The Croatian science fiction scene is lively and diverse, as I have been proudly telling Australian fans at cons and club meetings. Despite the seven annual cons and two specialized festivals, there are no SF writers in Croatia who make a living writing fiction. This is less weird in Australia than I thought it would be: many Australian SF authors also have day jobs. I have been asked, as I knew I would be, where one can read Croatian SF. My first answer is here, on this blog! As I’ve already surely mentioned before, I have a pet project going, as part of my efforts to raise money for GUFF.
But there are other venues where Croatian SF fiction is available, in English. Since I keep telling everybody how young Croatian science fiction fans are – the average age of con goers in Croatia being 23 – I thought I would start with Eridan. Because the editor of the award wining fanzine was once upon a time a winner a SFERICA, the Croatian SF awards for children and young adults.
Started by the Rijeka-based science fiction society 3. zmaj (Third Dragon) in 2005 , Eridan has had 12 issues in Croatian and one in English. Their visuals are great and the fanzine is both electronic and paper, depending on finances.
A stunning paper issue was made for Eurocon 2012 in Zagreb, featuring a selection of some of the best short stories, interviews and articles published in the fanzine in the first eleven issues. It was that edition that won them the European Science Fiction Society Award for the best European fanzine in 2012 at Kontakt.
The paper copy, which was available for free at Kontakt, is a rarity today. Virtually impossible to find. I did manage to bring one to Australia. It was sold at the Fan Funds Auction at Swancon 2013 a month ago. The person who bought it – and apologies for not remembering who exactly it was! – commented to me during the con that he really liked the stories. I was thrilled! (And so will be the editor as soon as I remember telling her!)
You can download the .pdf file here!
