{{italic title}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} '''''Helix SF''''' was a quarterly American speculative fiction online magazine edited by William Sanders and Lawrence Watt-Evans. The poetry editor was Bud Webster.
==History== Sanders began the magazine in 2006<ref>{{cite news |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=June 15, 2006 |title=Helix: a new free sf magazine |url=http://boingboing.net/2006/06/15/helix-a-new-free-sf.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225030340/https://boingboing.net/2006/06/15/helix-a-new-free-sf.html |archive-date=December 25, 2015 |accessdate=December 24, 2015 |work=Boing Boing}}</ref> as "a place where writers could publish things that none of the regular markets wanted to touch" without any attempt "to be a commercial publication." The venture was supported entirely by reader donations, though Sanders emphasized in his first editorial that the intention was to make ''Helix SF'' "a professional-quality online magazine." The magazine was not open to general submissions.
Each issue of ''Helix SF'' featured 7 stories, 4 to 6 poems, several regular columns, and editorials by both the editors.
== Rejection controversy and closing ==
In 2008, Sanders wrote a rejection letter for a submission to ''Helix SF'' in which he called Muslims "sheet heads", "worm brained" and "incapable of honesty." Sanders would later deny that he was referring to Muslims as a whole.<ref>{{cite web |last=Frenulum |first=J. Royce |date= |title=Conversations With A Mean Old Bastard |url=http://www.sff.net/people/sanders/mob.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127213845/http://www.sff.net/people/sanders/mob.html |archive-date=January 27, 2017 |accessdate=2023-09-09 |publisher=Sff.net}}</ref> However, the controversy ultimately resulted in several authors asking to pull their stories from the ''Helix'' archives after they found out Sanders had offered that option to N.K. Jemisin.<ref>{{cite web |date=2008-07-15 |title=Racist Rejection Letter Stirs Controversy in SF Community |url=http://technoccult.net/archives/2008/07/15/racist-rejection-letter-stirs-controversy-in-sf-community/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043135/http://technoccult.net/archives/2008/07/15/racist-rejection-letter-stirs-controversy-in-sf-community/ |archive-date=2016-03-04 |accessdate=2023-09-09 |publisher=Technoccult}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Shetterly |first=Will |author-link=Will Shetterly |date=2023-03-03 |title=Was Cherokee Writer William Sanders the First Victim of Cancel Culture? |url=https://www.sublationmag.com/post/was-cherokee-writer-william-sanders-the-first-victim-of-cancel-culture |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307085748/https://www.sublationmag.com/post/was-cherokee-writer-william-sanders-the-first-victim-of-cancel-culture |archive-date=2023-03-07 |accessdate=2023-09-09 |publisher=Sublation Magazine}}</ref>
In response to the controversy, Sanders announced that the magazine's fall 2008 issue would be the last.<ref name="SFE">{{Cite web |date=March 22, 2023 |title=Helix SF |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/helix_sf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201005805/https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/helix_sf |archive-date=December 1, 2023 |access-date=September 9, 2023 |website=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction}}</ref><ref name="editorial">Sanders, William. "[http://www.helixsf.com/editorials.htm#sanders Editorial]." ''Helix SF'' 10, Fall 2008. {{Dead link|date=July 2013|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Sanders stated that "Perhaps the biggest one is the ongoing failure to develop a broad support base. Not that we've ever hurt for money — we've always been able to pay the writers, if not pro rates, at least considerably better than the average free webzine - but as things have turned out, the support has come mainly from a small number of amazingly generous donors, rather than over a wide range of the readership."<ref name="editorial" /> On January 1, 2009, the ''Helix'' archives were removed from the web and replaced with an explanation for the magazine's demise and links to several of the stories at other locations.<ref>[http://www.helixsf.com/list.htm What Happened To The Archives? a brief and depressing explanation], ''Helix SF'', January 1, 2009. {{Dead link|date=July 2013|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Sanders then deleted the magazine's website.<ref name="SFE"/>
== Critical reception and awards ==
According to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, ''Helix SF'' was "generally praised for the quality of its fiction and poetry."<ref name="SFE"/> The magazine was also noted for having almost half the published stories written by women, perhaps the only genre magazine of the time to do this.<ref name="SFE"/>
The magazine was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. Works published in the magazine won and were finalists for a number of awards. These include:
* "Captive Girl" by Jennifer Pelland, published in the Fall 2006 issue, was a finalist for the 2007 Nebula Award for Best Short Story; * "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Hole" by Lawrence Schimel, published in the Winter 2007 issue, took the 3rd place in the 2007 Rhysling Award in the short poem category; * "The Button Bin" by Mike Allen, published in the Fall 2007 issue, was a finalist for the 2008 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. * "Search" by Geoffrey A. Landis, published in the Fall 2008 issue, won the long form Rhysling Award in 2009.
== Authors published ==
Authors published in ''Helix SF'' included Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Bruce Boston, Adam-Troy Castro, Melanie Fletcher, Esther Friesner, Janis Ian, N. K. Jemisin, Jay Lake, Vera Nazarian, Michael H. Payne, Peg Robinson, Jane Yolen, and Steven H Silver.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100712053213/http://www.sff.net/people/sanders/mob.html The editor's explanation for the magazine's demise]
Category:Quarterly magazines published in the United States Category:Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United States Category:Magazines established in 2006 Category:Magazines disestablished in 2008 Category:Science fiction webzines