EUtopias and Other Futures: A European Journal of Science Fiction

We are happy to present the following interview with Dutch author Bo Balder, whose short story “A House of Her Own” (published in Escape Pod in 2017, originally published in Fantasy & Science Fiction in September 2015) we recently praised here in EUtopias and Other Futures . Bo lives and works in Utrecht, the Netherlands -- see her own intro here. She talked to us about some of the challenges of publishing in English, fellow European authors to recommend, and the themes in the story mentioned above. ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** ◄► Q: As far as I'm aware, you are not only the first but the only Dutch author to have been published in Clarkesworld. I found this surprising, in a way. Which small European country, if not the Netherlands, would have an internationally visible sf scene...? Is this primarily indication of the difficulty of the obstacle course leading to publishing in English? A: That...

By Péter MARTON ** Join the European Science Fiction group on Facebook for related discussions. ** Used as illustration above is a detail of Anton Semenov's cover art for the 2012 album " Army of Mushrooms " by Infected Mushroom, a psychedelic musical duo from Israel. Bo Balder's story strongly reminded me of it, hence its inclusion here... Speaking of infections: before we delve into Balder's work, the very first story reviewed here in our series, imagine the following scenario. It will be worth it, the detour... We are in a small village in the Democratic Republic of Nowhere. A small team of medical personnel and members of what passes for the "local" police force (ordered in from a town fifty kilometres away) approach a house where several sick patients are thought to be suffering from hemorrhagic fever. Those who feel healthy are ordered to come out. Those who are sick at bed should stay inside, they are told. The medical team moves...