by L. Ron Creepweans

Toronto: Today Booker Prize-winning novelist Margaret Atwood announced that she was launching a new science fiction magazine, Loquacious Cephalopod.

“I’ve always been gratified by the unconditional love I’ve received from the science fiction community for works such as The Handmaid’s Tale and The Blind Assassin, and Loquacious Cephalopod is a way to return that love. We’re interested in running the very best space opera, planetary romance, and especially hard science fiction. I’m going to fight Stanley Schmidt tooth and nail to get the very best hard SF available!”

Atwood added that stories set in space and featuring aliens were among her personal favorites.

Atwood said that the Canada Council for the Arts and the Scotiabank Giller Prize were helping her underwrite the magazine, which is paying 25¢ a word on acceptance for fiction up to 20,000 words. The first issue will feature stories from Jerry Pournelle, Greg Egan, John Ringo, S. M. Stirling, David Langford, Stephanie Meyers, and John Norman.

“With Loquacious Cephalopod, I’m going to make sure that science fiction finally gets the literary respect it deserves!”