After five years at Aurealis, editor Stuart Mayne has decided to resign his position. Issue 45, due out in May 2011, will be the last issue edited by Mayne.

He wrote in aurealisXpress, "When I started out my aim was to give the magazine a new lease of life and to ensure that it continued in a position of strength and security. I have done all those things and more while editing nine issues of the magazine.
I will be continuing my work in the SF community, convening the science fiction novel category of the Aurealis Awards and looking at some future projects for my TMP imprint. But I have some other projects that can’t be delayed any longer. Thank you for your support over the past five years."
If you are a suitably qualified editor (have a Grad Dip/Degree in Editing and Publishing, or have worked as a magazine or book editor in a commercial setting) and would like some information about editing Aurealis, contact the publisher after January 2011 via the following email address: publisher <at> aurealis <dot> com <dot> au.

 

SpecFaction NSW Inc, the new organiser of the Aurealis Awards, is delighted to announce that HarperVoyager will be the exclusive sponsor of the 2010 awards presented in May next year.
 
Awards Co-convenor Nathan Burrage said, “The Aurealis Awards are Australia’s premier awards for Speculative Fiction and we’re delighted to be working with one of Australia’s top publishers, HarperVoyager, to present them for the first time in Sydney.”
 
“SpecFaction is a not for profit organisation and all our members are volunteers. Without the support of a sponsor like HarperVoyager, we could not hope to host the awards.”
 
HarperVoyager publish some of Australia’s biggest names in Speculative Fiction.
 
Stephanie Smith, Associate Publisher of HarperVoyager, said “HarperVoyager is delighted to be the sponsor of the Aurealis Awards in 2011. The awards have been instrumental in the development of the speculative fiction genre in Australia and are a source of pride for the genre community. Many Voyager authors have won, or been shortlisted for, the Aurealis Awards over the past 15 years, including such bestselling authors as Sara Douglass, Glenda Larke, Jennifer Fallon and Kylie Chan. Voyager’s enthusiasm for the genre and our commitment to seeing it grow and expand is as strong as ever.”
 
The Aurealis Awards, Australia's premier awards for genre fiction, are for works of speculative fiction written by an Australian citizen, or permanent resident, and published for the first time between 1 November 2009 and 31 December 2010.
 
Entries close on Friday 31 December 2010. Finalists will be announced in late March 2011 and winners will receive their awards at a gala evening ceremony held in Sydney on Saturday the 21st of May 2011.
 
All entries are read by an independent panel of judges.  As with past awards, sponsorship arrangements do not influence the judging process.
 
For more information on the Aurealis Awards, or how to enter, please visit www.aurealisawards.com

 

Office hours will be severely reduced over the summer school holidays. The editor will be on prolonged child minding duties. From 17 December 2010 to 6 February 2011 the office will be open only intermittently, affecting email response times and order shipment.

It will be impossible to read submissions during this time, so the editor is closing the office to ALL submissions over this time. Submissions open again from 7 February 2011.

Happy summer!

 

Ten authors including Paul Collins, Sean McMullen, Foz Meadows and Doug MacLeod will be signing their books on Dec 4 at Fairfield Bookshop, Fairfield, Melbourne at 11am, and Collins Booksellers, Northland, Melbourne at 1pm.

 

Australian writer, philosopher and literary critic, Russell Blackford, has reviewed each of of the 6 books in the Classic Australian SF series:

http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/09/reading-crowned-skull-by-fergus-hume.html

http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/09/reading-shrieking-pit-by-arthur-j-rees.html

http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/09/reading-vandals-of-void-by-james-morgan.html

http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/09/reading-bid-for-fortune-or-dr-nikolas.html

http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/09/reading-week-in-future-by-catherine.html

http://metamagician3000.blogspot.com/2010/09/currently-reading-out-of-silence-by.html

 

Aurealis in conjunction with Gleebooks is giving away 10 tickets to a very special event; Iain M Banks in conversation via Skype.

If you are a Sydney resident, and preferably an Aurealis subscriber, and would like the opportunity to hear the very excellent speaker that is Iain M Banks talk about his latest Culture novel, Surface Detail email the editor (editor@aurealis.com.au) and answer this simple question:

Where will Iain M Banks be speaking via Skype

The first 10 correct entries will win tickets.

Date: Wed 6 October
Time: 6pm for 6:30pm
Venue: Gleebooks, 29 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe

 

 

Known for his literary novels, science fiction and personal politics, Iain M. Banks will be in conversation LIVE in Sydney via Skype on 6 October for the release of his new novel SURFACE DETAIL published by Orbit.

Iain M. Banks’ highly publicised political actions have included tearing up his passport and posting it to 10 Downing Street, in protest of England's invasion of Iraq. As a stand for the environment he sold off his extensive car collection (including a Porsche Boxster, Jaguar Mark II and BMW M5) and doesn’t travel by plane.

Fortunately technology enables this special live Iain M. Banks event to occur in Sydney via Skype, so be sure not to miss this one-off event!

Date: Wed 6 October
Time: 6pm for 6:30pm
Cost: $10/$7 conc
Venue: Gleebooks, 29 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe
Bookings: (02) 9660 2333

 

Join us for the following Aurealis events at WorldCon on Sunday 5 September:

 

Launch of the Classic Australian SF series
11.00 in Room 203 with Jack Dann master of ceremonies

 

Classic Australian SF Panel
12.00 in Room 217 with Lucy Sussex, Ian Irvine and Sean McMullen

 

20 Years of Aurealis Panel
3.00 in Room 217 with Dirk Strasser, Stephen Higgins, Michael Pryor, Keith Stephenson, Stuart Mayne

 

And come to visit us at the Aurealis table in the Dealer’s Room at any time during the WorldCon (Thursday 2 September to Monday 6 September).

 

Dan Sultan, Ursula Yovich, Maggie Noonan, Shane Howard and Megan Washington will play the second Songs for Stories benefit concert on Sunday 22 August at 7:30pm at the Melbourne Town Hall, Swanston Street.

Hosted by bestselling children’s author Andy Griffiths, Songs for Stories is a celebration of words and music to raise urgently needed funds for books and literacy resources in remote Indigenous communities.

Songs for Stories is an initiative of The Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) in association with the Melbourne Writers Festival. Tickets are $65 and available now through the MWF Federation Square Box Office on 03 9999 1199 or online.

Have a look at the book trailer for Classic Australian SF http://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelJPryor