I was ridiculously excited to get a sneak peek at ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction, edited by Marissa van Uden and published by Violet Lichen Books. The TOC features some of my favorite writers and stories, including several previously featured in MicroVerse.
Revisiting those pieces was a treat; reading a second (or third) time revealed complex layers of storytelling, with fantastic characters and imaginative worlds. The anthology format is a perfect vehicle for these stories, imo, because the themes combine and diverge in ways I might never have considered if I’d only read the pieces separately.
I’d like to rec a few of my absolute favorites, but each story in this anthology is a stand-out. It’s easy to get caught up in the wow-of-the-moment with these stories, but I encourage you to take your time with them—give yourself ample space to consider the deeper meaning and soak up the craft expertise on display. The shortlist of recommended stories is also a great resource if you’re looking for more.
About Violet Lichen:
Founded in 2024, Violet Lichen Books is the sister imprint of Apex Book Company. Violent Lichen was created by Marissa van Uden to give a home to those dark, literary, weird books that might be a little outside of the norm. The imprint focuses on speculative ecofiction, Weird and New Weird, and moody science fiction with uniquely memorable characters.
I’m grateful to Marissa for taking time for this interview!
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Myna: I want to begin with ECO: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction. Tell us about the anthology!
Marissa: Thank you for the interview! ECO24 is the first of an annual anthology aimed at showcasing the best nature-based science fiction, fantasy, and horror published around the world every year.
Myna: How did the idea for the anthology come together?
Marissa: I’ve always been drawn to stories that feature plants, animals and natural environments, so it was a longtime dream to work in this genre. And now more than ever, it seems important to celebrate ecofiction and listen to the artists telling our collective story about this fragile ecosystem we call Earth.
Speculative fiction is a great way to do this as it can take us deeper into the real connections we have with all living things and help us think through possible futures—some we want, others we must fight to prevent because we have literally everything to lose, from vast ecosystems to tiny, overlooked miracles.
There were no other annual best-of anthologies for this subgenre, so we wanted to create a series that would celebrate the best of what’s being published every year, build a kind of cultural record of speculative fiction at this time, and most of all get these meaningful works out to more readers, who will hopefully find catharsis in the shared fears and solidarity in the shared resolve and passion.
Myna: What challenges did you face? And, once the project was up and running, what was your process for choosing stories for inclusion?
Marissa: We open to nominations over a couple months, and begin to read as much of the ecofiction published over the year as we can get our hands on. Our team of readers begins whittling down the nominations to a longlist, and these are all read by more readers and discussed/debated until slowly we get it down to the shortlist. These then get more reads and more discussions, and eventually we select the finalists for the anthology. I make the final calls, but I say “we” because the whole team’s different perspectives and discussions play a massive role in that selection. The other frontrunners are then listed in the back of anthology as further recommended reading.
Myna: I’ve enjoyed the other anthologies you’ve edited. Can you share a little about those books?
Marissa: The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird, was published by Dark Matter Ink in 2024, and this was another anthology born out of my love for ecological speculative fiction. The New Weird often uses the natural world to unsettle, horrify, and create beauty, and the seaside was a perfect setting for that blend of the weird, the natural and the surreal.
I’ve also edited three Strange Microfiction anthologies for Apex Magazine, which are sold exclusively through the magazine’s Kickstarter every year. These 250-word stories are so cool, because they can reveal whole worlds in just the briefest glimpse. Like little pieces of magic.
Myna: When will the press be open for submissions? What is the process for submitting? Do you take un-agented manuscripts?
Marissa: Yes, we take unagented manuscripts! We open periodically depending on how many releases we have lined up. At this time, we expect the next open window to be in the first quarter of 2026.
For our next ecofiction anthology, ECO25, we’re opening to nominations from December through January. Authors can submit their own published works via Moksha, or editors and publishers can nominate works they’ve published.
Myna: What are you looking for when evaluating manuscripts? Are there any specific styles or themes you especially like?
Marissa: Part of what makes these anthologies so fun to read is that speculative ecofiction covers a huge range of styles and subgenres, so there are no specific requirements there except that nature must be at the heart of the story, whether in theme or plot.
In terms of other things we’re looking for, we want stories that are immediately interesting and make us curious to read on, unique voices that draw us in, and endings that deliver the emotional impact they’re aiming for. We also absolutely love stories that linger—you know the ones where you’re going about your day but elements of the story are haunting you and making you want to talk about it with someone. When that happens, we know we’re onto a special one.
Myna: Tell us about your career trajectory. How did you become involved with the press?
Marissa: I started out in publishing while living in Berlin, working on books being published in English, and have now been editing full-time for more than 15 years, specializing in speculative fiction. I started out at Apex Magazine as a volunteer slush reader as I really wanted to hone my short-fiction skills and loved what they published. I then became an associate editor, and eventually moved onto the book side of the company. I currently work as a freelance editor for independent authors and other publishers as well as running the imprint at Apex.
Myna: Please share some of your own writing with us! Where can we read your work?
Marissa: If you like experimental eco-horror and body-horror, my flash-fiction piece “A Widow’s Field Guide to Fungi” (originally published in Vastarian Magazine) was recently reprinted by Small Wonders Magazine, which is free to read online.
Myna: Do you have a pet or other hobby/activity? Show us a picture!
Marissa: Yes! My favorite hobbies are kayaking, hiking, mountain biking, climbing mountains, or sitting down by the pond to watch the beavers and otters. Pretty much anything that gets me outside!
Ripley
And I share my home with two animals who I absolutely adore. Ripley, a little grey cat who is the sweetest soul I know, and Willow, an Australian shepherd with a heart of gold and a talent for endless mischief.
Willow
Myna: What’s next for you?
Marissa: We’re about to open to nominations for ECO25, so I’ll be spending most of the winter sitting by the fire reading a lot of ecofiction! Aside from that, I’m hoping for a very cold winter so I can enjoy some good snow days and maybe get a little of my own writing done in between.
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Marissa van Uden grew up in New Zealand and now lives in Vermont, in a little cabin in the woods. She loves wild things, night hikes, and eerie forests. Her anthology credits include Strange Libations, Strange Machines, Strange Locations, and The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird, and her short stories have appeared in Vastarian Literary Journal, Dark Matter Magazine, Zero Dark Thirty, and Los Suelos. She can also be found at @marissavu.bsky.social and instagram @marissa.vu.
Marissa’s website, and on Bluesky
Violet Lichen, and on Instagram
Myna Chang 