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. For 35 years, their quarterly journal On Spec, based in Edmunton, has served the Canadian literary community, but its final issue will be published in December.

At least at the time when On Spec launched, Canadian writers of excellent short fiction were being turned down by the bigger markets because they simply did not fit the mold. They were too “alien”.  Nonetheless, they grew in stature to the point where they were publishing the likes of Robert J. Sawyer, Julie E. Czerneda and Tony Pi.

Now, though, their longtime editor Diane Walton has announced her retirement, and after discussion it with the editorial staff — who largely work on the magazine in their spare time — she and the board have decided that it’s time to draw the curtain.

“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.”

All is not dust in the wind, however.

Shadowpaw Press has stepped forward to pick up the torch. They have agreed to carry on the legacy of On Spec, Canada’s premier magazine of science fiction and fantasy.

The current plan is to Kickstart an On Spec 2026 anthology early in 2026, with the goal of opening to submissions after that and publishing the book in the fall. If the Kickstarter succeeds, the aim would be an annual anthology thereafter.

The anthology will be open to all Canadian writers of science fiction and fantasy and edited by Shadowpaw’s publisher and editor Edward Willett, an Aurora Award-winning author of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction for all ages. Like so many other Canadian authors, Willett has himself been published in On Spec. Willett looks forward to drawing on the expertise and assistance of the current On Spec editorial staff as he works toward publication of the new anthology.

Willett has previously run six successful Kickstarters, most notably the campaigns that produced the five Shapers of Worlds anthologies, featuring authors featured on his Aurora Award-winning podcast, The Worldshapers, international award-winners and bestsellers among them, and numerous Canadians.

Shadowpaw Press, founded in 2018, is a member of the Association of Canadian Publishers (which has awarded the press the status of Certified Canadian Publisher), and a member of Literary Press Group of Canada. Its titles are distributed by LitDistCo to bookstores across Canada.

Recent science fiction and fantasy titles have included two posthumous novels by Dave Duncan, The Traitor’s Son and Corridor to Nightmare; Robert J. Sawyer’s twenty-fifth novel, The Downloaded; I, Brax: A Battle Divine by Governor General’s Award-winner Arthur Slade; The Sun Runners by James Bow, Fireboy by Edward Willett, and the cyberpunk thriller Gods of a New World by Ryan Melsom. The press also publishes literary fiction and nonfiction and poetry.

Shadowpaw Press looks forward to continuing the On Spec brand and publishing many more original stories by Canadian authors of the fantastic.

You can find out more about Shadowpaw Press here at their web site.