In this episode of Strange Horizons at 25, editor Kat Kourbeti talks to Mary Robinette Kowal about the fractal nature of story structure, , and writing to please the teenaged version of you.

Links and things:

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Episode show notes:

• Read Mary Robinette's work in our archives.
• Listen to the audio of the Portland Strange Horizons 10th Anniversary Reading event on her website.
• Buy The Martian Contingency and pre-order Apprehension/Red Star Hustle (part of a Saga Double with Sam J Miller)
• Follow Mary Robinette on Instagram or visit her website to sign up for her monthly newsletter, The Mary Robinette Gazette. Both places abound with talking cat content!
• Find more links to her work and other things as you read the transcript below.

In this episode of Critical Friends, the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, Dan Hartland speaks with reviewers and critics Rachel Cordasco and Will McMahon about science fiction in translation (SFT), and specifically about those books appearing from small presses based in the US. They discuss recent news on NEA grants to these publishers, the SFT ecosystem in general, and how the literature might reach wider a wider readership.

A transcript of this episode is available at the Strange Horizons website.

Episode Links

Publisher's Weekly article about the NEA funding withdrawal

Rachel Cordasco's list of SFT from Small American Presses

The first episode of Open Letter's 3% Podcast recent series

The Translated Hugo Initiative

In the third episode of Writing While Disabled, Kristy Anne Cox and Kate Johnston sit down with author Donyae Coles for a frank and candid discussion around adjusting one's life and writing processes around one's disability, finding support to help with the tasks that become difficult, and how genre can lend itself to telling disabled stories authentically.

Show notes:

• This episode was produced and hosted by Kristy Anne Cox and Kate Johnston, and edited, mixed, and transcribed by Kat Kourbeti.
• The theme song, "Funky - Upbeat Loop" by ispeakwaves, is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
• Want to send us a question? You can do so here!
• Buy 'Midnight Rooms' by Donyae Coles here.
• Find Donyae's short fiction linked on her website.
• Follow Donyae on Bluesky and Instagram.
• Find Kristy on her website here.

Our fund drive for 2026 is now live!

• Contribute to funding our next year on Kickstarter and get awesome rewards like signed books by your favorite authors, ebook copies of the magazine, a special iron-on patch, your name in the credits of a poem, artwork or review, and much more.
• Read the 2025 Fund Drive issue.

Vote for Strange Horizons in the Hugo Awards!

• We have two poems, a novelette, and the magazine all on the 2025 Hugo Awards ballot! Get your WSFS and/or virtual Seattle Worldcon membership on their website, and you can cast your vote now.