Is Slipstream a Real Genre Yet?

Unpublished
Created on December 3, 2017 by Jeremiah John
 

Just came across this Sterling article which defines (and disparages slipstream), via "The Slipstream Anthology."

I found my way here after writing a short story which, I would describe as magical realism with futuristic technology in a possible world that diverged. I would now put my short ("A Removal of the Possibility Filter") definitely within the slipstream genre, if such a genre exists and is not simply used disparagingly.

I plan to have more thoughts about slipstream (if one can plan such a thing) as I read "The Slipstream Anthology.

I see the utility in this genre, coined as it was twenty-five years ago. But I find Sterling's inclusion of classic texts of magical realism like Marquez's "Autumn of the Patriarch" or "100 Years of Solitude" somewhat... odd. Why take an established literary category like magical realism and subsume parts of it into a new genre, slipstream?

So... has slipstream gained any traction? I do feel that much of what I see in Strange Horizons can be categorized as either slipstream or magical realism. But I'm fairly new to the short story scene. Is slipstream an established genre? Does it have actual short story markets? Or is it just used disparagingly? Any slipstreamers out there?

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About the Author

Hi. My name is Jeremiah John. I'm a sf/f writer and activist.

I just completed a dystopian science fiction novel. I run a website which I created that connects farms with churches, mosques, and synagogues to buy fresh vegetables directly and distribute them on a sliding scale to those in need.

In 2003, I spent six months in prison for civil disobedience while working to close the School of the Americas, converting to Christianity, as one does, while I was in the clink.