Volume 43, Issue 3
Summer 2020

Star*Line 43.3 cover
Cover: Transit of Venus
© Carrie Ann Baade
carrieannbaade.com

Wyrms & Wormholes

There & Back Again

Black Lives Matter. Black Voices Matter. Because we don’t include bios in Star*Line, nor do bios necessarily mention race, racial demographics in SFPA fly beneath the radar. We rarely acknowledge Black speculative poets, who don’t seem to have a visible presence. That’s gonna change. The next Star*Line issue, 43.4, is restricted to poets of African ancestry, and will be guest-edited by Melanie Stormm, who is Black and First Nations.

Note that we now have created a bio page for Star*Line contributors at sfpoetry.com/sl/slbios.html. This is a historical work in progress; if you are or were a contributor, send your bio or updates to sfpaweb@sfpoetry.com.

Heartfelt thanks to Vince Gotera for the last three years of editing and producing Star*Line, and congrats for another S*L Rhysling winner! It’s a lot of work, as I can attest! But my re-ascendance to the Editorial Throne is intended to be fleeting; we seek yet another editor to take up the cursèd mantle/scepter/what-have-you. If you possess the necessary expertise (or would like to acquire it under live fire) and would enjoy not only selecting the poems, but reponding promptly, maintaining payment and mailing records, herding the cats who provide SFPA announcements, reviews, articles, etc., and seeing to it that Star*Line meets its quarterly deadlines, our Executive Committee would love to hear from you at sfpa-exec@googlegroups.com.

Please feel free to question me directly about the duties involved at starlineeditor@gmail.com. I may be able to continue doing layout for an editor who can handle the rest of it.

Remember to wash your tentacles with soap for at least 20 seconds.

—F. J. Bergmann, Star*Line Editor pro tempore


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To order, send a check made out to the SFPA the PO Box listed on the officers page.

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Star*Line Staff:

Editor: F. J. Bergmann
Layout: F. J. Bergmann
Production Manager: F. J. Bergmann
Mailing: Andrew Gilstrap

Star*Line Reviews
Star*Line Archives
Star*Line History
Star*Line Contributor Bios

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Table of Contents

Departments

  • Wyrms & Wormholes • F. J. Bergmann
  • SFPA Announcements
  • President’s Message • Bryan Thao Worra
  • From the Small Press • Denise Dumars, Joshua Gage, John Philip Johnson, Deborah P Kolodji, Sandra J. Lindow, John C. Mannone, Marge Simon, Lisa Timpf
  • Stealth SF: What Fresh Hell • Denise Dumars
  • XenoPoetry: The Cosmonaut’s Prayer • Ana Tapia (translated by Lawrence Schimel)

Poetry

  • She Rode a Gold Chariot with Lions into My Life * Isaac Black
  • When the Company Pays * Beth Cato
  • [Recirculator on the fritz] * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • Coming Up Empty * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • What Phoenixes Read * Mary Soon Lee
  • [event horizon] * Jay Friedenberg
  • [the sound] * Harris Coverley
  • Better Living Thru Alchemy * Don Raymond
  • [pressed in the pages] * Deborah P Kolodji
  • demonwalk * Darius Williams
  • ok millennial * Davian Aw
  • Walking on Eggshells * Robert Borski
  • Welcome to the Future * David Barber
  • [black rabbits] * Michelle Muenzler
  • All the Possibilities * Stephen C. Curro
  • Travel Agent * Juleigh Howard-Hobson
  • Underwing * Kurt Newton
  • [starships rerouted] * Nick Hoffman
  • Leaving Luna * Greer Woodward
  • Salvage Rights * Juleigh Howard-Hobson
  • 2.7 Billion Years Ago * Paige Caine
  • [governmental order] * Baishampayan Seal
  • Slow Boat To Centauri * David Barber
  • [mass grave] * Greg Schwartz
  • [in the slow lane] * John Reinhart
  • [ten dinosaurs] * Brendan McBreen
  • Terraforming * David C. Kopaska-
    Merkel
  • [heartland] * Joshua Gage
  • [new world landing] * Joshua Hiles
  • Body double for the oldest organism * Daniel Ausema
  • Not by a Nose * Matthew Wilson
  • Wet Work * Paul Szlosek
  • I Think the Article Said Something about First Contact * R. Mac Jones
  • Hurricane Prayer * David Rogers
  • [still learning] * Lauren McBride
  • Deep Space Tryst * Robert Borski
  • [days of solitude] * ayaz daryl nielsen
  • [frozen alien found] * Matthew
    Wilson
  • [Social distancing implemented] * Alan Ira Gordon
  • [gynoids fighting] * Baishampayan Seal
  • Museums of Earth * Mary Soon Lee
  • [pawn shops, tarnished brass] * Colleen Anderson
  • Grandpa’s Preserves * Gail Sosinsky
  • Defining the Parameters of Nightmare * Jennifer Crow
  • Where the End Lives * Joseph VanBuren
  • Fenrir and Sigyn, After Ragnarok * Marissa Lingen
  • [lily-pad throne] * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • The Luck Eaters * Beth Cato & Rhonda Parrish
  • [bloody steak] * LeRoy Gorman
  • [Kissing frogs] * Matthew Wilson
  • The Martian Invasion * David Barber
  • Bar Scene * John Reinhart
  • I Carried Magic * Kevin J. Fellows
  • [door prize] * Noel Sloboda
  • This Year’s Monsters * Phoebe Low
  • [sweetest of flowers] * Karl Lykken
  • Dear Future * Holly Lyn Walrath
  • In the Eye of the Beholder * John C. Mannone
  • What If It Hurts? * Gerri Leen
  • The Joy of Travelling * Christina Sng
  • [fireflies] * LeRoy Gorman
  • Unobtanium * Robert Borski
  • Chrysalis * Robin Helweg-Larsen
  • Were You There, On Phobos? * Elizabeth R. McClellan
  • This is Much Better * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • Flora and the Cruel Machinery * L. P. Melling
  • [can] * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • Appliances * Craig Kurtz
  • [android apocalypse] * Christina Sng
  • [i swear …] * William Clunie
  • Old Gods Sang Deep the Green Water * Oliver Smith
  • I’m an Accident * Marilee Pritchard
  • [trying to lift] * Susan Burch
  • Champion * Mary Soon Lee
  • Fallen Angel * Gary Every
  • The Four Evangelists of the Apocalypse * Robin Helweg-Larsen
  • The Coral Fairy * Lorraine Schein
  • Armageddon * Ronald A. Busse

Art

  • Dart • Denny E. Marshall

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