ASFFQ : 1989
The
year that beat all the records! This is what comes to mind, immediately,
obviously, implacably, when summarizing the production for 1989,
which shattered the old records. Short stories (185), novels
or tales (27), authors having published at least one original
piece of fiction (115). This last number is mostly explained
by the publication of an anthology of SF and fantasy by the Association
des Écrivains du Centre du Québec [Centre of Quebec
Writers' Association], In extremis, and a special issue
of the magazine Arcade, which called for authors from
outside these genres. The other consequence is that the number
of beginning authors in SF and fantasy represents exactly half
of all compiled writers.
More generally, the year 1989 was the year of the science fiction story. We could mention a dozen texts that would be at the top of the fifty best SFQ stories. That such an abundance of quality is concentrated in one year seems to me exceptional. It is due mostly to the strong reappearance of the first generation of SFFQ writers. We can see their work evolving as they approach new themes and new styles of writing. I am thinking of authors like Élisabeth Vonarburg, Jean-Pierre April, Daniel Sernine, Jean Dion and, to a lesser extent, Michel Bélil. To those can be added already familiar authors such as Alain Bergeron, Bertrand Bergeron, Guy Bouchard, Michel Martin, Joël Champetier, Yves Meynard and Claude-Michel Prévost whose names are often a guarantee of quality. This overview would not be complete without mentioning the splendid story by Roger Des Roches, "Le vertige des prisons," which was the best surprise of the year.
For the book-length form, the much anticipated publication of the first volume of L'Oiseau de feu, by Jacques Brossard, eclipses anything else. The scope of the author's literary project constitutes a one-time event in Quebec science fiction. The work of two small presses, Les Publications Ianus and Le Palindrome, which respectively published an SF anthology, Sous des Soleils étrangers, and an anthology of horror and the supernatural, L'Horreur est humaine, also deserves mention.
The table below shows the distribution of the original output
on one side, and the translations and reprints on the other.
We notice that original short stories are almost equally split
between fantasy and science fiction (100 for the former against
85), but fantasy benefits from greater market penetration since
it has better access to all publishing outlets. Science fiction,
on the other hand, stands its ground in the fortresses of its
specialized magazines (55%), being moreover present in collections
and anthologies (34%) and practically absent from the non specialized
literary magazines (11%). Let us also note that reprints benefit
fantasy more simply because the collections are much more numerous
in that genre than in SF.
Claude Janelle
| Original Production | Science Fiction | Fantasy & Horror | Total |
| Novels | 15 | 12 | 27 |
| Short stories in... | 85 | 100 | 185 |
|
29 | 44 | 73 |
| b) specialized magazines | 47 | 24 | 71 |
| c) non-specialized magazines | 9 | 32 | 41 |
| Rééditions et traductions | Science Fiction | Fantasy & Horror | Total |
| Novels | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Short stories in... | 17 | 90 | 107 |
|
5 | 74 | 79 |
| b) specialized magazines | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| c) non-specialized magazines | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| Combined production | Science Fiction | Fantasy & Horror | Total |
| Novels | 21 | 16 | 37 |
| Short stories in... | 102 | 190 | 292 |
|
34 | 118 | 152 |
| b) specialized magazines | 56 | 31 | 87 |
| c) non-specialized magazines | 12 | 41 | 53 |
