With this issue, Asimov’s enters its thirtieth year of publication. We intend to celebrate this event throughout the year. Every 2007 issue will carry a banner proclaiming our milestone. Naturally, we are a long way from knowing all the stories that will be published in 2007, but we have some terrific material on hand. With stories by writers like Nancy Kress, Charles Stross, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jim Grimsley, Brian Stableford, Tom Purdom, Robert Reed, Mary Rosenblum, and Neal Asher, and stories promised from Lucius Shepard, Ian McDonald, James Patrick Kelly, and Connie Willis, every issue in 2007 will be a special one.
An anthology commemorating the anniversary will be released by Tachyon Publications in the summer. This book is a representative sampling of the stories that have appeared in Asimov’s over the past thirty years. It will include a cover by Michael Whelan, and work by Isaac Asimov, Octavia Butler, Bruce Sterling, Ursula K. Le Guin, and many, many others. While poring through hundreds of issues and thousands of stories to determine the table of contents, I was once again awed by the hours of enjoyment and the quality of the work this magazine has provided. Alas, an anthology is finite. We will omit a far greater number of worthy stories than we will reprint, but the book will provide you with a chance to sample, or to reacquaint yourself with, the magazine’s history.
This summer will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of my own professional association with this remarkable magazine. I helped finish up the production of the November 1982 issue (volume 6, whole number 58—the issue that contained David Brin’s riveting novella, “The Postman”), and I’ve been celebrating Asimov’s anniversaries ever since. Our tenth anniversary issue (volume 11, whole number 116) included Pat Murphy’s Nebula-Award-winning novelette “Rachel in Love.” To commemorate the anniversary, I participated in a talk with Isaac Asimov at New York City’s packed West Side YMCA. Five years later, the cover blurb read “Spectacular 15th Anniversary Double Issue” Also identified as volume 16, whole numbers 184/185, it included Isaac’s Foundation novella, “Cleon the Emperor.” The story tied with Lucius Shepard’s “Barnacle Bill the Spacer” for the magazine’s Readers’ Award. Although Isaac died that year, it was his fond wish that the magazine continue after him. I’m sure he would be delighted to find, fifteen years later, that Asimov’s still holds a central position in the field.
Of course, we plan to continue making history, too. April/May 2007 (volume 31, whole numbers 375/376) will be our official anniversary issue. Although its final content is undecided, the current line-up includes stories by Robert Silverberg, Jack McDevitt, Karen Joy Fowler, Mike Resnick, Michael Swanwick, and Gene Wolfe, as well as a new Coyote tale by Allen M. Steele. We’ve also been busy finding new writers and publishing the works of those who are just beginning to forge their reputations. In addition to a feature by the magazine’s four previous editors and a personal reflection about the magazine by Robert Silverberg, the issue should include a number of other nonfiction surprises. An ideal piece for April/May would be a letters column by you, our readers—both long-term and brand new—consisting of reflections of your own. To make the deadline for that issue, please be sure to put your thoughts about your association with the magazine down on paper or email as soon as possible. See the box on page 11 for information on where to send these letters.
Like you, I’m looking forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with the magazine. I can’t wait to see what jewels the five hundredth issue will bring, what classic will be published in the fortieth anniversary year, and onward. I’ll look forward to hearing your comments about the stories published now and in the years ahead as well.
A word about the cover: Our current issue is the third January in consecutive years to carry stock art by Michael Whelan. It’s also the first time that a piece of cover art has been chosen to illustrate a poem. I was familiar with Michael’s lovely painting, “L’Echelle,” when John Morressy submitted his poem, “The Wings of Icarus,” to the magazine, and I knew the two works would go together perfectly. John’s short stories were published in Asimov’s in 1979 and 1983, but he is probably most strongly associated with his numerous tales about the Wizard Kedrigern that have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction over the years.
I first met John and his wife Barbara at a small convention in New Hampshire in 1984. They were warm and gracious, and immediately put a terribly shy assistant editor at ease. My poetry inventory was rather bountiful when John’s poem showed up in my office so I took my time about getting a contract out to him. A gentle nudge came on March 8, 2006. I apologized for the delay, and told him that I hoped to match the poem with a Michael Whelan cover. On March 9, he replied, “The possibility of a Whelan cover for my little poem will give me the patience of Prometheus.” On March 20, 2006, John died suddenly of a heart attack. Barbara Morressy patiently shepherded the poem through the contract and production process, and I want to thank her for making its publication a reality.
