Starting on March 12th, I’ll be moderating a group discussion of the best science fiction short stories from 1957 on Facebook. We discuss one story every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I’ll also review those stories here on this blog.

The stories were selected by using any story with at least two citations on CSFquery. I also added two stories because one had been made into a movie, and one into a television show. I then added a few recommendations from our group’s moderators. No stories were awarded a Hugo for 1957, so I used Rich Horton’s picks for 1957 instead.

Here’s the schedule:

Our group has already discussed three famous stories from 1957, “Call Me Joe” by Poul Anderson, “The Menace from Earth” by Robert A. Heinlein, and “Omnilingual” by H. Beam Piper. Those will be discussed on repeat day. I’m really looking forward to reading the twenty stories the group hasn’t read before, many of which I haven’t read either.

When I create the discussion thread for each story I’ll try and find a link to where the story can be read online and put a link to the ISFDB.org entry so people can see if they already own an anthology where the story has been reprinted.

During the Group Read 72 period (March 12 – April 30) we’ll also be open to people recommending stories from 1957 that they feel should be on our list too. Think of it as a kind of scavenger hunt for forgotten classic short science fiction from 1957. Dave Hook, one of our most industrious members, did an extensive study of 1956, and I expect him to do the same for 1957.

Even if you don’t join our discussion group, please recommend any SF story from 1957 that’s not on the list that you think should be in a comment below. I’ll pass your recommendation to the group.

We welcome anyone who loves reading science fiction short stories to join our group. If you do join our Facebook group, be sure and answer the two questions. They are designed to filter out spammers and confirm that we only discuss science fiction short stories, not novels, not movies, not television shows. We delete any message that brings up politics, self-promotes a book, is offensive to others, or that’s off topic.

We read and discuss science fiction stories from anthologies, magazines, award winners, stories up for awards, and by specific year. We also discuss author collections on Sundays. This group reading is our 72nd. Old science fiction stories are discussed on Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays. New science fiction stories are discussed on Mondays, Wednesday, and Saturdays. We try to promote both print and online science fiction magazines.

James Wallace Harris, 3/9/24