JANUARY
“Aspiring Magician” by Kaloyan Zahariev, translated from the Bulgarian by Desislava Sivilova and Kalin M. Nenov (DistantShorePublishing.com).
Selling your soul is not as simple as it seems in this hell-raising comic short story…
FEBRUARY
“Imilla” by Vania T. Curtidor, translated from the Spanish by Monica Louzon (Constelación Magazine).
A young woman working as a domestic in La Paz finds comfort after her mother’s death in her correspondence with a mountain spirit.
Excerpt from There Was No Adderall in the Soviet Union by Olga Breininger, translated from the Russian by Hilah Kohen (Words Without Borders).
“[t]he final chapter of a semi-autobiographical but speculative novella. The protagonist is the only subject of an extremely high-profile research project: a celebrity professor of the “experimental humanities” has apparently attempted to transform her into an Ubermensch by harnessing her traumatic experiences as an immigrant and émigré.”
“Terra Rasa” by Anastasia Bookreyeva, translated from the Russian by Ray Nayler (Clarkesworld).
Drought and tornadoes of fire have destroyed much of the Earth, and one woman tries to reach the coast to board the last ship bound for the North Pole. Along the way, she joins up with a little girl and a dog and prepares to face whatever will come.
MARCH
“Alberte Merlo’s Horse” by Álvaro Cunqueiro, translated from the Galician by Scott Shanahan (Words Without Borders).
“The Two Festivals That Cannot Coexist” by Liu Cixin, translated from the Chinese by Nathan Faries (Words Without Borders).
An alien masquerading as a human is present at mankind’s first journey into space in 1961 and then again in 2050, when scientists achieve the first human brain-computer interface.
“The Second Celeste” by Alberto Chimal, translated from the Spanish (Mexico) by Patrick Weill (Future Science Fiction Digest).
A dying woman plans to upload her consciousness to a computer, but the ethical questions and disasters with other patients makes her hesitate…
“The Orbiting Guan Erye” by Wang Zhenzhen, translated from the Chinese by Carmen Yiling Yan (Clarkesworld).
Two space station workers encounter a series of strange mini satellites…
APRIL
“Race to the Lunar World” by Shunrō Oshikawa, translated from the Japanese by Natalie Mueller (Hivemind).
“1761” by Tang Fei, translated from the Chinese by Xueting Christine Ni (SFRA Review).
61 is slowly going blind, thanks to a botched surgery, yet now he can “see” everything about anyone’s life in an “infofield” when he looks directly at them.
“Mysteries of Visiocherries” by Rio Johan, translated from the Indonesian by the author (Samovar).
A bioengineer accidentally designs a fruit that becomes self-conscious and tries to take over his mind.
“Catching the K Beast” by Chen Qian, translated from the Chinese by Carmen Yiling Yan (Clarkesworld).
Two interstellar beast-catchers must outwit a creature that can see 12 minutes into the future.
“The Sea Gives Us Children” by Thórdís Helgadóttir, translated from Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer (Words Without Borders).
The children who live on a mysterious (adult-free) island find other children showing up, apparently from the sea.
“Unforgettable” by Eduardo Martínez Báez, translated from the Spanish (Mexico) by (Constelación Magazine).
A woman is implanted with the memories of a widow’s husband in order to help the latter come to terms with her husband’s passing.
“The Final Test” by Ti Sha, translated from the Chinese by Judith Huang (Future Science Fiction Digest).
An AI is given a virtual test by another AI on whether or not it has free will and how to convince a “naked ape” (human scientists) that it does.
“Chlorophyll: A Reminiscence” by Tatsiana Zamirovskaya, translated from the Russian (Belarus) by Fiona Bell (World Literature Today).
In an apartment building, an unnamed couple discovers that the outside world is covered in cellophane, while the corridors and communal area have turned into a forest.
“Alvin” by Jonas Eika, translated from the Danish by Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg (The New Yorker).
A hallucinatory story about a man wandering around Europe with a new friend after his place of work crumbles inexplicably.
MAY
“Outsider Mode” by Ahmed Isselmou, translated from Arabic by Katharine Halls (Words Without Borders).
A new global cryptocurrency tied to worker productivity is hit by a cyberattack.
“Spore” by Tang Fei, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld).
A tattoo-artist designs images to develop on people’s skin via spores.
JUNE
“The Night Girl” by Diaa Jubaili, translated from the Arabic by Chip Rossetti (Vestal Review).
“The Far Side of the Universe” by noc, translated from the Chinese by Michelle Deeter (Tor.com).
“Knights of the Phantom Realm” by Wanxiang Fengnian, translated from the Chinese by Nathan Faries (Future Science Fiction Digest).
“The Jellyfish” by K. A. Teryna, translated from the Russian by Alex Shvartsman (Future Science Fiction Digest).
“The Lighthouse Keeper” by Loredano Cafaro, translated from the Italian by Sabrina Beretta (SFinTranslation.com).
“Not Tonight” by Loredano Cafaro, translated from the Italian by Sabrina Beretta (SFinTranslation.com).
“Face Changing” by Jiang Bo, translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak (Clarkesworld).
“The Fool and the Forest Spirit” by Der Nister, translated from the Yiddish by Joseph Tamaras (PaknTreger).
“Embracing the Movement” by Cristina Jurado, translated from the Spanish by Sue Burke (Clarkesworld).
An alien narrator monologues to a lonely astronaut seeking to understand the alien lifeform’s communal culture.
JULY
“Hyperspace Partner” by Bao Shu, translated from the Chinese by S. Qiouyi Lu (Galaxy’s Edge).
“Even if They Leave” by Lyuben Dilov, translated from the Bulgarian by Andy Erbschloe (SFRA Review).
“I’m Feeling Lucky” by Leonid Kaganov, translated from the Russian by Alex Shvartsman (Clarkesworld).
A young man travels into the future to find his grandfather, but winds up jumping thousands of years ahead and experiencing wildly different Earths.
AUGUST
“An Instance” by Mlok 5, translated from the Czech by Julie Nováková (Clarkesworld).
“The Serpentine Band” by Congyun ‘Mu Ming’ Gu, translated from the Chinese by Tian Huang (Clarkesworld).
“Now You Feel It” by Andrea Chapela, translated from the Spanish by Emma Törzs (Lightspeed).
SEPTEMBER
“The Winter Garden” by Regina Kanyu Wang, translated from the Chinese by Emily Jin (Clarkesworld).
“137 Seconds” (Parts 1-3) by Stanislaw Lem, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Przekroj).
“The Truth” by Stanislaw Lem, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (MIT Press).
Lem’s 1964 story, published in English for the first time, tells the tale of a scientist in an insane asylum theorizing that the sun is alive.
OCTOBER
“Mermaidsong” by Csilla Kleinheincz, translated from the Hungarian by Bogi Takács (Mermaids Monthly).
“Apolo Licio, Apolo Veráva” by Teresa P. Mira de Echeverría, translated from the Spanish by Arturo Sierra (Constelación Magazine).
“Fingers” by Edogawa Ranpo, translated from the Japanese by Yeu-Ann Huang (Hivemind).
“But First, A Toast” by Masahiko Inoue, translated from the Japanese by Rebecca Seippel (Hivemind).
“The Vocationologist” by Issui Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Camden Hine (Hivemind).
“Scissors” by Anastasia Bookreyeva, translated from the Russian by Ray Nayler (Samovar).
“Another Place” by Clelia Farris, translated from the Italian by Rachel Cordasco (Samovar).
“When the Mujna Begins” by Oleg Divov, translated from the Russian by Alex Shvartsman (Future Science Fiction Digest).
“What Does Victory Look Like if Not This?” by Petra Hůlová, translated from the Czech by Alex Zucker (Words Without Borders).
NOVEMBER
“City of Eternity” by Pan Haitian, translated from the Chinese by Carmen Yiling Yan (Clarkesworld).
DECEMBER
“Summer ’84” by Mohammad Tolouei, translated from the Persian by Farzaneh Doosti and H. H. (Samovar).
“Ensign” by Soyeon Jeong, translated from the Korean by Paige Aniyah Morris (Samovar).
“The Synchronism of Touch” by Gabriela Damián Miravete, translated from the Spanish by Sally McCorry (Apex Magazine).
“A Mountain of Dust” by Wanxiang Fengnian, translated from the Chinese by Judith Huang (FSFD).
