Very few literary magazines in Quebec can boast of having reached half a century of activity, but Solarisa pioneer of French-language fantasy, fantastic and science fiction magazines, definitely knows the magic recipe for longevity. However, these literary genres have been shunned by institutions for ages, although they are gradually beginning to earn their stripes and attract a more diverse readership.
“The magazine arrived in a complete desert. It was at a time when science fiction was on the eve of a great global boom,” explains Norbert Spehner, the magazine’s founder. “In 1968, when I arrived from France, finding a science fiction book in French in Montreal was a feat.”
Isabelle Beaulieu, editor-in-chief of the magazine The booksellersagrees. “Around 1970, in Quebec, there was no French-language publishing house specializing in the genre, only collections,” she explains. Solaris therefore appears as a real UFO in the book world, but its success was not long in coming. Local and international communities quickly showed keen interest in it.
In 1974, Norbert Spehner was a CEGEP professor. With some particularly motivated students (and to whom he says he owes all the success of his company), he decided to fill the void by creating a French-language forum for imaginary writing. The magazine first took the form of a fanzine called Requiemwhich will become the Solaris that we know in 1979. The literary direction is then ensured by a lecturer and science fiction author, Élisabeth Vonarburgh. Spehner leaves the ship in 1983, tired of the overly political turn that the genre was taking at the time, but convinced that the succession is strong enough to guarantee the sustainability of the magazine.
Science fiction, fantasy, fantastic, genre, imaginary…
A professionalizing institution, recognized in the field
Jean-Louis Trudel, the science fiction author who has been published most often by Solaris since its beginnings (33 texts bear her mark in the pages of the 231 issues published so far), recognizes the importance that the latter has had in her professional life. “She was the first to have published one of my texts. At the time, I was not yet twenty years old, and it was a good boost to launch me into my career as a writer. I also associate Solaris to a certain improvement in writing, because Élisabeth Vonarburgh made me rewrite this first text more than once. And I am proud to still be a regular contributor today,” he emphasizes. The magazine organizes the presentation of two literary prizes annually, which also help to promote French-speaking writers.
In the eyes of Mathieu Lauzon-Dicso, met in his specialist bookstore on Upper Lachine Road, Solarisassociated with Alire editions since 2000, actively participates in bringing together the French-speaking imaginary community and in introducing authors to readers familiar with the genre, but until now exclusively through the great Anglo-Saxon classics. “We see a lot of readers who discover Quebec or French imaginary literature thanks to Solaris ” says Mr. Lauzon-Dicso.
The owner of Librairie Saga says that the audience for genre literature has only grown and diversified in recent years. “There are as many young people who are into genre literature as there are thirty-somethings who know about it, who may not have read it for a long time, but who suddenly saw the film Dune and that it made them want to delve into it again. And there are also, of course, the older ones, who have read the great classics, real experts who know everything — sometimes more than us! “, he exclaims, laughing.
And the themes explored are constantly being renewed, resonating more and more with contemporary issues. “There is something absolutely political in this literature now. Writers are interested in current world events. They explore environmental issues, offer portraits of post-climate crisis universes, with or without optimism. And the public is particularly attracted to these imaginaries,” says Isabelle Beaulieu.
Mr. Lauzon-Dicso notes a significant paradigm shift in the genre. “Today’s science fiction is nothing but dystopian. We see the emergence of styles like hope punkwhich put mutual aid and hope forward. We feel that Quebec has entered this more optimistic science fiction for two or three years now — more courageous, perhaps. And Solaris made that transition too.”
The video game competition
Despite this renewal, the current director of the magazine, Jean Pettigrew, notes that several authors who are fans of imaginary worlds are now abandoning literature in favor of video games. “New talented authors arrive on the scene, publish one or two short stories, then we lose them, because they get caught by companies like Ubisoft. I understand them, it’s more profitable than literature, but for the development of genres, it’s more difficult,” he maintains.
A small literary relief is still on the agenda. Mélodie Joseph, a young author published by VLB, considers science fiction as a real playground where freedom reigns. “I have a lot of fun imagining worlds, characters in these worlds, and seeing how these worlds can serve as parallels to our own worlds.” And according to her, aesthetics vintage of Solaris should not be modified for the benefit of marketing imperatives, because it responds to the codes of the environment, which allow a form of independence to be guaranteed with regard to popular culture.
For Mr. Pettigrew, this independence distinguishes literature from the video game industry. “Video games can’t afford to explore, they always have to be mainstream, whereas with Solaris We can afford that. We do extraordinary things with very little means.”
The monetary issue is, in fact, a major challenge for the magazine. “The amounts offered by the arts councils of Quebec and Canada have not increased since 2004. And the cost of sending with Canada Post is a fortune, whereas there were special rates for sending books before. France has kept this way of operating: for example, it costs us 8.50 Canadian dollars to send a copy across the Atlantic, compared to 0.88 euros for our counterparts in Galaxies when they post to Quebec.”
Between 300 and 500 people subscribe to the magazine annually, all ages and genders combined. Fantasy literature has always been very inclusive and avant-garde, according to Mr. Pettigrew. “Non-binarity, transgender and all that, we’ve been talking about it in science fiction since the 1960s!” he emphasizes.