Over the last 10 years, science fiction has increasingly been recognized as a significant cultural force in Chinese-speaking societies. However, scholars have yet to explore science fiction in Taiwan in depth, with existing scholarship largely prioritizing authors writing in mainland China. For this special issue, we invite submissions on the cultural, social, political, linguistic and historical contexts of Taiwanese science fiction. With this special issue, we hope to create an outline of the history and significance of Taiwanese science fiction. What are the major texts and themes of Taiwanese science fiction? What is unique about science fiction in Taiwan, and in what ways is Taiwanese science fiction connected to science fiction beyond Taiwan, including mainland China, Japan, and the West? How can Taiwanese science fiction contribute to our understanding of Taiwan and other Sinophone societies? How does science fiction position itself relative to other genres in Taiwan? Proposals on science fiction in literature, film, television, comics, games, and other media are welcome, as are proposals on any time period and Taiwanese authors working outside of Taiwan.

We are looking for discussions of writers such as Wu Ming-yi (吳明益) and Chi Ta-wei (紀大偉), as well as authors who have garnered significant attention in Taiwan but remain underexplored in the English-speaking world, such as Huang Fan (黃凡), Chang Hsi-kuo (張系國), Andrew Yeh (葉言都), Egoyan Zheng (伊格言), Lin Hsin-hui (林新惠), Hung Ling (洪凌), Kao Yi-feng (高翊峰), Ho Ching-pin (賀景濱), Liu Chih-yü (劉芷妤), Chang Ta-chun (張大春), and Huang Hai (黃海). We are also interested in poetic sci-fi, as exemplified in the works of Lin Yao-te (林燿德) and Ko-hua Chen (陳克華).

This special issue will only accept articles written in English. Submissions should be 6,000–7,000 words in length. For footnotes and bibliography, please use MLA style. Additionally, please include an abstract of approximately 200 words. Recognizing the importance of translation in the circulation of Taiwanese literature and for non-native readers, we will also accept English translations of works of Taiwanese science fiction, with a maximum length of 10,000 words.

• April 2025: Call for abstracts

• September 1, 2025: Abstract submission deadline

• November 1, 2025: Notification of acceptances

• January 31, 2027: Full article submission

• Spring and Summer, 2027: Peer review and copyediting

• Fall, 2027: Publication

Please send your abstracts, articles, or translations to Wen-chi Li (oskiey@gmail.com) and Michael O’Krent (mdokrent@gmail.com).