An Interview with Lavie Tidhar, Editor of ‘The Best of World SF’

The Best of World SF is a brand-new science fiction anthology book filled to the brim with sci-fi stories from around the world, that is available to purchase right now and we here at Nerds That Geek, had the distinct honor of sitting down with the editor of this anthology, Lavie Tidhar, to discuss this new book and writing in general.
 
Nerds That Geek: What was it that got you into the sci-fi world?
 
Lavie Tidhar: Hard work and determination? Ha! I grew up in Israel reading translated American sci-fi books. The idea of actually being, in any way, a part of that world seemed little more than a pipe dream. At some point, I had to make a choice—or felt I had to make a choice—about which language to work in. I thought with English I’d be competing in a larger pond. I didn’t actually expect it to work out, though! The turning point for me was probably with a book called Osama, that nobody wanted to publish. It ended up winning the World Fantasy Award in 2012 and I’ve somehow managed to make a career in books ever since. And Osama is coming out in a 10th Anniversary edition this year! Which, again, is sort of a ridiculous thing for a book no one wanted to publish.
 
NTG: What inspired this collection?
 
Lavie Tidhar: I’ve tried to get an anthology of World SF published for years. I recently came across the original file for The Best of World SF—it’s dated 2008. So this was another book no one wanted to publish. It does feel sometimes like you’re going up against the entire publishing industry and butting your head against a perennially closed door! You have to be incredibly stubborn. Or, at least, a pain in the butt.
 
What inspired it, I guess, is just that I wished something like this had existed for me, but since no one had done it I thought I should. I got to work with a lot of writers I like and to promote their work to a wider audience. And pay them well! I really couldn’t be happier doing that.
 
NTG: What are you most excited for readers to discover in this anthology?
 
Lavie Tidhar: The nice thing I’ve heard so far is people discovering authors who are new to them and going and finding whatever else they’d published. That makes me happy. And I hope people just enjoy the anthology as it is. I don’t think people necessarily realise what a breadth of talent there is in this field. And I’d love it if this book inspired writers who see themselves in those pages. I think international fiction is vital for the long-term success of the field.
 
NTG: What are you most proud of when it comes to this collection?
 
Lavie Tidhar: Again, just having gotten it published at all! It feels like a miracle. I mean, it only took thirteen years! You’d think someone, anyone in the Anglophone publishing world would have gone, “Oh, you know what, that’s a really good idea, we should totally do this.” I mean once. In thirteen years.
 
Head. Door. Did I mention that already?
 
But, honestly, I just think it’s a great collection! I love the classic look of the cover, the durability of the hardback. It’s a book meant to sit on a shelf for many years to come. It’s a statement, and I guess, in a way, it’s a challenge too.
 
And I’m so proud of the terrific writers and stories in it. It really is some of the best we’ve got.
 
NTG: What's next for you?
 
Lavie Tidhar: I’m busy! Too busy, some would say! My novel The Escapement is coming out later this year in the US, and my novel The Hood is coming out around the same time in the UK, and I have novels scheduled on both sides of the Atlantic until 2023 at least. I’m actually getting out of genre next year with a new, very big novel that I’m just finishing now. That should be interesting. But I also just sold a new SF novel, so I’m not going to abandon the spaceships and robots anytime soon! They’re too much fun. And I’m hoping to complete an original animated web series this year (in the hope we can find someone to stream it, down the road) but it’s been great fun making.

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About Lavie Tidhar: LAVIE TIDHAR is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of ‘Osama’ (2011), ‘The Violent Century’ (2013), the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize-winning ‘A Man Lies Dreaming’ (2014), and the Campbell Award-winning ‘Central Station’ (2016), in addition to many other works and several other awards. He works across genres, combining detective and thriller modes with poetry, science fiction and historical and autobiographical material. His work has been compared to that of Philip K. Dick by The Guardian and the Financial Times, and to Kurt Vonnegut's by Locus.