IZ Pod

The altogether awesome author and Interzone columnist Aliya Whiteley came on the show and talked with me about her tremendous, description-defying, century-spanning story-in-a-story THREE EIGHT ONE; about how liberating it can be to write for no one but yourself; about how books change over time, and over time change us; and much, much more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, plus early access to episodes of the show; and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for more amazing stories and art. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Tony Ballantyne, Keith Brooke, and Una McCormack joined me to talk about their memories of the late, great Eric Brown. We talked about Eric's sf short stories and novels, about his Langham and Dupré mysteries, and about what made him such a fabulous and irreplaceable author, co-author, mentor, and friend. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

The prize-winning film critic and classicist Nick Lowe returned to IZ Pod to talk about three films that didn't make it into his IZ 296 serving of Mutant Popcorn – Alexandre O. Philippe's must-watch William Shatner documentary; a gender-flipped, body-hopping Stuart Gordon tribute; and an sf-adjacent comedy with Irish clowns schlepping across apocalyptic peat bogs – and to look more closely at Yorgos Lanthimos' POOR THINGS, the 1992 Alasdair Gray novel it is based on, and the gap between the two. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Tashan Mehta – author of the short stories ‘Rulebook for Creating a Universe' and ‘The Traveller' and the novels THE LIAR'S WEAVE and MAD SISTERS OF ESI – came on the show and talked about chasing down the final form of a book; being light like the bird, not like the feather; sounding out echoey depths; finding the language you need to carve your experience into reality; and much more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Gareth L. Powell is the author of the British Science Fiction Award–winning ACK-ACK MACAQUE, the critically acclaimed EMBERS OF WAR series, the Continuance novels STARS AND BONES and DESCENDANT MACHINE, and numerous other books and short stories. Gareth L. Powell came on IZ Pod and talked about falling in love with science fiction, blowing up universes, building online communities, and what it is his books are about. He also passed on some important advice he once was given by a very special writer in an arty coffee house in Bristol. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Matt Hill – author of THE FOLDED MAN, GRAFT, ZERO BOMB, and THE BREACH – came on the show and talked about literary touchstones, computer games, the danger of writing about dreams, the things we can't say about being a parent, and the voices of Chernobyl that irradiate his latest novel, LAMB. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Premee Mohamed – author of the short story collection NO ONE WILL COME BACK FOR US, the Nebula Award–winning novella AND WHAT CAN WE OFFER YOU TONIGHT, the Prix Aurora–winning novella THE ANNUAL MIGRATION OF CLOUDS, and many other works of fiction and non-fiction – came on the show and talked about the size of ideas, anti-war novels, fairy tales from dreams, and much, much more. Find out more about Premee and her many stories at premeemohamed.com and at her Patreon. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Cassandra Khaw – author of THE ALL-CONSUMING WORLD, BREAKABLE THINGS, and FINE PRINT, a VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE novella – and Richard Kadrey – author of the SANDMAN SLIM novel series, THE PALE HOUSE DEVIL, and THE SECRETS OF INSECTS – came on the show and talked about THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN (Tor Nightfire/Titan, 2023), their brilliant new novel about Julie Crews, a ‘drugged up, punked out psychic operative running wild in New York.' They also talked about collaborating, dropped some hints about good things on the horizon, and recommended some excellent Halloween books, tv shows, and films. THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN is available now wherever books are sold. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Jendia Gammon (aka J. Dianne Dotson), author of THE SHADOW GALAXY (Trepidatio Publishing, 2023), THE INN AT THE AMETHYST LANTERN (Android Press, 2023), and the INTERZONE #295 story ‘Copper', came on the show and talked about her writing, how she incorporates art and ecology into my work, and the plans she has for the future of publishing. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Aigner Loren Wilson – author of the IZ 295 story ‘Building Blocks' and fiction editor at STRANGE HORIZONS – came on the show and talked about her writing, her approach to craft, and some of her favourite recent reads. You can find out more about Aigner and the many brilliant things she does at aignerlwilson.com. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Eliane Boey, author of OTHER MINDS (Dark Matter INK, 2023), came on the show and talked about writing stories by fax, the writers she returns to for inspiration, and CLUB CONTANGO, her forthcoming novel. Read Paul McAuley's review of OTHER MINDS in IZ Digital, and find more of Eliane Boey's fiction in CLARKESWORLD, COLD SIGNAL, and WEIRD HORROR. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Chana Porter, author of THE SEEP and THE THICK AND THE LEAN, came on show and talked about the power of DEEP SPACE NINE, being mentored by Rachel Pollack, translating Le Guin into a libretto, hearing Kazuo Ishiguro, and writing about mermaids. This conversation was recorded on 4 May 2023. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Gary Gibson, author of numerous novels, novellas, and short stories, came on the show and talked about publishing, geeking out with the late, great Eric Brown, writing his new book EUROPA DEEP, and much, much more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

The prize-winning film critic and classicist Nick Lowe came back on the show to talk about the films he couldn't fit into the (already bigger than ever before!) INTERZONE #295 serving of Mutant Popcorn: Taiwanese time-slip TV, Spanish mummies, agèd Argonauts, Ukrainian forest spirits, and more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Corey J. White, author of the Aurealis Award-winning novel REPO VIRTUAL and the VoidWitch Saga novellas KILLING GRAVITY, VOID BLACK SHADOW, and STATIC RUIN, came on IZ Pod and talked about ‘Hollywood Animals', their new IZ 295 story; ‘Family Business', their multi-generational solarpunk story written with Andrew Dana Hudson; the power of Mark Fisher; the future of cyberpunk; different ways the world ends; and a whole lot more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Priya Sharma, author the British Fantasy Award-winning collection ALL THE FABULOUS BEASTS, the Shirley Jackson-award winning novella ORMESHADOW, and dozens of short stories, came on IZ Pod a few weeks back for a chat about her latest, brilliant novella, POMEGRANATES, about how she writes, and about some of the books she has enjoyed reading recently. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Teika Marija Smits, a UK-based writer and freelance editor whose speculative short stories have been published in PARSEC, SHORELINE OF INFINITY, BEST OF BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION, and GREAT BRITISH HORROR 6, came on IZ Pod and talked about her story ‘The November Room or Leaving the Labyrinth' (out now in Interzone's sister zine, IZ Digital), her forthcoming collection, UMBILICAL, Yevgeny Zamyatin's WE, fairy tales and science fiction, and more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Elizabeth Bear is the Hugo, Sturgeon, Locus, and Astounding Award winning author of dozens of novels, over a hundred short stories, and a number of essays and other non-fiction pieces. Her Lotus Kingdoms Trilogy and White Space duology (soon to be trilogy) are available wherever books are sold. Elizabeth Bear came on IZ Pod and talked about writing novels and short stories, ‘noir' and ‘clair', watching STAR TREK, the genius of Agatha Christie, and much, much more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Dr Una McCormack is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over two dozen science fiction novels including the brilliant new Star Trek novel SECOND SELF, and is also a series editor of Gold SF, a new imprint of Goldsmiths Press that is dedicated to discovering and publishing new intersectional feminist science fiction. Una McCormack came on IZ Pod and talked about writing sf, the importance of small press publishing, the finale of STAR TREK: PICARD, and why you should never throw anything away… // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Stark Holborn, author of the acclaimed and BSFA-longlisted TEN LOW, came on IZ Pod and talked about the excellent (and also BSFA-longlisted) ‘The Feast of Mulligan Lang', worldbuilding absence, creative mulch, comedy zombies, revisionist Westerns, and the forthcoming new TRIGGERNOMETRY novella in Stark's amazing self-published series. Stark also read an exclusive excerpt from HEL'S EIGHT, the standalone follow-up to TEN LOW that you can pre-order now wherever books are sold. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

Award-winning author Kat Clay came on IZ Pod and talked about ‘The Black Box Killer', her story in IZ 294, the glory of M3GAN, planning careers with GPT3, and why she sometimes turns to crime. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

R.T. Ester – author of ‘Meddling Fields', ‘Slight Forms', and ‘Anais Gets a Turn' – came on IZ Pod and talked about ‘The Building Across the Street', his story in IZ 294, ‘The Moon Eel Bennett in Conversation with the Astronaut Who Came Back for It' (forthcoming in IZ Digital), and ‘Sleeping Arrangements'. R.T. also talked about films (TENET, EMILY THE CRIMINAL), writing characters, and two books: AMERICAN WAR by Omar El Akkad and THE PAPER MENAGERIE, a short story collection by Ken Liu. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

The prize-winning film critic and classicist Nick Lowe came on the first episode of the Interzone show and talked about the films he couldn't fit into the INTERZONE #294 serving of MUTANT POPCORN: Chinese sf comedy MOON MAN, the anime adaptation of THE DEER KING, and Alexandre O. Philippe's LYNCH/OZ. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital