W” for “Weialalaleia.” The combination of her scholarship [...]