When in summer 2002 Helmuth W. Mommers, Ronald M. Hahn and me founded the science fiction magazine Nova which was primarily conceived as a forum for contemporary science fiction stories in German, it was part of our concept to include in each issue one translated story by a foreign guest writer. Although famous writers such as Brian W. Aldiss and Greg Egan supported our endeavor with contributions and we published a number of British and Northern American writers over the years, our focus was on countries and regions whose local science fiction production was, like the German, generally neglected by the Anglo-American centered science fiction markets, regardless of their quality. While looking for interesting stories, we established so many new contacts that soon the idea came up to publish an international edition of our magazine that would feature stories from all over the world in English or English translation. The first and unfortunately only issue of InterNova, as Nova‘s sister magazine was dubbed, was published in 2005, but the time wasn’t ripe for a magazine like that, especially due to distribution problems. Still, InterNova made its contribution to a movement towards a global science fiction that has continuously grown stronger and more comprehensive since then. Especially our successful fellow Lavie Tidhar from Israel and the Apex Book Company in the USA played a major role in it. Around 2010 I continued InterNova as a web magazine for a while. A planed relaunch with new design and regular publishing schedule didn’t come about as health problems kept me unable to work for several years. The idea of an international science fiction magazine, however, was never given up.
After moving Nova to its new publisher p.machinery it turned out soon that owner Michael Haitel and me not only collaborate marvelously but also have in common that both like to take risks and start something new. It didn’t take me much, thus, to convince Michael to give InterNova another chance. The preparations for the restart took some time. Writers from all over the world submitted almost hundred short stories and novellas as well as numerous articles and interviews. The first result of our efforts is presented to you here now. It is planed that InterNova will run with four to six online issues and one printed issue each year, the latter published by p.machinery and available internationally through all common distribution channels. The online issues will alternate between mixed issues with writers from various countries and themed issues about the science fiction of particular countries and regions. But even the general issues will have a theme motto and present stories with a lose thematic connection. In the present issue writers tackle, in very different ways, topics that are of relevance in the current world situation. We hope that our readers will enjoy reading these remarkable tales.
I have to thank all writers who contributed stories to the new InterNova and to all the fans and editors who helped me to make contacts. A special thanks goes to Adriana Kantcheva who was the first to join in as a volunteer editorial helper.
Michael K. Iwoleit
July 2022