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Two new and very different short stories by Gene Wolfe are currently available for free on the web.

A gentle story of alien encounter, “Dormanna” is available on the Tor website as part of a series of five stories, each by a different author and all inspired by an illustration by John Jude Palencar.

In contrast, “Innocent” is as disturbing a tale as Wolfe has ever written, a criminal’s extraordinary account of why he could not have committed the dreadful crime of which he is accused. An audio recording of the story is included in issue 8 of Tales to Terrify.

(Actually, there’s a third Wolfe story newly on the web, though it’s not a new story per se. Thanks to Simon Fletcher for pointing out that “The Legend of Xi Cygnus” has been reprinted in Lightspeed magazine here.)

A new story by Gene Wolfe entitled “Why I was hanged” is included in the anthology Ghosts by Gaslight, edited by Jack Dann and Ultan’s Library contributor Nick Gevers.

Described as a collection of “stories of steampunk and supernatural suspense”, Ghosts by Gaslight is published by Harper Voyager. There are 16 other stories in addition to “Why I was hanged”, including contributions from Peter S. Beagle, Lucius Shepard and Robert Silverberg.

British publisher Gollancz is celebrating 50 years of publishing science fiction and fantasy by republishing some of the best titles in their list, among them Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun.

• The Gollancz blog discusses the reissue.
• Then Gollancz author and Wolfe fan Alastair Reynolds talks about the Book of the New Sun in this video interview.
• Gollancz’s parent company also recently launched the SF Gateway to publish ebooks of many classics of science fiction and fantasy, including 3 of the 4 volumes of the Book of the New Sun (with the missing Lictor to follow shortly)

Superb interview with Gene this month at Black Gate:
blackgate.com interviews Gene Wolfe

The Best of Gene Wolfe has won the 2010 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection. The collection was published by Tor and PS Publishing.

More info @Locus

According to Locus, Gene had heart surgery on 24 April. It apparently went well and he is recovering with his family. Gene is 78.

Full article at Locus online.

Ultan Contributor Michael Andre-Driussi’s latest work of Wolfe scholarship, the Wizard Knight Companion, is now available to purchase from the assorted Amazons.

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