Arts Canada’s premier speculative fiction magazine calls it a day after 35 years Edmonton-based On Spec, which showcased authors like Julie E. Czerneda, Tony Pi and a young Cory Doctorow, will publish its final issue in December Edmonton-based On Spec will publish its final issue in December Posted: Nov 10, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours ago Play Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence. On Spec administrator and promotions coordinator Cath Jackel and OnSpec poetry editor Barry Hammond, at WorldCon sci fi convention in Winnipeg, in 1994 (Courtesy Diane Walton) Social Sharing For 35 years, On Spec has been Canada’s premier literary publication for science fiction and fantasy. It’s our own maple-flavoured alternative to the American giants — like Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and Amazing Stories — and has published the heavyweights Robert J. Sawyer, Julie E. Czerneda and Tony Pi. How do you make a game feel scary? Here's how these three artists pull it off But when issue 134 drops next month, it will be the magazine’s last. Longtime managing editor Diane Walton announced her retirement earlier this year, and after discussing it with the editorial staff — who largely work on the magazine in their spare time — she and the board decided it was time to shut down. “You really do need somebody to lead this,” she says. “The stories have to be edited, have to be finalized, have to be proofread. You have to have the cover. You have to have all the advertising lined up. You have to have all these things.… And there was nobody else on the team that could take the time.” On Spec was started in 1989 by a small group of Edmonton writers, who called themselves the Copper Pig Writers’ Society. Tim Hammell, sci-Fi and fantasy artist, member of the Copper Pig Writers Society and founding member of On Spec, with Danica LeBlanc, daughter of On Spec managing editor Diane Walton, at the On Spec launch party in Edmonton in 1989 (Rick LeBlanc) At the time, there were French Canadian publications devoted to fantasy and science fiction, like the long-running Solaris, based out of Longueuil, Que. English Canada, though, didn’t have a sci-fi magazine of its own. At one of the Edmonton gatherings, the conversation turned to a topic familiar to many writers: rejection. After decades underground, Quebec horror films are coming back from the dead “People were sharing their rejection letters from American science-fiction magazines,” Walton says. “The editor of the magazine was essentially saying, ‘Yeah, this is good, but none of our readers are going to get it. It's too Canadian.’ “In a fit of frustration, somebody said, ‘Well, there's got to be a Canadian magazine.…’ And then somebody else very foolishly said, ‘Well, why don't we do it ourselves?’” In her foreword to On Spec’s 25th anniversary collection, Casserole Diplomacy and Other Stories, Marianne O. Nielsen, who hosted the meeting, wrote, “I left the room to go to the bathroom and came back to find myself elected general editor and shark bait.” The publishing phrase “on spec” refers to a writer completing a story or other work with no guarantee it will be accepted for publication. Managing editor Diane Walton 2025 (Courtesy Diane Walton) In the same way, the Edmonton writers couldn’t be sure of the magazine’s success. But the title also neatly captured their genre — speculative fiction, the umbrella term for sci-fi, fantasy and alternate history. Members of the Copper Pig Writers’ Society invited authors from across Canada to submit stories for the first issue, and volunteered their time for art direction, layout and copy editing. They sent the pages to a local printer, who offered them a discounted rate and took care of distribution. The first issue sold out. The group was delighted by the magazine’s success and soon got government funding and increased their capacity. In 1990, during its second year, On Spec put out a special issue featuring young writers, including Cory Doctorow, now the award-winning and bestselling author of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Little Brother. “There's a number of our best writers who've actually gone on and wrote novels and got noticed for those and won prizes,” Walton says. “Since I announced the closure, I'm seeing all these emails going, ‘On Spec bought my first story.’ I’m so pleased.” Nielsen departed in 1992, and designer Jena Snyder and business manager Cath Jackel split editing duties before Walton took charge as managing editor in 2000, publishing quarterly and distributing to bookstores and subscribers. And during her tenure, On Spec won a slew of awards and partnered with independent publishers to put out two anniversary anthologies. There is some consolation, however: Last month, Regina-based Shadowpaw Press announced it’s planning to crowdfund an anthology of new works under the On Spec title. If it succeeds, it could become an annual publication. For Walton, though, her days with On Spec are coming to a well-earned end. And she has advice for anyone who wants to start a magazine. “I would never tell somebody not to do this,” she says. “If you've got the energy and the inclination and the concept, then — especially in this day and age where you don't have to pay for printing — you can do so many things.… It's just up to the individual. It's up to anybody that wants to try this.” The final issue of On Spec is due out in December. Check Shadowpaw Press’s social media for updates. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Ford is a mixed-race, Calgary-born writer and freelance journalist who currently resides in Victoria. His bylines include CBC News, The Tyee, and the National Observer, and he has published fiction with Tyche Books, EDGE Sci-Fi and Neo-Opsis Magazine. Related Stories Source: https://www.cbc.ca/arts/on-spec-final-issue-9.6971649