Written by Specusphere | 30 June 2008

SF: Jack, as well as writing books and short stories yourself, you must have edited several dozen anthologies over the last few decades. Did you set out to “be an editor” or was it something you fell into?

JD: The first book I ever sold was an anthology—Wandering Stars—which I sold to Harper & Row sometime back in the Pleistocene. (Grins) I was working on a novel, but had the idea for a science fiction and fantasy anthology of Jewish stories. I didn't realize it, but that was the first volume of its kind and became a sort of instant classic. I kept working on my novel, which I sold, and since then I’ve been writing…and editing. Editing is such an organic process: the sense and shape of every anthology changes and develops with every new story, and—for me—that process feels a bit like writing, in that it satisfies that same urge to shape and order…and that wicked element of surprise is always present. So I guess one could say I’m addicted to writing and editing.

SF: When you decide to pull an anthology together you have been known to start with ideas as loose as “Jewish writers”, “inter-stellar travel” and “Australian horror” or as focused as “aliens”, “immortality” and “unicorns”. Which approach suits you better: the loose or the focused?

JD: It just depends on the idea. It can be loose or focused, once it grabs you, you’re riding the rails of the roller-coaster. That's what happened when Janeen Webb and I came up with the idea for Dreaming Down-Under some ten years ago. We looked around, saw all the talent here, and thought: What if we showcase that talent in a volume so that everyone can see it? Ten years down the line, I thought: it's steam engine time again, and the result is Dreaming Again.

SF: What is your selection process? Do you prefer to invite authors to submit or to send out a cattle call?

JD: I usually solicit stories from writers whose work I would like to see in the anthology. There is a strong word-of-mouth element; however, as writers often tell other writers that I’m open for a particular volume, or suggest names of new writers they think ‘have the juice’. So my anthologies aren't really open to everyone. But the brilliant and wonderful up-and-coming writers, the young Turks, manage to find me.

SF: Do you edit heavily or do you see your job more as that of a facilitator and organizer?

JD: Yes to being a facilitator and organizer, as that's what every anthologist must do. I give authors quite a bit of feedback, and some authors do four or five revisions before a story is bought; but it's not my story. I’m always cognizant that it's the author's story. Yes, I make suggestions, but I also insist that the writer only makes those changes that s/he feels strengthens the story. My job as an editor is to strengthen the focus of a story, not interfere with the writer's vision.

SF: Do you have a pre-conceived plan for each slot in an anthology? For example: “I’m looking for a rollicking sword and sorcery piece to open with and after that I’d like something gothic, and then a near-future comedy piece…”?

JD: An anthology grows organically, and I start glimpsing its shape as the stories (that knock me out) start coming in. The stories dictate the shape of the anthology. Once I’ve decided on the stories, I then work out the order in which they will appear, taking into consideration length and subject matter. I wouldn't usually follow a novella length story with another novella. I try to find the anthology's rhythm, so to speak. If I’ve done it right, the reader will be stimulated from the first story to the last.

SF: You seem to have a leaning towards horror. Do you see horror as having something to offer that the other speculative genres cannot give?

JD: I enjoy horror and dark fantasy just as much as I enjoy magical realism, fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary fiction. It's the quality of the story, the vision of the writer that's important to me as a reader and anthologist. The story has got to knock me out, make me shake my head and say “Wow!” whether it be because of the beauty of the style, the humor, the character interaction, novelty and brilliance of the idea, or the intricacy, or dramatic thrust of the plot. If I’ve been leaning toward horror, it's because writers have been sending me horror or dark fantasy stories that I just had to buy. (That was certainly the case with Dreaming Again.)

SF: Can you work on your own writing at the same time as you’re editing an anthology, or do you find the two processes mutually antithetical?

JD: Yes, I’m always working on at least three projects at the same time. Reading exciting new work stimulates me to write. And when I’m in a period of researching a novel, editing is the very best of diversions.

SF: Have you ever tried editing someone else's novel, as opposed to an anthology?

JD: Yes, I’m a consulting editor for the American publisher TOR Books. Take a look at some of the latest novels by Sean McMullen and Paul Brandon. Working with such talented authors on novel length projects is a joy.

SF: You’ve edited both American and Australian anthologies. Do you find that the two markets need different approaches?

JD: In most cases, not really. But there are anthologies such as Dreaming Down-Under and Dreaming Again, which are culturally specific; but the approaches differ (I think) only in the way the volumes are marketed here and abroad.

SF: Where do you see Australian short speculative fiction going in the next ten years?

JD: My gut response is to say that I really don't know, and that, in part, is what makes it so exciting. But if you ask me to take a stab in the dark, so to speak, I have a feeling that science fiction will become more and more important. For the past number of years, fantasy has overwhelmed science fiction here in Australia. It will be interesting to see if SF and fantasy reach any kind of parity.

SF: What new projects have you on the drawing board? A new novel? A collection? Editing another anthology?

JD: Yes, yes, and yes. (Grins) There always seems to be so much going on. I’ve just started a new fantasy novel called Shadows In the Stone, which will be the first book of the Dark Companions series. I’ve put together a new collection of stories called Camps. My collection Promised Land has been published in England—it is the companion volume to my last novel The Rebel. A short novel called The Economy of Light will be published in England in the next few months, and my autobiography Insinuations will be published in book form and in a Contemporary Authors autobiographical volume. I’ve just written a nonfiction piece for Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenks anthology Voices of Disbelief and have a new story in Postscripts 15, which is a special Worldcon issue devoted entirely to science fiction. My story is “Under the Shadow of Jonah,” and it looks like a great lineup including Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, and Ray Bradbury. I’m also editing an Australian anthology with Jonathan Strahan (which is under wraps until contracts are signed), and Dragons with Gardner Dozois. There are about five more anthologies in the works, several novels, and on and on it goes and…I’d probably better stop now.

SF: With so much going on in your life, we’d better let you get back to it! Thank you, Jack Dann.

Jack Dann's web site can be found at www.jackdann.com

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