by Chimaera Publications

Aurealis #46 now available for FREE (for a limited time only)

Aurealis #46 is now available for FREE, but hurry because it won't remain free indefinitely.  Downloads are available in all e-reading formats: iPads, iPhones, Android tablets and phones, Kindles, Kobo readers, pdfs for PCs etc from Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100597

It is currently also available in various ebookstores such as the Amazon, the Apple iBookstore, and Barnes and Noble.

This second electronic edition includes an absolute ripper of a hard science fiction story by Greg Mellor and a zombie tale with a difference by Andrew J McKiernan, as well as an interview with Felicity Pulman, news, reviews and more.

The next issue, Aurealis #47, will be available in February 2012.  There will be 10 monthly issues in 2012 (every month except January and December).  Aurealis subscribers will receive email information in February on how to continue to receive issues of Aurealis for free.

by Chimaera Publications

Launch of the new monthly Aurealis

Chimaera Publications has decided that a publication devoted to fantasy and science fiction should be at the forefront of change and that digital publication is the future.  We believe that Aurealis will gain a much wider readership and will ultimately be able to pay contributors more with the launch of the new Aurealis.  So, from October 2011 we will exploring some new worlds:

1. Aurealis will become a monthly epublication with downloads available in all e-reading formats: iPads, iPhones, Android tablets and phones, Kindles, Kobo readers, pdfs for PCs etc.  It will appear every month except December and January, which means 10 issues a year.

2. This Aurealis epublication will effectively be a merger between Aurealis print magazine and AurealisXpress.  Each monthly issue will consist of 2 stories, (+ possibly 1 article), plus reviews and news as per AurealisXpress.  In the short term AurealisXpress will continue to run in parallel with Aurealis epublication.

3. In addition to this we will also publish a series of Aurealis print anthologies which will feature the best of the Aurealis epublication stories.

4. Current Aurealis subscribers will receive at least the number of stories owed to them, and long term subscribers will also receive copies of the anthologies.

5. Our aim is for Aurealis to gain professional status with the SFWA within two years (which means payment rates of at least 5 cents a word).

Download Aurealis #45 for free from from http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91794 (or go to www.smashwords.com and search for "Aurealis").  Aurealis will also be available from other online retailers such the iBooks store shortly. Aurealis #46 will be available in November 2011.  Aurealis #47 in February 2012 and Aurealis #48 in March 2012.

by Chimaera Publications

Aurealis #45 – now available as FREE e-publication

Aurealis has been publishing continuously since 1990, but this issue is its first e-publication. Now, and into the future, Aurealis will become a monthly epublication with downloads available in all e-reading formats: iPads, iPhones, Android tablets and phones, Kindles, Kobo readers, pdfs for PCs etc.

Aurealis #45 features the return of the legendary bunyipslayer in a brilliant story by Lachlan Huddy, a harrowing fairy tale from Aimee Smith, and an interview with Glenda Larke, as well as reviews, news and more.

You can download the issue FREE from Smashwords in a variety of formats:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91794

by Chimaera Publications

International Short Story Collection – 'The World to Come'

Patrick West and Om Dwivedi seek previously unpublished short stories for an international collection about 'the world to come'… whatever it might be… wherever it might be… and whoever will be there, or not, to call our present past. 3000 to 5000 words. Please email contributions as a Word document attachment to om_dwivedi2003@yahoo.com and patrick.west@deakin.edu.au.

Full details are here.

Closing date: 29 February 2012

 

by Chimaera Publications

2011 Aurealis Awards open for entries

SpecFaction NSW are delighted to announce that the 2011 Aurealis Awards are now open to entries.

The Aurealis Awards, Australia's premier awards for Speculative Fiction, are for works of speculative fiction written by an Australian citizen, or permanent resident, and published for the first time between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011.

2011 Aurealis Award’s co-convenor, Chris Barnes, says “Last year the Aurealis Awards received over 600 entries across twelve categories ranging from Best Horror Short Story to Best Fantasy Novel, Young Adult Fiction and Children’s Picture Book. We’re looking forward to another bumper crop of entries for the 2011 Awards.”

 

“These awards are unique, in that each category is judged by a panel of judges. Our judges are drawn from a range of literary backgrounds and experience including; editors for both small and mainstream press, librarians, critics and published authors.”

 

“We’re delighted to be able to again host the awards in Sydney,” Mr Barnes added.

Entries close on 31 December 2011. Finalists will be announced in March 2012 and winners announced at a special presentation evening in Sydney in May 2012. For more information on the awards or to register your entry, go to the Aurealis Awards website at www.aurealisawards.com.

 

For more information contact the Awards co-convenors, Chris Barnes and Susan Wardle, at convenors@aurealisawards.com.

 

by Chimaera Publications

2011 Aurealis Awards to stay in Sydney

Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW are delighted to announce that the 2011 Aurealis Awards will again be organised by SpecFaction NSW and held in Sydney.

Aurealis Awards Co-convenor, Susan Wardle, said that after the success of the 2010 Awards, SpecFaction was thrilled to be back on board as the organisers of the event.

The nomination period for the 2011 Aurealis Awards is from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011. The awards website is expected to be ready to accept entries from mid-July 2011.

The awards website is at www.aurealisawards.com.

Queries can be addressed to convenors@aurealisawards.com.

If you wish to register an interest in being on a judging panel please email the Judging Coordinator at judges@aurealisawards.com.

by Chimaera Publications

2010 Aurealis Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 2010 Aurealis Awards, sponsored by HarperVoyager, were announced at a gala event in Sydney on 21st of May.  There were around 600 entries across the thirteen categories.  This year's winners joined the role call of past winners such as Garth Nix, Isobelle Carmody, Sara Douglass, Shaun Tan, Trudi Canavan and Sean Williams.

 

CHILDREN'S FICTION (told primarily through words)
·      The Keepers, Lian Tanner, Allen & Unwin

 

CHILDREN'S FICTION (told primarily through pictures)
·      The Boy and the Toy,  Sonya Hartnett (writer) & Lucia Masciullo (illustrator), Penguin Viking

 

YOUNG ADULT Short Story
·      A Thousand Flowers, Margo Lanagan, Zombies and Unicorns, Allen & Unwin

 

YOUNG ADULT Novel
·      Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey, Allen & Unwin

 

BEST Illustrated Book/ Graphic Novel
·      Changing Ways Book 1, Justin Randall, Gestalt Publishing

 

BEST COLLECTION
·      The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter, Ticonderoga Publications

 

BEST ANTHOLOGY
·      Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon, Night Shade Books

 

HORROR Short Fiction
·      The Fear, Richard Harland, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, Brimstone Press

 

HORROR Novel
·      Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott, Pan Macmillan
 
FANTASY Short Story (joint winners)
·      The February Dragon, LL Hannett & Angela Slatter, Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications
·      Yowie, Thoraiya Dyer, Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press

 

FANTASY Novel
·      Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)

 

SCIENCE FICTION Short Story
·      The Heart of a Mouse, K.J. Bishop, Subterranean Online (Winter 2010)

 

SCIENCE FICTION Novel
·      Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)

by Chimaera Publications

Shaun Tan does it again!

You would think it is impossible to top getting an Oscar, but Shaun Tan has managed it by winning the world's richest children's literature award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (worth 5m kroner or A$765,000).  As a comparison, the Man Booker International Prize is worth a mere A$93,620!  The decision to give him the award was anonymous.  The prize (like the Nobel prize) is given for a body of work.  (Who knows, the judges may have looked at the great work he did for Aurealis.)

by Chimaera Publications

Aurealis Awards Ceremony 21 May 2011

The winners of this year's Aurealis Awards and the Peter McNamara Award will be announced in Sydney at the Aurealis Awards ceremony, sponsored by Harper Voyager, on the evening of Saturday the 21st of May. Details of the evening and a link to the online booking website are available at www.aurealisawards.com.  Early bird tickets are available for $29 per person until 16 April.  The venue's maximun seating capacity is 300, so make sure you don't miss out.  The night will begin with the HarperVoyager cocktail party at 6.30.  The after party (venue to be announced at the ceremony) will start at 10.00.  Dress is formal/cocktail.  Come and join us in a celebration of Australian speculative fiction.