Podcasts about Aurealis Award

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Laura Jean McKay chats with Irma about the experience of touring her books to the UK, why she threw up in a caravan sink after finishing her novel, how the publishing landscape for short fiction has changed over the last two decades, a disastrous book event that ended up in an Oscar-winning performance, writing about big political themes, the surreal experience of recording her audiobook during the pandemic, why winning prizes can be a lonely experience, the overwhelming and unexpected support of the sci-fi community, how to develop writing muscles, the worst writing advice she received from a very famous author, why a serious illness altered the development of her novel, and the practical methods that she used to climb out of an intense period of writer's block.About Laura Jean MackayLaura Jean McKay is the author of The Animals in That Country - winner of the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award, The Victorian Prize for Literature, the ABIA Small Publishers Adult Book of the Year and co-winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2021. Laura is also the author of Holiday in Cambodia and was Adjunct Lecturer in Creative Writing at Massey University. Her latest collection is Gunflower, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Award and named one of The Guardian's best books of 2023.

In this episode, a conversation with Mykaela Saunders, author of a new collection of short stories, ‘Always Will Be'. Saunders is a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer, teacher and researcher, and the editor of This All Come Back Now, the Aurealis Award-winning anthology of First Nations speculative fiction.  Saunders has been awarded numerous prizes for their writing, including the 2022 David Unaipon Award, and this most recent work draws from stories written from the past couple of years into a collection that poses the question: what might country, community and culture look like in the Tweed Valley if Gooris reasserted their sovereignty?

Author : Geneve Flynn Narrator : Dzintra Sullivan Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Chelsea Davis “Lidless Eyes That See” was first released by PS Publishing in From the Waste Land, an anthology inspired by T.S. Eliot's poem “The Waste Land.” The story was a finalist for the 2022 Aurealis Award for Best Horror […]

The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Dr Mykaela Saunders is a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer, teacher and researcher. She is the editor of the Aurealis Award–winning This All Come Back Now, and the winner of the 2022 David Unaipon Award for Always Will Be. Always Will Be carries the subtitle; Stories of Goori Sovereignty from the Futures of the Tweed. The collection explores possible futures where First Nations sovereignty is both reclaimed, respected and offers a future for a fragile planet. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want More Great Conversations with Australian Authors?Great conversations looks back at some of the fantastic authors and writers we feature every week on Final Draft. It's not always possible to use the full conversation live to air and this is your chance to discover more secrets and hidden gems about the books you love… Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft.We love to hear about what you're reading, what you love about books and what you've discovered from the show! Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/ 

Author : Grace Chan Narrator : Rebecca Wei Hsieh Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Summer Brooks “Death By Water” originally appeared in From the Waste Land (PS Publishing, Oct 2022). It was shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story 2022. Content warning for claustrophic situations and drowning. Death by Water by […] Source

Corey J. White, author of the Aurealis Award-winning novel REPO VIRTUAL and the VoidWitch Saga novellas KILLING GRAVITY, VOID BLACK SHADOW, and STATIC RUIN, came on IZ Pod and talked about ‘Hollywood Animals', their new IZ 295 story; ‘Family Business', their multi-generational solarpunk story written with Andrew Dana Hudson; the power of Mark Fisher; the future of cyberpunk; different ways the world ends; and a whole lot more. // Support Interzone at Patreon to get issues packed with mind- and genre-bending fiction and non-fiction, and visit IZ Digital, IZ's free online sister zine, for even more amazing stories. // https://interzone.press / https://interzone.digital

“Shiny Object Syndrome” is a struggle I've spoken to COUNTELSS business owners about. Thankfully - it is curable! And in this BONUS episode of Seriously in Business I'm speaking with someone whose done just that.Amy Laurens worked with me in The Co+Creation Club and together we worked on TWO brands! One her personal brand as an author, and the other as a publishing house.Amy is now growing her brands, showing up consistently and confidently and has conquered shiny object syndrome - her brand is now slick and SUPER consistent.Amy also shares how she balances running 2 businesses, being a mum AND working full time (it's wild!) - and how she fit doing The Co+Creation Club into all this too.Keen to do what Amy did in your own brand?Join me for the sell-out intimate 10 week LIVE group coaching experience crafted to catapult your business to the next level in professionalism, authenticity and growth through supported self design.Find out more about The Club: https://bit.ly/clubamyABOUT AMY:AMY LAURENS is an Australian author of fantasy fiction for all ages. Her story Bones Of The Sea, about creepy carnivorous mist and bone curses, won the 2021 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella. Amy has also written the award-winning portal-fantasy Sanctuary series about Edge, a 13-year-old girl forced to move to a small country town because of witness protection, the humorous fantasy Kaditeos series, following newly graduated Evil Overlord Mercury as she attempts to acquire a castle, the young adult series Storm Foxes, about love and magic and family in small town Australia, and a whole host of non-fiction, both for writers AND for people who don't live with constant voices in their heads.Amy lives with her husband and two kids in suburban Canberra. She used to be a high-school English teacher, and she was once chewed on by a lion. (The two are unrelated. It was her right thumb.) Amy loves chocolate but her body despises it; she has a vegetable garden that mostly thrives on neglect; and owns enough books to be considered a library. Of course. Oh, and she also makes rather fancy cakes in her spare time. She's on all the usual social media channels as @ByAmyLaurens, but you've got the best chance of actually getting a response on Instagram or at www.AmyLaurens.com. 

Welcome to our Summer Series! First off we take you back to our very first ever episode in 2018 where we discuss just what The First Time Podcast is all about (or at least what we planned back then!). Then we chat to Claire G Coleman. Claire G Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family belong to the south coast of Western Australia. She writes fiction, essays, poetry and art criticism while either living in Naarm (Melbourne) or on the road. Born in Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar (Perth), away from her ancestral country she has lived most of her life in Victoria and most of that in and around Naarm (Melbourne). During an extended circuit of the continent she wrote a novel, influenced by certain experiences gained on the road. She has won a Black&Write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship for that novel, Terra Nullius. Terra Nullius was published in Australia by Hachette Australia and in North America by Small Beer Press. And was shortlisted for numerous awards including The Stella Prize 2018, ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writers 2018, the Aurealis Award for a Science Fiction Novel 2017 and was Highly Commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017 Since we first spoke to Claire, she has been incredibly busy. Her second novel, The Old Lie, was written in response to what she learned when traveling and was published in 2019 by Hachette Australia. Lies, Damned Lies, Claire's first non-fiction book, unpacking the effects of the history of Australia's colonisation, was released on the 1st of September 2021. In 2022, Claire's third novel Enclave was published by Hachette. Check out this episode on our website www.thefirsttimepodcast.com or get in touch via Twitter (@thefirsttimepod) or Instagram (@thefirsttimepod). Don't forget you can support us and the making of Season Six via our Patreon page. Thanks for joining us and we look forward to bringing you brand new episodes from March 2023!

The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Angela Meyer is an author, book industry professional and teacher of writing and publishing. Her debut novel A Superior Specter was met with critical acclaim garnering a slew of prize shortlists including the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.  Her new novel is Moon Sugar Mila was mourning the life she thought she'd have; house, family, the whole suburban dream, when Josh arrived to shake up her world. Josh has this way of transfixing everyone he meets. Good look and with an easy manner that invites you to open up. Mila meets Josh through SugarMeetMe and though their relationship begins in a financial transaction it opens up into something so much more. Together they explore art and music and take part in a clandestine study to make some extra money. Kyle is Josh's best friend and he understands how special that makes him. Sure he often feels like a sidekick but because of Josh he's growing, getting ready to explore the world. When Josh goes missing in Europe Mila follows him to try and uncover what has happened and what she has lost. There she meets Kyle, and together the two follow in Josh's footsteps and try to make sense of his final days…  Join me as we discover Angela Meyer's Moon Sugar... Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser. Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you're reading! Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/ 

Angela Meyer is an author, book industry professional and teacher of writing and publishing. Her debut novel A Superior Specter was met with critical acclaim garnering a slew of prize shortlists including the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.  Now if you haven't discovered Angela's writing yet, let me tell you she has an incredible power to write incredibly human stories that explore the fantastic within our world and challenge what it means to live  …and let's face it, the world these days feel like we live on constantly shifting sands, so feeling connected through stories is a powerful thing   ------ In Moon Sugar… Mila was mourning the life she thought she'd have; house, family, the whole suburban dream, when Josh arrived to shake up her world. Josh has this way of transfixing everyone he meets. Good look and with an easy manner that invites you to open up. Mila meets Josh through SugarMeetMe and though their relationship begins in a financial transaction it opens up into something so much more. Together they explore art and music and take part in a clandestine study to make some extra money. Kyle is Josh's best friend and he understands how special that makes him. Sure he often feels like a sidekick but because of Josh he's growing, getting ready to explore the world. When Josh goes missing in Europe Mila follows him to try and uncover what has happened and what she has lost. There she meets Kyle, and together the two follow in Josh's footsteps and try to make sense of his final days…  -------- Moon Sugar takes an exploded view of our world and seeks to understand the ways we are all connected.  In the central relationship between Mila and Josh we are shown a seemingly incongruous relationship of love and respect. Mila seeks out a companion after the breakdown of a relationship. She has come to realize how much she had given over to her partner and what that has meant for her understanding of herself and what she finds pleasurable. Josh is an escort and a sex worker who seeks to honour the people who seek out his companionship. As Mila and Josh come together they explore what it means to be damaged by our experiences but also how we can heal. We see that people can open themselves up and provide space for others. You'll see descriptors like genre defying or genre bending associated with Angela Meyer's work and I have to acknowledge that there is a hole in my description of Moon Sugar. Meyer explores human connectedness through the triangle of Mila, Josh and Kyle but she accelerates this, taking it to new levels and understandings. I don't want to give away spoilers here but just imagine if our digital world could truly live up to its promise of world wide connectivity. If instead of just viewing a glimpse of all those lives we could come to understand each other a little better. Of course that sort of power of connection would not go unnoticed. Powerful forces would seek to control it, and there's still the central tension of Josh's disappearance to unravel. Moon Sugar is a beautiful expansive novel of love, both for others and ourselves, that melds the corporeal with the fantastic in a way we should all hope to discover.

Today's guest is a recipient of the Davitt Award and the Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction. Since her breakout novel, Feeling sorry for Celia, she's been a professional writer for over 20 years. She's here today to share her journey with us of positive role models, self doubt, being original in your writing, and to talk about her new book from the super successful Kingdoms and Empires Series, it's the wonderful and amazing, Jaclyn Moriarty.

Just A Spoonful's 2021 season continues with best-selling author, Aurealis Award winner, journalist, screenwriter and assistant film curator at the ACMI museum of screen culture: Maria Lewis! Maria is a stroke survivor (this year is actually her 10 year 'stroke-iversary') who thought they only happened to older people until she found herself in Emergency in her early 20s. We talk about the lifelong after-effects of stroke and how it changed the way her brain works, something she still navigates in her career. We also talk about Mariah Carey fandom and how it feels for Maria (no H) to see her own fans tattoo her own creations onto their bodies. Maria Lewis's seventh novel in the Supernatural Sisters series - The Rose Daughter - came out five months after we recorded this conversation so we talk about her writing that, her previous novels, and why she feels fortunate to be able to wrap up the series on her own terms. Also how good is THERAPY. SBS The Feed's short documentary on young stroke survivors: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/young-stroke-survivors-in-australia-the-face-you-wouldn-t-expect Find Maria Lewis here: http://marialewis.com.au https://twitter.com/moviemazz https://instagram.com/maria___lewis Thank you to my Patreon supporters who make my work and rent payments possible! You can subscribe to find bonus content here https://www.patreon.com/BlytheByName Podcast artwork by Melbourne-based artist Erin Michelle Just A Spoonful's theme music is 'Sleepless' by Anna O This podcast is created on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri People and I extend my respect to elders past and present.

On this week's episode I'm joined by lawyer, jiu jitsu instructor, amateur anatomy expert and winner of the Ditmar Award, Aurealis Award, and Norma K Hemming Award, author Sam Hawke, to talk about her incredible book City of Lies (Poison War, #1). We also discuss her friends reluctance to ever touch any food or drink she prepares anymore, her masterful forgery of her highschool book journal, the worst injury she ever had, General Pompey getting high on mad honey, her former boss' terrible idea to express ideas in pictures, how difficult a Tim-Tam eating contest is, and finding true love by continuously beating a man! Available on Youtube and all podcast platforms!

"I was raised by three sisters, one a witch, one an assassin, and the third just batshit crazy." And so begins THE BRIDGE, from Shirley Jackson Award, Aurealis Award, Shadows Award, and Wonderland Award finalist, J.S. Breukelaar: https://amzn.to/3yhY5ve   "HAUNTHOLOGY is a full-length graphic novel consisting of 24 short, interconnected stories.. These tales range from cosmic, Lovecraftian dread to zombie horror, but all have to do with isolation and loneliness in some form": https://bit.ly/haunthology-ks   Become a member! PATREON: http://bit.ly/ezine-patreon --- Listen to (and watch) patreon-only podcasts, join in private hangouts with the panelists, get free books, and more!   Subscribe to the Lovecraft eZine Youtube channel: https://bit.ly/ezine-video   Twitter: https://twitter.com/misanthropemike   ALL LOVECRAFT EZINE LINKS: https://linktr.ee/misanthropemike  

This month I spent a delightful hour chatting with Australian novelist Jaclyn Moriarty about her book for adults Gravity Is The Thing.We talked about her inspiration for the novel, the unusual structure including what she calls fragmented storytelling, and the idea of the reader trusting you to deliver on the promise of the novel. Jaclyn also talked about some of the techniques she uses to fire her creativity, the unique partnership she embarked on with her editor and backstory.Gravity is the Thing is the story of Abigail Sorensen. She lives in Sydney, is a former lawyer, now owner of the Happiness Cafe and single mother to four year old Oscar. When she was 16, Abi's brother, who she was extremely close to, went missing and his disappearance has never been solved. On the same day her brother went missing, she began receiving random chapters from a self-help book called The Guidebook in the post.She believes the absurdity of The Guidebook and the mystery of her brother's disappearance must be connected so she agrees to keep receiving these chapter for the next 20 years.Now, at the age of 36, Abi has been invited to an all expenses paid retreat to learn the secret behind The Guidebook. What unfolds is a beautiful, heartwarming exploration of opening yourself up to new people and ideas, the unresolved grief of having a missing family member, single parenthood and friendship. All the characters in this book felt like friends by the end. I just loved it so much and have urged so many friends to read it. Remember there can be spoilers in this podcast, although we don't reveal the big resolution to the main mystery of the novel, but as always if you hate knowing anything about a book before you've read it, you can buy a copy of Gravity is the Thing in all the usual places.ABOUT JACLYN MORIARTYShe grew up and still lives in Sydney. She studied Law and English at Sydney University in Australia, Yale in the US and Cambridge in England. She was working as a media and entertainment lawyer when she published her first novel Feeling Sorry for Celia. She now writes full time and is the author of 13 books for children, young adults and grown ups. She has been the recipient of the NSW Premier's Literary Award, the Queensland Literary Award, and the Aurealis Award for Fantasy.JACLYN'S WEBSITE - https://jaclynmoriarty.com/FOLLOW JACLYN ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & TWITTERShownotes are available at https://www.writersbookclubpodcast.com

Have you ever felt conflicted because a family member's old school way of thinking doesn't align with what you value? Or felt a pull between being Asian and being Australian? Growing up Asian in the west comes with many beautiful things but it can also harbour feelings of confusion and disconnect as we explore our cultural identity. From gendered stereotypes to challenging patriarchal ways of thinking in Asian households, we chat to the incredibly intelligent author, illustrator, editor and lawyer, Rebecca Lim. Rebecca is the author of over 20 books, including Tiger Daughter, The Astrologer's Daughter (a Kirkus Best Book of 2015 and CBCA Notable Book for Older Readers), Afterlight and the bestselling Mercy. Her work has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, Aurealis Award, INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award and Davitt Award, and has also been longlisted for the Gold Inky Award and the David Gemmell Legend Award. We are so lucky to have her join us on the poddy today as she brings her brilliant insights, witty sense of humour and passion for equality and diversity & inclusion. You can find more Rebecca Lim here and follow her on instagram here. E P I S O D E O U T L I N E ------------------------------------------ •Growing up as an Asian Australian in rural Queensland •Casual racism •Cultural and societal pressures of being an Asian female •Gendered stereotypes •Value differences between generations •The migration experience •Challenging old school waves of thinking •The 'invisible leash' •Patriarchy in Asian countries •Western vs. Asian contexts of feminism and equality •Having arguments with parents because of cultural values and differences •Linking silence with respect and obedience •Why change is can be so difficult •Seeing the other side of the spectrum •Background of Rebecca Lim's novel, Tiger Daughter •Importance of Asian representation and migrant stories in books T I M E S T A M P S -------------------------------- 01:52 Rebecca Lim's background 03:00 Discussion begins If you'd like to continue the conversation, please message us. We'd love to hear from you, feel free to slide into our dms on instagram: @unapologeticallyazn or send us an email: unapologeticallyasianpodcast@gmail.com We also have a website BABY!!!! Check us out at www.unapologeticallyasian.com.au ✨ Be sure to check out the amazing Asian Australian Mental Health Initiative at https://www.justshapesandsounds.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/justshapesandsounds/. Join the 3 month trial of the Shapes & Sounds Club from the end of April to July and get the first month FREE!!! We'll see you on there! ✨

Show Notes:Welcome back to All Things Bookish - we are so excited to be here with Kathryn Barker, author of the recently released, Waking Romeo, which is a retelling and literary mashup of Romeo & Juliet and Wuthering Weights! Kathryn’s first novel In the Skin of a Monster won the Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel. You can buy Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker here. 

Tonight we’re chatting with Ellen Datlow and Kaaron Warren, authors of Tool Tales: Microfiction Inspired By Antique Tools. Multi-award winning creators Ellen Datlow and Kaaron Warren teamed up on Facebook a few years ago when Ellen posted photos of antique tools and Kaaron wrote microfiction pieces to accompany them, without either of them knowing what the tools were for.The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures. About the authors:Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She was recently given the Peter McNamara Lifetime Achievement Award and was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy 2018, Stokercon 2019 and Geysercon 2019. Kaaron was a Fellow at the Museum for Australian Democracy, where she researched prime ministers, artists and serial killers. She’s judged the World Fantasy Awards and the Shirley Jackson Awards.She has published five multi-award winning novels (Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone) and seven short story collections, including the multi-award winning Through Splintered Walls. She has won the ACT Writers and Publishers Award four times and twice been awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her most recent novella, Into Bones Like Oil (Meerkat Press), was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award, winning the Aurealis Award.Ellen Datlow has been editing sf/f/h short fiction for four decades. She was fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and SCIFICTION and currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com and Nightfire. She has edited many anthologies for adults, young adults, and children, including The Best Horror of the Year series and Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles, and the reprint anthologies Edited By and Body Shocks. She’s won multiple Locus, Hugo, Stoker, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, and World Fantasy Awards plus the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for “outstanding contribution to the genre” and was honored with the Life Achievement Award given by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.She runs the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series in the east village, NYC, with Matthew Kressel.

Tonight we’re chatting with Ellen Datlow and Kaaron Warren, authors of Tool Tales: Microfiction Inspired By Antique Tools. Multi-award winning creators Ellen Datlow and Kaaron Warren teamed up on Facebook a few years ago when Ellen posted photos of antique tools and Kaaron wrote microfiction pieces to accompany them, without either of them knowing what the tools were for.The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures. About the authors:Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She was recently given the Peter McNamara Lifetime Achievement Award and was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy 2018, Stokercon 2019 and Geysercon 2019. Kaaron was a Fellow at the Museum for Australian Democracy, where she researched prime ministers, artists and serial killers. She’s judged the World Fantasy Awards and the Shirley Jackson Awards.She has published five multi-award winning novels (Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone) and seven short story collections, including the multi-award winning Through Splintered Walls. She has won the ACT Writers and Publishers Award four times and twice been awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her most recent novella, Into Bones Like Oil (Meerkat Press), was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award, winning the Aurealis Award.Ellen Datlow has been editing sf/f/h short fiction for four decades. She was fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and SCIFICTION and currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com and Nightfire. She has edited many anthologies for adults, young adults, and children, including The Best Horror of the Year series and Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles, and the reprint anthologies Edited By and Body Shocks. She’s won multiple Locus, Hugo, Stoker, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, and World Fantasy Awards plus the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for “outstanding contribution to the genre” and was honored with the Life Achievement Award given by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.She runs the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series in the east village, NYC, with Matthew Kressel.

Welcome to another Anatomy of a Novel episode. We’ve covered a range of different genres in this series including Crime with Candice Fox, Historical fiction with Kate Forsyth, women’s fiction with Monica McInerney and quite a few more. But we hadn’t covered a Fantasy novel so when the opportunity arose to chat to Australian Fantasy Author Sam Hawke author of The City of Lies and the second book in the Poison Wars duology, the recently released The Hollow Empire we jumped at the chance. Sam is a winner of Australia's premier genre prize the Aurealis Award, plus two Ditmar Awards and joint-winner of the Norma K. Hemming Award for excellence in exploring issues of gender, race, disability and class in SFF. Her work features the best ingredients for a superb fantasy series: war, mystery, betrayal, and magic. She has taken the US by storm with her debut, and her explosive sequel hit bookstore shelves in December 2020 City of Lies was described in a Guardian review as. a compelling fantasy whodunnit - imagine Agatha Christie channelled through Robin Hobb - and a page-turning coming-of-age tale.’ GUARDIAN  For this particular Anatomy of a Novel episode kel and I decided to call in someone who understands and writes the genre. Jo Riccioni is a Sydney based author who was awarded a Varuna residency and a Bundanon Fellowship to work on her first novel The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store, published in 2015 and which won the fiction category of the International Rubery Award for 2015 in the UK. Jo is an accomplished short story writer and has now turned her hand to writing a new genre. With a love-triangle worthy of The Hunger Games, The Branded Season is Year of Wonders, The Last Hours and The Handmaid’s Tale brought to the fantasy realm and served up with all the romance, conflict and quick-fire narrative pace expected by readers of the genre. So with those credentials Jo was the perfect choice to interview Sam. There’s so much gold in here for writers of all genres, not just fantasy, so grab a pen and paper, sit back and listen to Jo Riccioni and Sam Hawke giving us tips on how to write a fantasy novel.         SHOW NOTES:   Writes4Women www.writes4women.com Facebook @writes4women Twitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast   W4W Patreon https://www.writes4women.com/support-us-on-patreon   Sam Hawke Website : click here Facebook: click here Twitter: click here Instagram: click here   Jo Riccioni Website: click here Facebook: click here Instagram: click here   Pamela Cook www.pamelacook.com.au Facebook: click here Twitter: click here  Instagram: click here   Listen Up Podcasting (Kel Butler) www.listenuppodcasting.com.au Facebook @kelbutler / @listenuppodcasting Twitter @KelB See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight we’re chatting with Kaaron Warren, author of the book Slights, which is a re-release from IFWG coming out now.The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures. When Stevie Searle almost dies in the accident that kills her mother, she doesn’t see a shining path or a golden light.Instead, she sees everyone she’s ever slighted, waiting to take a piece of her in a cold, dark room. The person whose place she took in the queue, the schoolmate she cheated off, the bus driver she didn’t pay? All waiting. All wanting to take their revenge when she finally crosses over.Stevie is fascinated by the dark room so she sends herself there again.And again.And Again.About Kaaron Warren Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She was recently given the Peter McNamara Lifetime Achievement Award and was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy 2018, Stokercon 2019 and Geysercon 2019. Kaaron was a Fellow at the Museum for Australian Democracy, where she researched prime ministers, artists and serial killers. She’s judged the World Fantasy Awards and the Shirley Jackson Awards.She has published five multi-award winning novels (Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone) and seven short story collections, including the multi-award winning Through Splintered Walls. She has won the ACT Writers and Publishers Award four times and twice been awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her most recent novella, Into Bones Like Oil (Meerkat Press), was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award, winning the Aurealis Award.

Tonight we’re chatting with Kaaron Warren, author of the book Slights, which is a re-release from IFWG coming out now.The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures. When Stevie Searle almost dies in the accident that kills her mother, she doesn’t see a shining path or a golden light.Instead, she sees everyone she’s ever slighted, waiting to take a piece of her in a cold, dark room. The person whose place she took in the queue, the schoolmate she cheated off, the bus driver she didn’t pay? All waiting. All wanting to take their revenge when she finally crosses over.Stevie is fascinated by the dark room so she sends herself there again.And again.And Again.About Kaaron Warren Shirley Jackson award-winner Kaaron Warren published her first short story in 1993 and has had fiction in print every year since. She was recently given the Peter McNamara Lifetime Achievement Award and was Guest of Honour at World Fantasy 2018, Stokercon 2019 and Geysercon 2019. Kaaron was a Fellow at the Museum for Australian Democracy, where she researched prime ministers, artists and serial killers. She’s judged the World Fantasy Awards and the Shirley Jackson Awards.She has published five multi-award winning novels (Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone) and seven short story collections, including the multi-award winning Through Splintered Walls. She has won the ACT Writers and Publishers Award four times and twice been awarded the Canberra Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Her most recent novella, Into Bones Like Oil (Meerkat Press), was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award and the Bram Stoker Award, winning the Aurealis Award.

Creative duo NIKE SULWAY and SHAUNA O'MEARA are the Convo Couch with Kel today chatting about their recent book "WINTER'S TALE" which won the 2020 Norma K Hemming Award for Short Fiction. This award honours excellence in the exploration of gender, sexuality, class or disability in speculative fiction work. Which Winter’s Tale does in the most beautiful and interesting way. Nike Sulway is a multi award winning Australian writer, poet and scholar, who writes everything from speculative to literary fiction. She specifically likes to play with the realms of fantasy and fairytale using them to explore sexuality, gender and the relationships of women in interesting ways.  Shauna O’Meara is a Ditmar and Aurealis Award nominated Australian artist, writer and a vet with a passion for all things science fiction. The list of nominations for her many varied works is seemingly endless. Her work has appeared in publications and anthologies such as Cosmos Magazine, Writers of the Future, Andromeda Spaceways, Winds of Change and The Never Never Land. Shauna is currently in the process of creating her first graphic novel and writing a television series. Together they are a mighty powerhouse of talent and through Winter’s Tale they are speaking to a growing section of youth who are searching for a sense of belonging and a new type of identity. One with less rules and restrictions. One that stems from just who we are not where we sit on the gender spectrum. One that is about people not sex.  SHOW NOTES: Writes4Women www.writes4women.com Facebook @writes4women Twitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast W4W Patreon https://www.writes4women.com/support-us-on-patreon Nike Sulway Twelfth Planet Press 'WINTER'S TALE" http://www.twelfthplanetpress.com/products/merchandise/winters-tale Facebook @nike.sulway Shauna O'Meara Web - https://theshaunacorner.wordpress.com Facebook @shauna.omeara.501 Twitter @OMearaShauna Pamela Cook www.pamelacook.com.au Facebook @pamelacookauthor Twitter @PamelaCookAU Instagram @pamelacookwrites Listen Up Podcasting (Kel Butler) www.listenuppodcasting.com.au Facebook @kelbutler / @listenuppodcasting Twitter @KelB     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alice Robinson is a highly awarded writer of literary fiction, and The Glad Shout can only be described as great literature. In this interview, Alice reflects on the impetus to write The Glad Shout, how she's approaching her writing craft in 2020 and what great literature she thinks will come out of this time. Alice's debut novel, Anchor Point, was longlisted for The Stella Prize and the Indie Book Awards. The Glad Shout was shortlisted for an Aurealis Award and The Colin Roderick Literary Award and won the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Alice's stories, essays and reviews have been published widely in literary journals, including in Meanjin, Overland, The Lifted Brow, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue Fiction Edition, Fireflies, Arena, The Australian Humanities Review and Australian Book Review.  About The Garret Read the transcript of this interview at thegarretpodcast.com. The interview was recorded by Zoom, and we can't wait to start recording in person again soon. You can also follow The Garret on Twitter and Facebook, or follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jessica Townsend is the mind behind the record-breaking middle grade fantasy series The Chronicles of Morrigan Crow. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow kicked off the series, followed by Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow and Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow. This is projected to be a nine-book series, and honestly, this is a magical series of inclusivity, adventure and excellent reader pay offs. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow was the biggest-selling Australian children's debut since records began. It received the 2018 ABIA for Book of the Year, Book of the Year for Younger Readers and Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year; the 2018 Indie Book Awards Book of the Year and Children's Category; the 2017 Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction and the 2018 Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Younger Fiction. Jessica has previously appeared on The Garret, and you can listen to her previous interview here. About The Garret Read the transcript of this interview at thegarretpodcast.com. The interview was recorded by Zoom, and we can't wait to start recording in person again soon. You can also follow The Garret on Twitter and Facebook, or follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, this is Hayley Camille, the writer of the Avon Calling Radio Show. This podcast is based on a series of crime novels that I began writing in 2013. The first episode, which you'll hear in this podcast, was nominated at that time for an Aurealis Award, which is a speculative fiction award in Australia, after it was first published. Since then, Avon Calling has grown to become a 20-book series, that spans two seasons so far. The audience response to the whole series has been amazing, so we wanted to bring an audio production to you as a whole new way to experience the story. With our production team, along with an incredibly talented cast of voice actors, The Avon Calling Radio Show is bringing this fictional world to life. Let me tell you a little bit about the show. Picture this... 1943, at the height of WW2. A lone vigilante is on a revenge mission to take down the New York City mob. I'm talking blood, guts, bullets and gritty crime. Dark alleys and heroin addicts, extortion and murder. Prostitutes. Violence. Gangsters. Nasty stuff. But this podcast isn't all just Harlem sunsets, flinging shivs and round-house kicks to the head, although, there is a lot of that. Avon Calling will take you on a journey of lost love and ultimate redemption. It's a complicated love triangle wrapped in dark comedy with knives on the side. Our vigilante has a very personal vendetta against the bad guys. A secret identity. Killer moves. But here's the twist... our anti-hero is everything you don't expect. She's a doting mother. She's the perfect wife. She's an immaculately groomed, social butterfly with a heart of gold. She runs charity fundraisers. She bakes cookies. And the kicker... she's the best neighborhood Avon Lady you've ever met. Occasionally though, when she knocks on a door, she's not there to make someone look pretty. She's there for revenge. The scene you are about to hear, is found midway through our first episode. In this scene, our vigilante Avon Lady decides to make a house call to some unsuspecting gangsters. They really shouldn't answer the door. I hope you enjoy our showcase, thank you so much for listening! Transcript can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KFyH4foeM_qCXQUs48swKaJUPDBS6xXy/view?usp=sharing https://www.hayleycamille.com/podcast/ Twitter: @Hayley__Camille

Jessica Townsend lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Her book Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, was the biggest-selling Australian children's debut since records began. It has won the 2018 ABIA for Book of the Year, Book of the Year for Younger Readers and Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year; the 2018 Indie Book Awards Book of the Year and Children's Category; the 2017 Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction; the 2018 Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Younger Fiction and was named a CBCA notable book. She followed it up with her second book Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, in 2018. Ahead of the release of the third book in the series, Hollowpox, Sarah and Shanu sat down with Jessica to discuss the book, challenging expectations, art imitating life, the need to balance details, and more. WARNING: Spoilers ahead. Books mentioned in this podcast: 'Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow' by Jessica Townsend: https://bit.ly/3k6nIbh Host: Sarah McDuling & Shanu Prasad Guest: Jessica Townsend Producer: Nick Wasiliev

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan is joined by Aurealis Award-winning writer Jane Routley and they chat about how Jane's coping with the Melbourne shutdown and with being an essential worker, enjoying and participating in the New Zealand Worldcon, reading the Hugo nominees, watching The Umbrella Academy, American Gods, Tales from the Loop, and lots more. Books mentioned include: Shadow in the Empire of Light by Jane Routley The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and others Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge Fly Trap by Frances Hardinge A Memory of Empire by Arkady Martine Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan  

This episode I am joined by award-winning Australian author and environmentalist Jane Rawson. Formerly editor of the environment and energy section of The Conversation, she now works for the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, writing about nature conservation, and is also the co-founder of Read Tasmania. She likes cats, quiet, minimal capitalisation, and finding out that everything is going to be OK … don't we all! Jane is the author of two novels, a novella and co-authored a nonfiction guide to surviving climate change. Her stories and essays have been published in the Guardian, Lithub, Meanjin, Overland, Review of Australian Fiction, Kill Your Darlings and Australian Book Review and in 2017 she won the Aurealis Award for best science fiction for her novel From The Wreck. The pairings: A Treacherous Country by K.M. Kruimink Winner of the 2020 The Australian/Vogels Literary Award There is a woman, somewhere, here, in Van Diemen's Land, unless she had died or otherwise departed, called Maryanne Maginn. Gabriel Fox, the young son of an old English house, arrives in a land both ancient and new. Drawn by the promise of his heart's desire, and compelled to distance himself from pain at home, Gabriel begins his quest into Van Diemen's Land. His guide, a cannibal who is not all he seems, leads him north where Gabriel might free himself of his distracting burden and seek the woman he must find. As Gabriel traverses this wild country, he uncovers new truths buried within his own memory. For this Tasmanian setting written by a Tasmanian author, Jane suggested a Tasmanian wallaby stew, made with a Tassie Pinot of course, and whilst waiting for it to cook - ever so slowly - a Poltergeist unfilterd gin and tonic. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead. For this wildly dark space trip Jane suggests a Kaiju ‘Cthulhu on the Moon' Black IPA with a shot of Tasmanian moonshine for that extra strength hit. Everywhere I look by Helen Garner Spanning fifteen years of work, Everywhere I Look is a book full of unexpected moments, sudden shafts of light, piercing intuition, flashes of anger and incidental humour. It takes us from backstage at the ballet to the trial of a woman for the murder of her newborn baby. It moves effortlessly from the significance of moving house to the pleasure of re-reading Pride and Prejudice. This book is just filled with gorgeous little nuggets of observation and is so beautifully written. It doesn't need to be read as a whole but is easy to dip in and out of. I would pair it with a crisp, dry riesling and some perfectly fresh and crunchy salted or pickled cucumber sandwiches.

We're back with another received fan wisdom hindsight check. Join Deb, Erika, and Tansy as we talk about "The Caves of Androzani" and whether it really belongs at the top of all those fan polls. Is it the greatest Doctor Who story of all time? Or is is "a lot of men being unpleasant in the dark"? Have you watched this story recently? If so, what did you think, and how did that compare with how you felt about it in the first place? Do you agree with its placement in fan polls? Let us know in the comments! ^E Happy things: Erika is delighted that a man from Brooks, Alberta built a life-sized TARDIS in his yard! Tansy won an Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story for "Dragon by Subscription"! looks forward to an online CoNZealand! Deb is delighted by Andrew Smith's tweet of a pic from 40 years ago on the set of "Full Circle"! Support Verity! on Patreon

This week we're probing (with consent) Sean's sometime-collaborator Garth Nix. A man who has penned many bestsellers, Garth gives us the lowdown on writing: where he does it (The beach! Alex is astounded. How does he keep the seagulls at bay?), how he does it (By hand! Alex is further astounded. How does he keep his hand from cramping?), and why writing full time was a trap. We get the dish on what it's like drinking in LA with Sean (there's imaginary nudity involved), on how to collaborate (Amy's taking notes and trying not to get hand-cramp), on moonlighting as a publisher and as an agent (clever), and (most importantly) on how to not to get cross.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we're probing (with consent) Sean's sometime-collaborator Garth Nix. A man who has penned many bestsellers, Garth gives us the lowdown on writing: where he does it (The beach! Alex is astounded. How does he keep the seagulls at bay?), how he does it (By hand! Alex is further astounded. How does he keep his hand from cramping?), and why writing full time was a trap. We get the dish on what it's like drinking in LA with Sean (there's imaginary nudity involved), on how to collaborate (Amy's taking notes and trying not to get hand-cramp), on moonlighting as a publisher and as an agent (clever), and (most importantly) on how to not to get cross.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode I am joined by award-winning horror writer Kaaron Warren. Kaaron is a Shirley Jackson award-winning Australian author who published her first short story in 1993. Her short stories and novels have won Australian Shadows Awards, Ditmar Awards and Aurealis Awards. She has published 5 multi-award winning novels, her debut Slights, Walking the Tree, Mistification, The Grief Hole and Tide of Stone. Her most recent novella is a gothic-styled ghost story, Into Bones Like Oil, which has been shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award, the Bram Stoker Award and the Aurealis Award. Kaaron chatted with me about writing across genres, finding the humour in horror, embodying characters and being inspired by the stories behind an object. And she recommended some pretty awesome books too! The pairings: Mapp and Lucia by E. F. Benson A series of novels about Emmeline "Lucia" Lucas and Elizabeth Mapp, the stories are a subtly brilliant comedy of social rivalry between the wars, featuring humorous incidents in the lives of (mainly) upper-middle-class British people in the 1920s and 1930s, vying for social prestige and one-upmanship in an atmosphere of extreme cultural snobbery. Emmeline Lucas (known universally to her friends as Lucia) is an arch-snob of the highest order. In Miss Elizabeth Mapp of Mallards Lucia meets her match. Ostensibly the most civil and genteel of society ladies, there is no plan too devious, no plot too cunning, no depths to which they would not sink, in order to win the battle for social supremacy. Using as their deadly weapons garden parties, bridge evenings and charming teas, the two combatants strive to outcharm each other - and the whole of Tilling society - as they vie for the position of doyenne of the town. Kaaron loves this series but particularly this story (#4) as it is full of funny, beautiful and yet somewhat nasty characters! She would pair it with Lobster a la Riseholme - a secret recipe known only to the character Lucia - and a nice glass of sherry :) The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley Set in a bleak strip of coastline in the north west of England in the 1970s, it's the story of two brothers who accompany their parents and members of their parish on a pilgrimage one Easter. The novel is narrated by one of the brothers from a point in the far future. He recalls the pilgrimage of that Easter in the 1970s and wants to record what happened because a body has recently been found in the area that they visited. He feels a fierce sense of protection over his brother who he nicknames Hanny. As boys they were incredibly close because Hanny was mute up until that Easter and they shared a special communication. However, the boys' mother Esther (who the narrator refers to as Mummer) is determined to cure Hanny's muteness by appealing to God and puts him through a series of ardent prayers and rituals to cure him. Kaaron couldn't recommend this tense, gloomy yet, according to her, hilarious, novel and the compelling questions it raises about faith, life's meaning and family. She suggests pairing it with a slow-cooked stew and buckets of tea. When questioned she confirmed no human bits are to be used in the stew!

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Today Jonathan spends ten minutes with Aurealis Award-nominated debut novelist Corey J. White to discuss moving to Melbourne, reading Ralph Ellison, the Voidwitch Saga, optimism, cyberpunk and the future, and his recently released debut, Repo Virtual.  Books mentioned include: Repo Virtual by Corey J. White The Voidwitch Saga by Corey J. White Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Humankind: Solidarity with Non-Human People by Timothy Morton The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander      

Today on the Convo Couch Kel chats with acclaimed speculative fiction author Claire G Coleman. Claire describes herself as a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays and poetry while (mostly) traveling around the continent now called Australia in a ragged caravan towed by an ancient troopy"" Claire is the author of and , both speculative fiction novels steeped in devastating personal history. poured out of Claire in 3 months while travelling around Australia, the manuscript won the "Black & Write" fellowship and was nominated for the "Stella Prize" and the "Aurealis Award".Terra NulliusThe Old LieTerra Nullius Today Claire talks about the creative momentum that led to the publication of that first book and writing speculative fiction from a First Nations perspective. SHOW NOTES: Writes4Womenwww.writes4women.comFacebook @writes4womenTwitter / Instagram @w4wpodcast W4W Patreonhttps://www.writes4women.com/support-us-on-patreon Claire. G. Colemanwww.clairegcoleman.comTwitter @clairegcolemanInstagram @clairegcoleman Pamela Cookwww.pamelacook.com.auFacebook @pamelacookauthorTwitter @PamelaCookAU Listen Up Podcasting (Kel Butler)www.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @kelbutler / @listenuppodcastingTwitter @KelB

To celebrate the end of 2019, we've re-released our highest rating fiction interviews of the year: #2 is Claire Coleman, Krissy Kneen, Pitchaya Sudbanthad and Michelle Tanmizi live at Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Speculative fiction has lurked in the shadows of the literary scene for years while realism hogged the limelight. Now, as the natural and political spheres crumble around us, speculative fiction's dystopian worlds don't seem so different from our own. In this timely conversation, our panelists ask whether we're now at the point where all contemporary fiction is in fact speculative fiction. Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose ancestral Country is in South Coast Western Australia. Her novel Terra Nullius won a Black&Write! Fellowship and a Norma K Hemming Award, and has been shortlisted for The Stella Prize and an Aurealis Award. The Old Lie is her second novel. Krissy Kneen is the award-winning author of the memoir Affection and five novels including Stella Prize shortlisted An Uncertain Grace. She is also the author of Thomas Shapcott Award-winning poetry collection Eating My Grandmother. She has written and directed documentaries for Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Special Broadcasting Service television.  Pitchaya Sudbanthad is the author of the novel Bangkok Wakes to Rain, published by Riverhead Books (US) and Sceptre (UK). He has received fellowships in fiction writing from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the MacDowell Colony, and currently splits time between Bangkok, Thailand and Brooklyn, USA.  Michelle Tanmizi is Chinese-Indonesian and international. She is an author, leadership coach and trainer, and a motivational speaker. Michelle's first work was a poetry book, Truth. Late Dawn is her first speculative science fiction novel inspired by the conservation crisis we face today.  About The Garret You can also follow The Garret on Twitter and Facebook, or follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The wait is over! Action Tank Book 2 had arrived! Mike Barry's sequel to the 2017 Aurealis Award nominated graphic novel for kids has just gone live on Kickstarter, and he can't wait for you to read it. As if that wasn't exciting enough, Mike has put together this very special audio treat to make sure you have all the info you need about this sequel-without-equal.

This episode was recorded live at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival on Friday 25 October 2019. It features Claire G. Coleman, Krissy Kneen, Pitchaya Sudbanthad and Michelle Tanmizi. Speculative fiction has lurked in the shadows of the literary scene for years while realism hogged the limelight. Now, as the natural and political spheres crumble around us, speculative fiction's dystopian worlds don't seem so different from our own. In this timely conversation, our panelists ask whether we're now at the point where all contemporary fiction is in fact speculative fiction. Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose ancestral Country is in South Coast Western Australia. Her novel Terra Nullius won a Black&Write! Fellowship and a Norma K Hemming Award, and has been shortlisted for The Stella Prize and an Aurealis Award. The Old Lie is her second novel. Krissy Kneen is the award-winning author of the memoir Affection and five novels including Stella Prize shortlisted An Uncertain Grace. She is also the author of Thomas Shapcott Award-winning poetry collection Eating My Grandmother. She has written and directed documentaries for Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Special Broadcasting Service television.  Pitchaya Sudbanthad is the author of the novel Bangkok Wakes to Rain, published by Riverhead Books (US) and Sceptre (UK). He has received fellowships in fiction writing from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the MacDowell Colony, and currently splits time between Bangkok, Thailand and Brooklyn, USA.  Michelle Tanmizi is Chinese-Indonesian and international. She is an author, leadership coach and trainer, and a motivational speaker. Michelle's first work was a poetry book, Truth. Late Dawn is her first speculative science fiction novel inspired by the conservation crisis we face today.  About The Garret You can also follow The Garret on Twitter and Facebook, or follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author : Angela Slatter Narrator : Robin McLeavy Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Chelsea Davis Discuss on Forums “Home and Hearth” was originally published in the Spectral Press Chapbook Series, March 2014 and the story won the Aurealis Award for Best Short Horror Story 2014. Content Warning: Spoiler Violence against children, race-based violence, […]

Catherine is here today with Kate Forsyth. Kate Forsyth wrote her first novel at the age of seven, and is now the internationally bestselling & award-winning author of almost forty, ranging from picture books to poetry to novels for both adults and children. She was recently voted one of Australia's Favourite 15 Novelists, and has been called 'one of the finest writers of this generation'. She is also an accredited master storyteller with the Australian Guild of Storytellers, and has told stories to both children and adults all over the world. Her most recent book for adults is a historical novel called 'The Beast's Garden' which retells the Grimm brothers' version of 'Beauty & the Beast', set in the German underground resistance to Hitler in World War II. "A wonderful tale of daring and courage, of struggle and survival, of love and loyalty, this is a ‘must read'." Book'd Out 'The Wild Girl' tells the true, untold love story of Wilhelm Grimm and Dortchen Wild, the young woman who told him many of the world's most famous fairy tales. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, 'The Wild Girl' is a story of love, war, heartbreak, and the redemptive power of storytelling, and was named the Most Memorable Love Story of 2013. Kate is probably most famous for 'Bitter Greens', a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale interwoven with the dramatic life story of the woman who told the tale as it is best known, the 17th century French writer, Charlotte-Rose de la Force. 'Bitter Greens' has been called 'the best fairy tale retelling since Angela Carter', and won the American Library Association Award for Best Historical Novel of 2015. It was also nominated for a Norma K. Hemming Award, the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Fiction, and a Ditmar Award. It has sold more than a quarter of a million copies world-wide. Since 'The Witches of Eileanan' was named a Best First Novel of 1998 by Locus Magazine, Kate has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including a CYBIL Award in the US. She's also the only author to win five Aurealis awards in a single year, for her Chain of Charms series – beginning with 'The Gypsy Crown' - which tells of the adventures of two Romany children in the time of the English Civil War. Book 5 of the series, 'The Lightning Bolt', was also a CBCA Notable Book. Kate's books have sold more than a million copies internationally, having been published in 17 countries including the UK, the US, Russia, Germany, France, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. She has a doctorate in fairy tale studies from at the University of Technology, having already completed a BA in Literature and a MA in Creative Writing. Kate is a direct descendant of Charlotte Waring, the author of the first book for children ever published in Australia, 'A Mother's Offering to her Children''. She lives by the sea in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, three children, and many thousands of books. Kate is also a proud ambassador for the two following wonderful initiatives to help disadvantaged children change their worlds through the power of books and reading - Room to Read and The Pyjama Foundation Find Out More About Kate Forsyth Kate Forsyth's Website Follow Kate of Facebook Kate on Twitter @KateForsyth Kate Forsyth on Instagram @kate_forsyth_ Sit back, tune in and enjoy the show! Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | RSS

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin by talking about the recent Aurealis Awards - in particular the categories of Best Horror Novel and Best Fantasy Novel, the winners of which have been chosen for this month's discussion. The full list of Aurealis Award winners can be found on the official website. The novels for this episode are: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (Best Fantasy Novel) [22:00] and The Grief Hole by Kaaron Warren (Best Horror Novel) [57:30]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:33:30 for final remarks. Next month, Ian and Kirstyn are reading short fiction again with an anthology and a collection of interconnected stories: Lauriat: A Filipino-Chinese Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Charles Tan Hurricane Heels by Isabel Yap Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!  

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, are looking at two Australian speculative fiction novels. But first, they would like to congratulate all winners of the Aurealis Awards and also thank people for nominating this podcast for a Ditmar Award. So much bookish love! After a brief discussion of awards -- very brief, they promise! -- they turn to the books at hand: Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dyer [8:10] and The Swan Book by Alexis Wright [53:40].   If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:38:00 for final remarks. Next month, Ian and Kirstyn have chosen two recent Aurealis Award winners to discuss: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (Best Fantasy Novel) The Grief Hole by Kaaron Warren (Best Horror Novel) Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!  

Appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 7 Rjurik Davidson has written short stories, essays, screenplays and reviews. He has been short-listed for the Ditmar Award for Best Short Story three times, the Aurealis Award once and won the Ditmar award…

Appeared in Dreaming Again (HarperVoyager) Kim Westwood first came to prominence when her short story ‘The Oracle’ won a 2002 Aurealis Award. Since then‚ more stories have appeared: in anthologies such as Agog!‚ Eidolon I and Dreaming Again‚ as well…

Appeared in Aurealis 36 (Chimeara Publications) Trent Jamieson – Brisbane SF writer – has sold over sixty short stories and won the 2005 Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story (‘Slow and Ache’), and the 2008 Aurealis Award for…

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, turn their attention to the 2015 Aurealis Awards which were announced in late March 2016. Sadly, there was no shortlist for the Best Horror Novel this year, although the category was won by Trent Jamieson's most excellent Day Boy, a book which was previously discussed on this podcast. There is much lamenting and some gnashing of teeth as Kirstyn and Ian spend a little time talking about Australia horror fiction and the ramifications of juried awards like the Aurealis failing to produce a shortlist. You can read the judges' report for the Best Horror Novel category, along with reports for all the others, in the Aurealis Awards program booklet. The two books up for discussion this month are both Aurealis Award winners: In the Skin of a Monster by Kathryn Barker which won Best Young Adult Novel [24:50] and A Single Stone by Meg McKinlay [56:00] which took home the award for Best Children's Fiction. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:29:20 for final remarks, including information for Patreon supporters about how to nominate and vote for the upcoming Patron's Choice episode. Next month, Kirstyn and Ian will endeavour to fill a couple of large holes in their literary lives by finally getting around to reading novels by two beloved and critically acclaimed authors who have somehow slipped by them. Don't worry, they are currently hanging their heads in shame. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!  

Book 2 of Allison Tait’s The Mapmaker Chronicles is shortlisted for the Aurealis Award, punctuation in famous novels and a poem that shows how tricky English can be. Would you write differently if you were anonymous? Also: what NOT to do when you start a novel, the book “Shady Characters: Ampersands, Interrobangs and other Typographic Curiosities” by Keith Houston and meet thriller author Adrian McKinty. Plus: an interesting storytelling app, and more. Read the show notes.  Connect with Valerie, Allison and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | AllisonTait.com | ValerieKhoo.com

In this issue, Superman tempts children with his hot chocolate, and that’s not the only Sex Criminals on television. ALSO a brand new team-up series for DC, the Aurealis Award nominations and some kind of geek related challenge. THEN It’s The Black Hood, Suiciders, Spider-Gwen, Agent Carter and more in What We’ve Been Reading and Watching. PLUS our Kick-Ass Pick of the Week: SUPERMAN: EARTH … Continue reading

Coming Up…. Main Fiction: “I Love You Like Water” by Angela Slatter 02:00 The desert laps at the edge of the city – what used to be a conurbation is now one city short. The place where two cities met is a sand trap. The inhabitants of the place that got swallowed, the hardy few who stayed, are referred to as “sand crabs”. Specialising in dark fantasy and horror, Angela Slatter is the author of the Aurealis Award-winning The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, the World Fantasy Award finalist Sourdough and Other Stories, Aurealis finalist Midnight and Moonshine (with Lisa L. Hannett), as well as the 2014 releases Black-Winged Angels, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and The Female Factory (again with Lisa L. Hannett). Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy, Nightmare and Lightspeed, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Fearie Tales, A Book of Horrors, and Australian, UK and US Best Of... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jonathan Strahan is one of our favorite editors here at Geekerati Media. He has worked for Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field as an assistant editor, is an eight-time Hugo Award nominee, has won the World Fantasy Award (Special - Professional) in 2010 for his work as an editor, and his anthologies have won the Locus Award for Best Anthology three times (2008, 2010, 2013) and the Aurealis Award four times.Strahan joins us to discuss the current state of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. What's hot, what's not, and what's next? Some fo Strahan's recent publications include:  The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year vol. 8Reach for InfinityDark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery

Jonathan Strahan is one of our favorite editors here at Geekerati Media. He has worked for Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field as an assistant editor, is an eight-time Hugo Award nominee, has won the World Fantasy Award (Special - Professional) in 2010 for his work as an editor, and his anthologies have won the Locus Award for Best Anthology three times (2008, 2010, 2013) and the Aurealis Award four times.Strahan joins us to discuss the current state of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. What's hot, what's not, and what's next? Some fo Strahan's recent publications include:  The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year vol. 8Reach for InfinityDark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery