The 'Nameless' competition is a round-robin story, based on an idea originated by Felicity Dowker. The idea was hijacked by the wonderful Stephen Studach, who rustled-up a very cool posse of writers to each contribute a twist to the story.


Featured writers:

• Felicity Dowker
• Stephen Studach
• Simon Petrie
• Talie Helene
• Marty Young
• Shane Jiraiya Cummings
• Kirstyn McDermott
• Lyn Battersby
• Lee Battersby
• Nathan Burrage
• Jack Dann
• Stephen Dedman
• Will Elliott
• Paul Haines
• Richard Harland
• Robert Hood
• Rick Kennett
• Margo Lanagan
• Rosaleen Love
• Brett McBean
• Cameron Rogers
• Lucy Sussex
• Kaaron Warren
• Kim Wilkins
• Sean Williams

The ending of the story has yet to be finalized - it's a competition which any writer (except those listed above) may enter. It doesn't matter if you're emerging or established, if you usually write in genre, or not. With your entry you'll be supporting Paul Haines in his battle against cancer, and you might even get your name added to the above rather cool list.

To top it all, your entry will be read by legendary horror writer Ramsey Campbell!

Ramsey Campbell to judge the 'Nameless' competition

My talented friend Bob McGlone drew this caricature of me tearing it up on the bass.

Bobby is a fantastic artist, who has done heaps of work for extreme music artists in Australia, espesh the black/warmetal variey, such as Gospel Of The Horns, Ignivomous, Anarazel, Denouncement Pyre and Entasis.

For a taste of Bob's art, check out his Art Folio on the Black Plague Designs MySpace page. To commission work, contact Bob on Facebook.

Thanks for this awesome drawing Bobby -
I love it! 

I'll have to frame a print of this, and hang it in my music room!

It'll inspire me to work on my chops, which I'm looking forward to doing, as I've found a new hybrid (jazz and classical) teacher, who is a pretty impressive and inspiring artist herself.


(More on that later.)

Thanks, Bobby! Wicked art!

ZERO TOLERANCE

ISSUE 031 – SEPT / OCT 2009

 

Marduk’s Morgan Håkansson: “I really don’t care what people think…”

Marduk’s founding guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson recently spoke to Zero Tolerance Magazine about the band’s new album Wormwood and also his hobby of collecting militaria. When asked if he worried that his collection might lead some into making incorrect assumptions about his politics, Håkansson said: “But I really don’t care what people think – I don’t give a flying fuck. I have my interests and I don’t care what other people think about it. That’s their problem.” Of his collection, the guitarist said it comprised “mostly WWII militaria, but I’ve got some older things, as well, more related to Swedish history. I’ve met people over the years who have the strangest things you could ever imagine when it comes to collecting militaria; it’s always fascinating to see what people have in their collection. Mine is quite modest, but I collect things I like – uniforms, medals, daggers, bayonets, things like that.”

Turning his attention to Marduk’s new album Wormwood and his writing partnership with vocalist Mortuus, Håkansson commented, “We share a lot of views and ideas, so we very much throw ideas at each other and work on the songs together. It’s not like one guy writes it all; we share a lot of ideas and we really build it as a band. Also, I don’t know if it’s been my band – I formed the band, but it’s always very much been a group that works together… What I like is that when you get a new member in a band, you want him to participate, to become a part of the unit and work together. That’s why you have a band; otherwise, you would have a solo project. It’s very much a band, even more than ever before, on this album everybody participates – even our new drummer has actually written music for this album. I’d say we’re more of a unit on this album than we’ve ever been before.”

Marduk grace the cover of issue 031 of Zero Tolerance Magazine, which hits the shelves on Friday September 18th. Joining the Swedes are Immortal, gladly proclaiming that all shall fail, Secrets Of The Moon, The Gates Of Slumber, A Storm Of Light, Megadeth, Evile, Horna, Ethnic Acid, HERR and much, much more from across the extreme music underground and beyond. It also marks a milestone in the history of Zero Tolerance Magazine, marking the extreme music publication’s fifth anniversary. Commented Calum Harvie, editor of Zero Tolerance: “It’s hard to believe that five years have passed already! Ever since our first issue, we have uniquely committed to covering extreme music as a whole, reflecting that, as fans, we don’t meekly adhere to the ridiculous notion that musical tastes have to be categorised and thus ghettoised. We absolutely thrive on celebrating the diversity of the extreme music underground, which is why everything from grind, punk, black, death and trad metal through to noise, industrial, power electronics and neofolk find a warm welcome in our pages.”

ZERO TOLERANCE ISSUE 031, SEPT/OCT 2009. ONSALE 18 SEPTEMBER!!!

Available from WHSmith, Borders, HMV, John Menzies, Barnes & Noble (US) and all good independent newsagents. Subscriptions and back issues available from www.ztmag.com.

ZERO TOLERANCE MAGAZINE
REPRESENTING THE SONICALLY UNACCEPTABLE
BUY IT. READ IT. SPREAD DISSENT.
www.ztmag.com

Since its inception in 2004, Zero Tolerance has set the agenda for extreme music, representing the sonically unacceptable without compromise, exposing the darkest, most obscure recesses of the musical imagination and celebrating its diversity. From black, death and folk metal through to industrial, noise, power electronics and neofolk, Zero Tolerance has consistently covered the music that other publications simply don’t even know about – and while they play catch-up, ZT remains several steps ahead.

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [01.09.09-15.09.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Freecon 2009
Guest writers for the Sydney Freecon have been announced! Click through for program details. Sydney Freecon, Nov. 27 to 29, 2009.

Terra Incognita 011
Terra Incognita Speculative Fiction Podcast #011 is now available for your listening pleasure. In this episode Brendan Duffy reads his story Louder Echo, and Keith Stevenson reviews The Dead Path by Stephen M Irwin.

David Conyers Special Guest at GenCon Australia
Australian Horror Writers' Association member David Conyers will be a special guest at this year's GenCon Australia, held at the Brisbane Convention Centre 18-20 September 2009 in Queensland. Click through to view David's itinerary.

Gen Con 2009
Gen Con™ Australia is a consumer games and entertainment convention that showcases games for a broad audience of entertainment seekers. The event will be held 18th to 20th of September 2009 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Gen Con™ hosts the largest number of games tournaments and demonstrations ever seen in Australia.

Midnight Echo print copy pre-orders
The AHWA is now taking pre-orders for the print editions of Midnight Echo, the magazine of the Australian Horror Writers' Association. For Issue #3 onwards, print copies of Midnight Echo will be available directly from the AHWA at a substantially discounted rate to what is currently on offer at Lulu. Click through for more details.

Book trailers from i-Video
Western Australian video production company i-video has launched a new book trailer service for interested authors and publishers. Click through for more information.

Specusphere walks the Dead Path with Stephen M. Irwin
Astrid Cooper of the Australian SF e-zine The Specusphere has conducted an in-depth interview with Stephen M. Irwin about his debut horror novel The Dead Path.

Australian Reader Halloween Special
AustralianReader.com intends to showcase Australian horror this Halloween. The zine's editor Phillip A. Ellis is looking for fiction and poetry up to 5,000 words. Stories must be emailed in the body of an email or as an attachment (no docx) before October 25. All types of horror will be considered. Click through for more information.

2009/2010 AHWA Committee
At the Australian Horror Writers Association AGM on September 9, a new, expanded Management Committee was elected. Click through to view the line-up of fantastic fiends!

Ned Kelly Awards Winners for 2009
The winners of Australia's premier crime writing awards, The Ned Kelly Awards, have been announced! Click through for the winners!

Theatre Of Blood
Theatre of Blood is a late-night horror theatre in the tradition of the Grand Guignol. Each Friday night at 11pm, in the foyer of the Newtown Theatre in Sydney, be thrilled with a one-hour program of three short plays. Every three months, there’s a brand new selection of plays to entertain, titillate and frighten you senseless…

Theatre Of Blood call for original plays
Theatre Of Blood have issued the following call for submissions of original short plays in the Grand Guignol style. Click through for guidelines.

Monsters and Bloodsuckers online content
Monsters and Bloodsuckers, part of the special Jennifer Byrne Presents series, is available for download as a Video Podcast, and a transcript is available online. Guest authors joining Byrn, are noted horror and occult writer Leigh Blackmore, children's book writer Catherine Jinks, novelist Tara Moss, and novelist Will Elliott.

New & Forthcoming Releases from Severed Press
Severed Press, an independent publisher based in Melbourne, have two titles just released - or about to be released! Tim Curran's Resurrection is available for pre-order. Just out from Severed Press - Dead America by Australian author Luke Keioskie.

LegumeMan Books open to submissions
The mysterious Brothers Gunther at Australian independent press LegumeMan Books have flung their doors open to submissions for three months, from now until December 1. Click through for guidelines.

Midnight Echo #4 reading period
Midnight Echo, the magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association, has opened its reading period for Issue #4, which is edited by Australian Shadows Award-winning author Lee Battersby. Click through for more information.

Family Demons Takes Awards At Fright Night
Australian horror film Family Demons, directed by Ursula Dabrowsky, has won awards in the following categories at Fright Night Film Festival 2009. Click through for details.

Eneit Press To Launch Two New Books
Eneit Press would like to invite you to the launch of two new books: Life Through Cellophane by Gillian Polack, and In Bad Dreams Volume 2 edited by Sharyn Lilley. 4th October, at Conflux. Click through for RSVP details.

Eye Of Fire Issue #1
Brimstone Press has launched a new, free e-zine entitled Eye Of Fire. Issue #1 can be downloaded here. Subscribe to Eye Of Fire as a show of support while Black Magazine is being restructured. Angela Challis, Brimstone Press and Black Magazine Editor-in-Chief comments: "...With enough interest shown through free subscription to this e-zine ... Black (magazine) will be back!" Click through to subscribe.

Paul Haines' Slice Of Life
A man. A liver. A mind? Meet the mind of Paul Haines. Slice of Life contains seventeen glittering stories, dripping with twenty first century paranoia and anxiety - to be launched at Conflux 09, 29 August. Slice of Life is a fund-raising venture for the Paul Haines cancer fund. 100% of the cover price will help Paul Haines fight his cancer. Help give Paul Haines a slice of life. Click through to order.


Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [03.08.09-03.09.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

2009 AHWA AGM Notice
The Australian Horror Writers Association's Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place in September, and all AHWA members are invited to attend and be involved in the organisation's future developments. 9 September 2009, 7:30 pm (EST), Venue to be confirmed (Melbourne metro area). Please contact AHWA Secretary Ian Mond for further info on the location of this year's AGM.

Family Demons Takes Awards At Fright Night
Australian horror film Family Demons, directed by Ursula Dabrowsky, has won awards in the following categories at Fright Night Film Festival 2009. Click through for details.

Eneit Press To Launch Two New Books
Eneit Press would like to invite you to the launch of two new books: Life Through Cellophane by Gillian Polack, and In Bad Dreams Volume 2 edited by Sharyn Lilley. 4th October, at Conflux. Click through for RSVP details.

Eye Of Fire Issue #1
Brimstone Press has launched a new, free e-zine entitled Eye Of Fire. Issue #1 can be downloaded here. Subscribe to Eye Of Fire as a show of support while Black Magazine is being restructured. Angela Challis, Brimstone Press and Black Magazine Editor-in-Chief comments: "...With enough interest shown through free subscription to this e-zine ... Black (magazine) will be back!" Click through to subscribe.

Paul Haines' Slice Of Life
A man. A liver. A mind? Meet the mind of Paul Haines. Slice of Life contains seventeen glittering stories, dripping with twenty first century paranoia and anxiety - to be launched at Conflux 09, 29 August. Slice of Life is a fund-raising venture for the Paul Haines cancer fund. 100% of the cover price will help Paul Haines fight his cancer. Help give Paul Haines a slice of life. Click through to order.

Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles For August ‘09
Dymocks Southland is a general bookshop in Cheltenham, Victoria, boasting an extensive range of genre stock. Click through for the top 10 bestselling horror titles for August 2009.

Shards and Shards: Damned and Burning
Shane Jiraiya Cummings' debut collection, Shards, has been published and is now available from Brimstone Press and selected bookstores in Australia. Every story in Shards is illustrated by Australian dark fantasy artist Andrew J. McKiernan. Coinciding with the release of Shards is the bonus e-chapbook, Shards: Damned and Burning. Shards: Damned and Burning can be downloaded (PDF) for free from the Brimstone Press website (click on the Shards page).

Thrill The World 2009 Perth
Perth zombie lovers and Michael Jackson fans are organising a zombie-themed dance off as part of the Thrill The World 2009 event. Organisers are inviting people to dress as zombies and dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as part of a simultaneous, worldwide Guinness World Record attempt. October 25, South Perth Foreshore. Click through for details.

Lovecraft Annual No 3
Lovecraft Annual No 3: New Scholarship on H. P. Lovecraft has just been published by Hippocampus Press. Edited by S. T. Joshi, this volume includes essays from Australian writers Leigh Blackmore and Phillip A. Ellis.

Digital Fringe 2009 Open For Entries
Digital Fringe is an open access public arts festival that places contemporary screen based media in public locations. In keeping with the Fringe Festival charter, Digital Fringe is open access and accessible to emerging and established artists, particularly those working in screen based and new media. Click through for more details.

Aussiecon 4 Membership Rates From September 1, 2009
Aussiecon 4 have announced that the following membership rates will hold from 1 September 2009. Click through for details.

Festive Fear
Tasmaniac Publications presents FESTIVE FEAR! An anthology of original stories from some of the leading horror writers working in Australia today. Fourteen disturbing tales, that will make you wonder if Christmas really is something to look forward to?

Writers Workshop Of Horror
Writers Workshop Of Horror includes an unparalleled list of teachers, all experts in their fields of endeavor. Woodland Press assembled a dream team of writers, editors and professionals for this special project. The book focuses solely on honing the craft of writing. Click through for more details.

Shades Of Sentience Short Story Competition
The Shades Of Sentience short story competition is open to "horror, fantasy, science fiction, and anything in between." Click through for more details.

Worldshaker Shortlisted For Golden Inky Award
Richard Harland's Young Adult steam punk novel Worldshaker has been shortlisted for a Golden Inky Award. Harland's book is one of 20 youth literature books listed on the awards shortlist - announced on the State Library of Victoria's youth reading website on August 21. Click through for a list of nominees.

World Premiere Of Australian Film: Eraser Children at Fantastic Planet Film Festival
Fantastic Planet, Sydney’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival and Crumpler are proud to announce the festival’s opening night film: the world premiere of the Australian science fiction feature Eraser Children. The festival runs for eight days at Dendy, Newtown Cinema, from October 30 to Nov 6, 2009.

The Lifted Brow's Valcapella and Dwinn
The Lifted Brow is an Australian magazine of writing, art, and music. The magazine's recent midyear issue includes an ambitious eighty-minute audio drama by Brisbane writer Thomas Benjamin Guerney entitled "Valcapella and Dwinn".

LegumeMan's Underground Fiction Forum
Independent Australian publisher LegumeMan Books, known for titles that explore the dark and absurd, has recently launched a forum to discuss underground fiction and culture.

The Man Who Collected Psychos
In The Man Who Collected Psychos: Critical Essays on Robert Bloch, editor Benjamin .. Szumskyj .. .. gathers essays examining Robert Bloch’s novels, short stories and life, as well as the themes and issues explored in his influential canon. Featuring a Forward by Robert Hood. Available from McFarland Publications.

Jennifer Byrne Presents Monsters and Bloodsuckers
As part of the special Jennifer Byrne Presents series, Monsters and Bloodsuckers is slated to screen on the ABC at 10pm, Tuesday 8th of September. A special episode of First Tuesday Book Club, the half-hour programme will focus on the classic horror novels Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Werewolf Of Paris by Guy Endore, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Guest authors joining Jennifer Byrn, are noted horror and occult writer Leigh Blackmore, childrens' book writer Catherine Jinks, novelist Tara Moss, and novelist Will Elliott.

Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.

Continuum 5 - Galaxies by Gaslight
Condensing from the aether 14-16 August, 2009
Guest of Honour Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

"Continuum invites you to join us as we slip though the cracks between worlds to an otherplace where no star sets on Her Majesty's Empire – a state of mind circumscribed by fog and fob-watches, coal and corsets, steam and suffragettes; a place where magnetism meets mesmerism and typhoid vies with top-hats – come with us and explore the Galaxies by Gaslight."

I will be participating in the following AHWA panel:

Untapped Fears SATURDAY 2pm, Air Sphere
What is left to scare us in the age of terror?
Rocky Wood, Alan Baxter, Robert Hood, Talie Helene, Garry Fay

Continuum 5 will include an excellent Readings Stream as part of the program. Authors who will be represented in the stream include: Deborah Biancotti, Sue Bursztynski, Jack Dann, Grace Dugan, Alison Goodman, Richard Harland, Narrelle Harris, Rachel Holkner, Robert Hood, George Ivanoff, Chris Johnstone, Paul Kidd, Kirstyn McDermott, Sean McMullen, Jason Nahrung, Gillian Polack, Tim Richards, Ted Skewes, Lucy Sussex and Sean Williams.

Not an event to be missed!

Venue: ether
Lower Level, 265 - 285 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
More information: continuum.org.au

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [02.07.09-02.08.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles for July ‘09
Dymocks Southland is a general bookshop in Cheltenham, Victoria, boasting an extensive range of genre stock. Click through for the top 10 bestselling horror titles for July 2009.

Eclecticism Issue 9
Eclecticism E-zine are celebrating their 2nd Anniversary with the release of Issue #9! Come and join the festivities by downloading the free online magazine.

Nameless bounty
The ‘Nameless’ competition has been extended until the 1st of September 2009, and a $500 winner’s cheque has been added to sweeten the already tasty prize pool. Read the story here. Come up with a conclusion and a title. Make your $10 donation and enter the competition here. Click through for more details!

Scribe launches the CAL Scribe Fiction Prize
Scribe is delighted to announce the launch of the CAL Scribe Fiction Prize. The prize is open for an unpublished manuscript by any Australian writer over 35, who may or may not have been published before. The winner of the CAL Scribe Fiction Prize will be awarded a book contract from Scribe and a prize of $12,000.

The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One
Ellen Datlow has announced the contents of the forthcoming The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One, due out in October from Night Shade Books. The book features two Australian horror writers - Miranda Siemienowicz and Margo Lanagan.

The Mother US edition
The US limited edition of Brett McBean's second novel The Mother is now up for pre-order from Thunderstorm Books. This is the uncut version, with two graphic scenes previously deemed too extreme, now restored back into the text.

First National Republican Short Story Competition
On 6 November 2009, it will be 10 years since the republican referendum was lost. To commemorate this event and to remind Australians of what they still don't have, the Australian Republican Movement is calling for speculative fiction short stories between 2000 and 4000 words that portray an Australian republican future in a positive light and demonstrate the absurdity of a hereditary monarch as the Australian Head of State in twenty-first century Australian society. Click through for more details.

'Family Demons' midnight screening
Ursula Dabrowsky, winner of the Best Australian Director award at the 2009 A Night of Horror International Film Festival for her eerie psychological feature film, Family Demons, is proud to be screening the film at the 2009 Melbourne Underground Film Festival. The event will be held on Saturday, 29 August 2009 at 11pm at the Embassy (formerly the Queensbridge Hotel), 1 Queensbridge St, South Melbourne.

Aeon Award 2009 2nd round shortlist
As recently announced on the Albedo One website, a number of stories have been added to the Aeon Award 2009 shortlist after the second round of consideration, which ran from April to the end of July. The competition directors would like to emphasize that the Aeon Award is still open for entries to the end of November '09. Click through for more details.

Quentin Tarantino & Popcorn Taxi present Dark Age
To celebrate the great Aussie genre films of the eighties, Inglourious Basterds director Quentin Tarantino presents his own personal 35mm print of Arch Nicholson's 1987 Ozploitation classic Dark Age for a phenomenal one-off Popcorn Taxi screening. Event Sold Out!

Award Winning Australian Writing 2009
The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) congratulates Benjamin Hayes, winner of the AHWA Flash and Short Story Competition 2008 (Flash Fiction category), whose winning entry has been selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Award Winning Australian Writing, to be published by Melbourne Books. Other noteworthy Australian speculative authors to have work included are Cat Sparks and Simon Brown. The book launch will be held at this year's Melbourne Writers' Festival. 2:30pm, August 21, Festival Club, ACMI, Melbourne.

Damned By Dawn world premiere (FREE!)
Writer/director Brett Anstey invites horror affictionados to the world-premiere screening of his banshee/walking dead horror film, Damned By Dawn. The event is FREE - although management request RSVP by email to info@damnedbydawnmovie.com Wednesday August 12, 7:30pm, ACMI, Melbourne.

In The Dead Of Night
Australia’s first ‘choose your own adventure’ cabaret debuts in Melbourne… and it’s not for the faint of heart. After directing professional cabaret and theatre for nearly a decade, Play Right Theatre founder Kim Edwards has channelled her dark side and finally released a long-time pet project of her own on the stage. Edwards’ previous credits include children’s drama classes and Theatre In Education work, but it will be adults only when In The Dead Of Night: A Cult Show is let loose at The Butterfly Club in all its gothic, grotesque, and darkly funny glory.

2009 Chronos Award finalists
The Continuum Foundation has announced the ballot for the 2009 Chronos Awards, which honours the best works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror produced by Victorians in 2008 as recommended by Australian SF fans. The Chronos Award winners will be presented at Continuum 5. Click through for a list of nominees.

Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.

The Australian SF Blog Carnival for June 2009 is up at HorrorScope.

Any errors are my own.

Bearing in mind that sweeping the spec-fic-blogsphere is a sizable task, and it's possible I've missed something cool - if there are any notable omissions, you can comment there, or comment here, or email me - Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor.

I'll make amendments as needed.

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [16.06.09-02.07.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Leisure Books' Fresh Blood contest
Leisure Books, the company "leading the way in publishing paperback horror," is partnering with Rue Morgue magazine in association with ChiZine to present "Fresh Blood," a new writing contest specifically for unpublished horror authors. Click through for competition details.

2009 AHWA Flash and Short Story competition winners
The 2009 Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) Flash and Short Story competition attracted over 100 entries. The short story and flash fiction winners will be published in Midnight Echo #3 later this year. The winners will also receive an engraved plaque. Click through to view the winners.

Midnight Echo #2 now available
Issue #2 of Midnight Echo, the magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association, is available to the public. Edited by Angela Challis & Shane Jiraiya Cummings, this issue of Midnight Echo is a mind-bending joyride into the horrific. Contributors include David Conyers, Bob Franklin, Kurt Newton, Felicity Dowker, Andrew J McKiernan, and Joanne Anderton, among many more. Art Director David Schembri has assembled an array of darkly visual delights from artists such as George Cotronis, Will Jacques, Liza Phoenix, Khara Burgess, and more. Issue #2 also continues the 'New Blood' series of interviews conducted by Stephen Studach (this issue featuring Jason Crowe). Click through for purchase and AHWA member download details.

Australian SF Blog Carnival June 2009
The Australian SF Blog Carnival for June 2009 is hosted at HorrorScope, and has been assembled by the AHWA News Editor. Click through for highlights of the blogsphere.

The Writing Show's Halloween contest
US podcast website The Writing Show will not continue the tradition in recent years of running the 'AHWA Days of Halloween'. Instead, this year, The Writing Show is hosting a Halloween fiction contest (with a US$75 prize). Click through for conditions of entry.

Classic horror-themed First Tuesday Book Club
Leigh Blackmore will guest on an episode of First Tuesday Book Club, hosted by Jennifer Byrne, along with childrens' book writer Catherine Jinks, novelist Tara Moss, and novelist Will Elliott. The special programme will focus on the classic horror novels DRACULA by Bram Stoker, THE WEREWOLF OF PARIS by Guy Endore, FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley and DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson. Keep an eye on HorrorScope for an announcement of the airing date.



Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [02.06.09-15.06.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Government Review of Western Australian Literary Awards
The Department of Culture and the Arts (DCA) has initiated a review of both the West Australian Premier's Book Awards and the Australia Asia Literary Award and is now inviting submissions from authors, publishers, book sellers, librarians, academics and members of the public. If you have a view regarding the future of the Awards, or suggestions on how the Awards might be developed to achieve greater impact and/or improved outcomes for the West Australian writing sector then this is your opportunity to contribute. writingWA encourages you to provide your input into this process. Further information about the aims and objectives of the Awards and details of the review process are available by visiting the DCA website. Submissions close 5pm June 25. Click through for contact details.

The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing
The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding unpublished manuscript. It aims to discover more wonderful new books for young readers, by Australian and New Zealand writers. Both published and unpublished writers of all ages are eligible to enter with works of fiction or non-fiction. We are now accepting submissions for the 2009 prize. All entries must be received by Friday 31 July. Judged by a panel of editors from Text Publishing, the winning book will be announced during the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. The winner will receive a publishing contract with Text and a $10,000 advance against royalties.

Jason Nahrung reading on Terra Incognita
Terra Incognita Speculative Fiction Podcast #008 is now available for your listening pleasure at www.tisf.com.au; also available on iTunes. This month, Jason Nahrung reads his outback vampire story Smoking, Waiting For The Dawn (from Dreaming Again), and Keith Stevenson reviews Canterbury 2100, edited by Dirk Flinthart. The Terra Incognita Speculative Fiction podcast is presented by Keith Stevenson, and brought to you by Coeur de Lion books.

2009 Bram Stoker Award winners
The 2009 Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in Horror Fiction published in 2008 have been presented by the Horror Writers Association at the Stoker Awards Weekend in Burbank, California (USA). Click through to view a complete list of winners in all categories.

Call for Entries - 4th Annual A Night of Horror International Film Festival
A Night of Horror International Film Festival is now accepting feature films, shorts, music videos, and screenplays for the 2010 event. John Michael Elfers, director of the feature film Finale speaks glowingly of his experience at the 2009 festival: “Saying that we had a tremendous experience at A Night of Horror would be an understatement. It was our world premiere and exceeded our expectations. The festival is committed to helping independent horror filmmakers find their audience and get noticed. They put our film in the hands of distributors, reviewers, and got us on the radio. The personal attention was unlike anything I've experienced at other festivals.” More details are available at the festival's official site: www.anightofhorror.com.

Facts About Speculative Fiction panel cancelled
Due to a lack of bookings, the Victorian Writers' Centre have had to cancel the Facts About Speculative Fiction seminar on Wednesday 17th June. Those who have already paid for the seminar, will be issued a refund, or alternatively can keep it as a credit in the system to be used at a later stage. For the other outstanding genre writing offerings, check out the previously reported news at HorrorScope. For a full listing of the 2009 VWC program, visit the Victorian Writers' Centre website.

Andrew J McKiernan's new website
AHWA member, Australian spec-fic and horror author and illustrator, Andrew J McKiernan now has a new website. The image gallery contains samples from the forthcoming SHARDS: Short Sharp Tales collection by Shane Jiraiya Cummings & Andrew J McKiernan (Brimstone Press - June 2009 - ISBN 978-0-980-56772-4), as well as illustrations that have appeared in Aurealis magazine, Orb Speculative Fiction, and a number of other collections and anthologies.

Genre Publishers Tell All
Join a guest editor from Black Dog Books, Stuart Mayne (Aurealis Magazine) and Janet Rowe (Five Mile Press) as they discuss their genre areas of writing and publications. This diverse panel of guest speakers will provide insight of the manuscript submission process, market trends and readership. There’s something for everyone who has an interest in SF, children’s or crime fiction and non-fiction writing and are looking to get published. Who knows, you may even be writing a SF, Kid’s crime novel! Victorian Writers' Centre, Tuesday 30 June 2009, 6:30PM - 8:00PM.

The Hero's Journey with Paul Collins
Join Paul Collins and create both a world and a plot in a single day! Working in groups, participants will learn the 12 point structure of fantasy, drawing on examples from the best known fantasy novels such as Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter books. At the end of the workshop everyone will have a map, plot and scenes from their fantasy novel. Paul is best known for his young adult fantasy and science fiction series: The Quentaris Chronicles, which he co-edits with Michael Pryor, The Jelindel Chronicles and The Earthborn Wars. Along with a dozen SF&F anthologies, he edited The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy. His current project is The World of Grrym trilogy in collaboration with Danny Willis. He is also the publisher at Ford Street Publishing. Paul has been short-listed for many awards for his fiction, and has won the inaugural Peter McNamara, Aurealis and William Atheling awards. Victorian Writers' Centre, Sunday 28 June 2009, 10:00AM - 4:00PM.

Cops and Robbers: writing the perfect crime scene!
Ever wanted to write a crime novel or short story? Chances are you'll have at least one detective wandering your pages. But how do you get the procedure right? What about dialogue? You don't want an Aussie detective to sound like a character off the set of CSI, do you? And what about the crime scene? Who strings up the plastic tape, who calls in homicide and the coroner? In this 6 hour interactive seminar you'll learn the ins and outs of real life police drama and how to apply this to your characters and plot, giving your stories the essential ingredient of every great crime writer; verisimilitude. Jarad Henry has worked in the criminal justice system for more than ten years, is currently a strategic advisor for Victoria Police and has two novels published, Head Shot and Blood Sunset. Victorian Writers' Centre, Saturday 27 June 2009, 10:00AM - 4:00PM.

Let's Network! Genre / Popular Fiction Writers
An opportunity for like-minded VWC writers to get together, form new networks, exchange ideas, and strengthen literary community ties. From new and emerging writers, freelancers, non-fiction, genre fiction to editors, each month will give focus to different literary groups, along with special guest speakers attending over the year. This month will feature guest speakers, Lindy Cameron, convenor of Sisters in Crime Australia and Murray MacLachlan, President of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. Victorian Writers' Centre, Thursday 18 June 2009, 6:30PM - 8:00PM.

2009 Ditmar Award winners
The 2009 Ditmar Awards for Australian SF, fantasy, and horror were presented on Sunday June 7 at Conjecture in Adelaide. Click through to view a complete list of winners in all categories.

2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards winners
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards. This year's Sir Julius Vogel Awards were voted on at Conscription, the 2009 New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention, on Sunday 31st May 2009. Click through to view a complete list of winners in all categories.

Applications now open for Regional Arts Fund (NSW) 2010
Applications are now being accepted for the Regional Arts Fund (NSW), one of the key funding sources for arts and cultural activities in regional, rural and remote communities of New South Wales (Australia). Funding is available for projects commencing after 1 January 2010 in the categories of New Initiatives, Partnerships and Residencies and Mentorships. Funding is available for one, two or three year projects. Applications for the Regional Arts Fund (NSW) close on Friday 14 August 2009.

Prey to open in USA in June
Top Cat Films and Damage Releasing have steered Australian horror movie Prey through the international market screening process, and released the following media blurb: Less than a week after a near-full 10am market screening at Cannes Film Market, surprise Aussie 'candy horror' treat PREY has taken down rights for Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia and is honing in on a coterie of Asian territories. PREY opens in the United States on 23 June. The DVD release in Australia is slated for June 30. (Extract only.)

2009 QWC/Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program for Fiction Writers now open
Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) and Hachette Australia are proud to announce their national program for fiction writers in 2009. This program has been created for emerging Australian authors of fiction who are either unpublished or have no more than one significant work commercially published. Up to 10 emerging fiction writers will work with publishers for Hachette Australia to develop high-quality fiction manuscripts. Applications open in May 2009. The deadline for submission is last post 24 July 2009. The manuscript development retreat will run in southeast Queensland from 20-25 November 2009. Click through for full details.

4th Biennial Watermark Literary Muster
The Watermark Literary Muster invites readers and writers to celebrate the literature of nature and place. In 2009 the theme is 'wood' - forests, trees, fire, artisans and artefacts, philosophies, opinions, conflicts - and the literature and stories that embrace it. The packed program includes readings, conversations, panel sessions, nature excursions, literary meals, performances, art, book launches, formal and informal discussion. 19 - 22 June, Kendall, NSW.

AntipodeanSF #132
AntipodeanSF Issue 132 is now available on the net. Please visit for your monthly fix of fantastic flash fiction, another ten stories from everywhere around the world, and spanning subjects that stretch even further than that.

The John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers 2009
Tired of scratching around your pockets for money? Well it's time to get writing because The John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers 2009 has now opened. $4500.00 in prize money is up for grabs! In its fifth year running, The John Marsden Prize offers the chance for young Australian writers to have their work judged by author John Marsden, be published in Voiceworks, and receive some cash as well! Entries close 5pm Friday 28th August, 2009. For more information including the entry form, please visit www.expressmedia.org.au.

Submitting News

If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, and Southern Horror; hosted at the social networking sites Darklands and A Writer Goes On A Journey; and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds: Horror's Last Colonial Outpost).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [16.05.09-01.06.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Australian Shadows Award expands
Australia's top honour for horror fiction, the Australian Horror Writers Association's Australian Shadows Award, is now open for 2009 but with a major difference — this year, the Award has expanded from one to three categories; awards will be issued for the best works in Short Fiction (short stories), Long Fiction (novellas, novels, and single-author collections), and Edited Publication (for editors of anthologies and horror fiction magazines).

The Australian Shadows Award reading period is open from now until December 31. Works of horror and dark fantasy written or edited by Australians (or New Zealanders) and first published in the 2009 calendar year are eligible. Authors, editors, or publishers seeking to enter eligible work must contact Award Director Shane Jiraiya Cummings to arrange for the material to be submitted to the judges (no entry fee required). Click through for more details, including competition judges.

'Nameless' Competition open
Read the story (accessed through the AHWA site), get to know the story elements, the characters, their journey and their motivations. Then, write a fitting ending for ‘The Nameless’ and give the tale a title while you’re at it. The competition will run for one month - submissions close June 30. The six best endings will be featured on the HorrorScope site. A special guest judge will decide the winner. Click through for guidelines.

Dymocks Southland Bestselling Horror Titles for May ‘09
Dymocks Southland is a general bookshop in Cheltenham, Victoria, boasting an extensive range of genre stock. Dymocks Southland publishes Dymensions, a monthly SF, fantasy and horror newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Click through for the Top 10 Bestselling Horror titles for May 2009.

Victorian SF Chronos Awards opens
The Continuum Foundation has opened nominations for the inaugural Chronos Awards for excellence in SF, fantasy, and horror in the state of Victoria in 2008. Nominations from "natural persons active in fandom" or from full or supporting members of the Continuum 5 SF convention are open from now until June 28. The Chronos Awards will be presented at Continuum 5 in August. Nomination details available at HorrorScope.

Alan Baxter's RealmShift competition
Australian author and AHWA member Alan Baxter is offering a signed copy of his novel RealmShift to one lucky reader. Competition details are here. Competition ends June 9.

Midnight Echo #2 - Coming in June
This month watch out for Midnight Echo #2, edited by Angela Challis & Shane Jiraiya Cummings, and featuring creepy stories by Kurt Newton, Bob Franklin, David Conyers, Andrew J. McKiernan, Joanne Anderton, Shaun Jeffrey, Felicity Dowker, and many more... plus artwork from David Schembri and many talented dark fantasy artists.

BlackOnline Twitter
Black Magazine staff writer Gary Kemble has set up the Black Online Twitter site. For Twitter users, this is the ideal place to get all the latest dark fiction news in bite-sized pieces (including articles syndicated from HorrorScope and Robert Hood's Undead Backbrain). The BlackOnline Twitter site is here and the RSS feed is here.

Submitting News
 
If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, Southern Horror, and Darklands, and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.

The Ditmar Awards (like the Australian equivalent of the Hugo Awards) finalists were announced earlier this week. The list of finalists is up at HorrorScope (as well as info on how to vote).


This has already pinged around the Blogsphere, but I still had to make a personal aside.


To my surprise and delight, I'm a Ditmar Award finalist.


The AHWA News Editing gig is kind of an ephemeral thing. The news flies around various places online, but there isn't a single tangible product resulting from it - so to be included in the list with some amazing people, who have produced some really fine concrete products in the speculative fiction sphere, is a tremendous honour.


Since the AHWA News isn't my own creative project - it isn't a work of creative art - I'm not emotionally invested in winning that category. Which in no way detracts from my big smile at being a finalist - but I don't put my soul into News Editing. It's an act of commitment to the literary arts, it's professional development (hopefully for many others, as well as for me), and it's not unrelated to my more artistic life - but it's a part of the business side of publishing, not the  artistic. Of course, artists who are motivated and happy to grapple with both the business side and the creative side, really do make life easier for themselves. Making life easier for other artists is the flow-on effect of that.


I've talked about this with various people in the music industry - off-hand, I recall I had a long chat about it with Andrew Haug from Triple J's metal show Full Metal Racket - about how in the metal scene a lot of people are consumed by in-fighting and petty competition, they don't support each others tours, events, media projects, etc, and they stick to their one little sub-genre, and work with the same people, to the point of being very self-defeating in developing their audience. And the thing is, which you would think is obvious, in the arts we all move forward together. Fostering a healthy vibrant scene for creatives, and developing informed genre audiences, benefits everyone creating in the genre. We actually are all far more allies in our craft, than we are competitors.


The rest is up to that audience to figure out.

That applies to the speculative creatives, just like it does to the metalheads.

Before this becomes a full-blown rant -

Congratulations to all the Ditmar Award finalists. Lets face it, you all ROCK!

Thank you to the people - privately or publicly - who nominated me for the Best Achievement category in the Ditmar Awards.

Just to appear in the finals is wonderfully astonishing.

But look at that list! Check out how awesome Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror publishing is!!!

Motivating, huh?

AHWA NEWS DIGEST [01.05.09-15.05.09]

The following digest of recent horror news is compiled from pieces published to HorrorScope and the Australian Horror Writers' Association website.

Sydney Writers' Festival
The 12th Sydney Writers' Festival will be held from Monday 18 to Sunday 24 May, at venues throughout Sydney, Australia. Click through for a quick taste of program strands that may appeal to horror writers and connoisseurs.

DUFF voting to close May 17
Voting for the Down Under Fan Fund will close on May 17 at midnight. You can download a PDF voting form at Jean Weber's DUFF site. The 2009 DUFF Fellowship finalists are Emma Hawkes, Chris Nelson-Lee, Alison Barton, David Cake and Grant Watson.

Emerging Writers' Festival
The Emerging Writers' Festival (EWF) exists to promote the interests of emerging writers - to improve their opportunities for professional development and their engagement with the broader public. The 2009 Emerging Writers Festival will be held in various venues around Melbourne, from May 22 to May 31.

Robert McKee’s Story Seminar
Learn why many writers and filmmakers around the world revere Robert McKee as the greatest story and screenwriting teacher of our time. Story Seminar is being held in Melbourne at The Kino Cinema on Collins Street from June 19 to 21 and in Sydney at The Chauvel Cinema, Paddington from June 26 to 28. The seminar runs for three days from 9am – 8.30pm.

Justina Robson at Parrish's Patch in May
Justina Robson is special guest at the Parrish's Patch forum on the 29^th, 30^th, 31^st of May.

NIDA performance writing short courses
NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) are offering a couple of performance writing short courses as part of their Open Program - Dramatic Writing Short Course and Writing Short Film Scripts Short Course.

Terra Incognita podcast featuring Bill Congreve
TISFPodcast #007 is now available, with Bill Congreve reading his story Souls Along The Meridian, and Keith Stevenson's review of Maria Quinn's The Gene Thieves.

PNAN Youth Arts Festival
The PNAN Youth Arts Festival is dedicated to showcasing the hottest young and emerging talent (aged 16-25 in NSW). PNAN accepts works in three categories: short film, graphic design and creative writing, with the main creative stipulation being that all works feature some reference to drug and alcohol issues.

Continuum Trivia Night
Continuum is proud to present an evening of knowledge both trivial and diverting, on Saturday 30th of May at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. Prizes will be awarded for correct answers, entering the premises in a lucky fashion, and at the judges' discretion. Please RSVP via the Facebook page, or by email.

Dorchester Publishing opens to email submissions
Dorchester Publishing, publisher of US mass market horror imprint Leisure Books, is now accepting general novel submissions via email. Full submission guidelines are available at the Dorchester Publishing website.

2009 Katharine Susannah Prichard Speculative Fiction Competition final call
Entries close on 29 May 2009, and writers of all ages are invited to apply. Stories must be between 1500 and 3500 words, with all forms of speculative fiction welcomed. Further information can be found on the Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation website.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth movie deal
Carrie Ryan's YA horror novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth (published by Gollancz UK), is soon to be adapted for the big screen. Alan Nevins of Renaissance Literary & Talent, who brokered the deal on behalf of Jim McCarthy at Dystel Literary, sold the film rights to the book to Seven Star Pictures (K-11, forthcoming).

The Challenge - Name The 'Nameless'
The official announcement of the opening of one of the biggest, most prestigious genre competitions in Australia will soon appear on the AHWA/HorrorScope sites. This story is destined to become a piece of Australian speculative fiction history. If you are game, you will soon have a chance to not only bring this story to a climax, but also to name it.

Midnight Echo seeking graphic art submissions
David Schembri, Art Director for Midnight Echo: The Magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association, is issuing a call for graphic art submissions. For full details on all submission formats for Midnight Echo, visit australianhorror.com.

2009 Ditmar Award finalists
The Ditmar sub-committee has released the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Awards finalists for 2009. This ballot honours the best works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror published by Australians in 2008 as nominated by members of Australian fandom. Click through to view finalists in all categories. Voting is open now to members of the 2008 Australian Natcon (Swancon) and 2009 Natcon (Conjecture) are eligible to vote. Further information on the Ditmar Award can be found here or at the Conjecture website.

Richard Harland's Writing Tips
Award-winning Australian author Richard Harland, best known for his cult novels The Vicar of Morbing Vyle, The Black Crusade, and his latest release, Worldshaker, has compiled an exhaustive list of writing tips for aspiring authors. Harland's labour of love is a 145-page website of tips for fantasy, speculative fiction and genre writers - and its free. Harland says he took four months off from his own fiction writing—“it started out as a small service to the writing community and just kept growing and growing!” The tips are online at www.writingtips.com.au.

2008 Shirley Jackson Award ballot
The 2008 Shirley Jackson Awards ballot, honouring works of outstanding dark fiction from around the world, was recently announced. Two Australian have been shortlisted this year: Margo Lanagan for her novel Tender Morsels and Julia Leigh for her novella Disquiet. Click through to view finalists in all categories. The Shirley Jackson Awards will be presented on Sunday, July 12th 2009, at Readercon 20 in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA. Elizabeth Hand, Readercon Guest of Honour, and author of Generation Loss, which won the 2007 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, will act as host.


Submitting News
 
If you have news about Australian and New Zealand Horror publishing and film, or news of professional development opportunities in the field, feel free to submit news to Talie Helene, AHWA News Editor. Just visit HorrorScope, and click on the convenient email link. (International news is not unwelcome, although relevance to Antipodean literary arts practitioners is strongly preferred.)

For information on the Australian Horror Writers' Association, visit australianhorror.com.

This AHWA NEWS DIGEST has been compiled, written, and republished in select Australian horror haunts by Talie Helene. Currently archived at the AHWA MySpace page, Southern Horror, and Darklands, and hosted by AHWA members Felicity Dowker, Brenton Tomlinson, Scott Wilson, and Jeff Ritchie (Scary Minds).

If you would like to support the AHWA News effort by hosting a copy of the AHWA News Digest on your blog or website, contact Talie to receive a fully formatted HTML edition of the digest by email.