On Spec 2026: New Canadian Literature of the Fantastic

Edited by Edward Willett

In 1989, a small group of Edmonton writers formed The Copper Pig Writers Society in order to fill a niche in Canada: a paying market for English SF. The result was On Spec Magazine, which put out 134 issues over the ensuing quarter-century.

The magazine published its last issue in December 2025, but the brand and the vision continue in this new anthology of science fiction and fantasy from authors who are either Canadian citizens or reside in Canada, edited by Edward Willett, himself an Aurora Award-winning author and podcaster and publisher of Shadowpaw Press, based in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Featured authors in On Spec 2026: New Canadian Literature of the Fantastic include such Canadian speculative fiction luminaries as Candas Jane Dorsey, Marcelle Dubé, Michèle Laframboise, Fiona Moore, Douglas Smith, Hayden Trenholm, and Liz Westerbrook-Trenholm.

There’s a world of wonder waiting for you inside the covers of this fabulous collection. Jump inside and discover just fantastical the Canadian imagination can be!