So, on into November and for most of the years of my past that would be a welcoming thought, with a view to the hotter and dryer Cape summer months ahead. Now, of course, the opposite holds true - the nights lengthen and it gets colder, wetter and darker - with a lot more bite than the old Cape winters! Still, work, writing and living continues.

Locus recently published my article on SF in South Africa in their current November issue. I will upload this overview article onto the website at the end of the month as SF in SA 10, with due acknowledgement to first publication in Locus. The article focused on written sf, not other media or film. Thus District 9 (D9) does not get a direct mention for example. For anyone wanting to pursue further analysis of D9 however, there's an interesting collection of online essays at http://www.zeleza.com/symposium/949

Lavie Tidhar reports on the World SF Blog that Apex have a special world sf issue, tied in with the release of their anthology. http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/special-apex-magazine-world-sf-issue-released. Kudos goes to Lavie for his tireless efforts in raising the profile of non-Western or anglophile speculative fiction. Till next time, i.e. December, and roll on summer.

Nick Wood - November 2009