The new album from Stephen Higgins has been released. ‘Valis’ has 9 instrumental tracks inspired by the writing of Philip K Dick. ‘Valis’ is available whereever you get your music.
In this issue
Aurealis #190 brings you stunning fiction, engrossing non-fiction, superb internal art and informative reviews.
Read extracts
Edited by
Michael Pryor
From the Cloud
From the Cloud: Guest Editorial
Tehani Croft
Earlier this year, I (finally) resigned from my role of Judging Coordinator for the Aurealis Awards. While this decision had been a long time coming, with a few false starts in years gone by, it finally got to the point that I no longer had the capacity to effectively deliver the continually growing commitment this role requires. That said, it was with a very heavy heart that I made the final decision to press send on the email I’d been drafting in my head for many months.
Why was it so hard? After all, it was a volunteer role I’d been undertaking for about 14 years or so, one that took up enormous numbers of hours annually that I could have been using to instead consume all those wonderful books, TV shows and movies piling up on my unread/unwatched lists… Surely it should be easy to relinquish that duty? Well, no, not really, for so many reasons.
For one thing, I’m very proud of the ongoing success of the Aurealis Awards, and the unique status it holds in the publishing community in Australia and overseas, as well as the standards of integrity I have helped embed in our processes. It has been an absolute privilege to play a part in the evolution of the Awards for nearly two decades, firstly as a judge, then as Judging Coordinator. I continue to believe in and strongly support the place of the Aurealis Awards in the ecosystem of this ever-changing publishing landscape; they are a critical part of the publishing journey of many, many creators.
Secondly, I will sincerely miss the multitude of interactions with the wide-ranging reaches of our Australian speculative fiction community each year, as I communicated with creators and publishers from all over Australia and beyond. Each year, I was introduced to brand new writers and artists making their first forays into the field, saw their work grow and develop as they became established, and sometimes, sadly, had to say goodbye to people I had perhaps never met in person, but had corresponded with through the Awards for a long time. Then of course there were the amazing Awards ceremonies, both in-person and online, where we saw such a surge of good feeling and support for our industry and each other that the nights were always tremendous fun, and full of cheer(s)! We don’t get nearly enough opportunities to engage with our peers in this space, and this was always one of my favourite nights of the year.
My engagement with the hundreds of judges I worked with over the years has been an absolute highlight. I cannot overstate the immense professionalism and dedication of these brilliant volunteers, many of whom return year after year to take on different categories and new challenges, and provide fascinating insight into the plethora of entries we receive. With some short fiction categories regularly seeing 150–200 entries, and longer form panels reading 60–80 novel-length works most years, it’s a massive commitment, and without these amazing people, the Awards simply don’t happen. Long gone are the days when just a handful of folks can manage the workload—it would be unusual for us to have fewer than 50 judges in any given year these days, and I’ll be forever grateful to every single one of them who put their hand up for the job.
Finally, I had the wonderful opportunity to be the consistent thread through many transitions between various overseeing bodies over the years, and I’ve been grateful to work with and learn from so many amazing people across these organisations process. I would like to thank Dirk Strasser, Keith Stevenson, Nathan Burrage, Susan Wardle, Nicole Murphy, PRK, Nathan Phillips, and Lori-Jay & Sandra—at Aurealis, SpecFaction NSW, Conflux Inc., WASFF, Confound, CSFG, and GenreCon—for the trust placed in me through the years I’ve undertaken this role. I must also shout out to Katharine Stubbs, Joanne Anderton and Nathan Phillips, whose capable assistance at various times saved me from flaming out years ago!
I could go on thanking people for pages more—Lewis Hutton has been quietly ensuring our entry forms work for years, with no fanfare; Alexandra Pierce made sure there was a celebration of our 30 year anniversary with a special podcast of behind-the-scenes history; Terri Sellen stepped up and organised multiple excellent Awards ceremonies with her TARDIS-like ‘party box’; several judges who have provided stability and panel leadership for far longer than I’ve been around (but if I start to name THOSE names, I’d be here all day!)—so I’d better stop now. It has been my privilege to be part of the history of the Aurealis Awards, and I look forward to seeing what happens in the next epic chapter.
All the best from the cloud!
Tehani Croft
(ex) Judging Coordinator of the Aurealis Awards
For more information about the Aurealis Awards and its history, check out the website! https://aurealisawards.org.
From Faultless
| ‘Is something wrong?’
Reuben does his coding work from his laptop at a friend’s house most days because he doesn’t want to be here with me. I can’t blame him, with how things worked out. We’re amicable about it, and no one cheated on anyone, but the process of him coming ‘home’ from ‘work’ is often stalled at weird moments. He’ll sit in his car staring at his phone for an hour in the carport. Or like today, he’ll get halfway in the bloody door and then decide to read the mail. |
From Unnatural Selection
| Her name was Giana and we were on the same domestic flight. We sat against the curvature of the wall, our wrists chained to a lead that ran across the floor of the cargo hold. In the semi-dark, her shoulders touched mine. |
From To Feel the Sun
It began in the after: after Qamar bottled his fear and waged war in the splinter-shard storms of the desert. After he returned home without comrades to love or coin to spend.
From ‘The Lonely’: The Twilight Zone Episode That Parallels the 2020s
‘The Lonely’ is the seventh episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone, taking place in a hypothetical future space age where a prisoner named James Corry (Jack Warden) is kept in solitary confinement on an asteroid, with only the occasional visits of passing spaceflights bringing him basic amenities.
From The Paradox of Nothing: The Anthromorphism of Aliens
Talaxus 5 departs from the mothership with five humans on board. The shuttle drifts in orbit above an exoplanet in the Goldilocks zone around its red dwarf star. Its secondary engines power off, allowing atmospheric drag to pull it down to the landing site in the forests of a lightly populated area.
From Ignorance Is Creative Bliss
One of the most important elements in speculative fiction, as both a writer and a passionate reader, is ignorance. Yes, ignorance is quite literally bliss. Obviously, for the reader, this is key. Not knowing where the story is going, ‘who done it’, how the hero completes their quest—it is the tension that drives the reader on. We want to know. So, in that respect, not knowing is obviously perfect. But, as the author, the expectation is that you know where your story is going. And why. And how. But is that actually the case?
