SpecFaction NSW co-convenor Nathan Burrage has announced that nominations are now open for the 2010 Aurealis Awards. Entry forms are available from the Aurealis Awards website.

NSW Writers Centre workshop "Writing the Fantastical" with Kate Forsyth. In the course, Kate will take participants through the many sub-genres of fantasy fiction along with practical techniques for creating fantasy fiction. The one-day course runs from 10am-4pm Sunday 8 August here at the NSW Writers Centre at Balmain Rd, Rozelle and costs $140 (full price), $100 (members) and $85 (concession members).

The Aurealis offices with be closed from 27 June – 4 July and will be open again from 5 July.

Weblog items appear first at our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/aurealisXpress
This is just a small selection of the items posted.

Check it out: Aurealis Magazine has a Facebook Page http://bit.ly/ax0oDx

Read Gary Kemble's Bug Hunt and other "One Book Many Brisbanes 5" winning stories http://bit.ly/bzMNU0

Big 4 Interviews at Burn Bright: Richard Harland, Isobelle Carmody, Alison Goodman, Kate Forsyth, Kim Wilkins  http://bit.ly/9owy6c and Margo Lanagan http://bit.ly/bLFWcB

Voyager Online reports that Maria Quinn, author of The Gene Thieves, has passed away http://bit.ly/dimGCC

Free wallpaper from Professional Artist Hugo nominee Shaun Tan at Tor.com http://bit.ly/abVpIt

Read Alert has details/links/video about the adaptation for film of Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing http://bit.ly/cAphs0

Email or tweet us details of your Oz SF-related events for our aurealisXpress Blog Calendar http://bit.ly/a0htl3

Garth Nix – "Adapt or perish: why authors need to prepare for the e-book era" http://bit.ly/aYQhoO

The following updates and details are now available at the Aussiecon 4 website.

* A Customs Broker has been appointed.

* The program participant and program ideas forms are now online.

* Art Show bookings are open.
        
* Dealers Room bookings are open.

* Fan table bookings are open.

* Short Story Competition closing 31 May.
       
* Site Selection voting open.

* Hotel Bookings.

* Disability Services: register your needs.

* See who else is attending other than the Guests of Honour.

After 15 years the Aurealis Awards, Australia's premier awards for Speculative Fiction, finally make it to Sydney. Chimaera Publications, the publishers of Aurealis magazine and owner of the Aurealis Awards and book imprint, have reached agreement for SpecFaction NSW Inc to administer the Awards for 2010.

The Awards’ founder, Dirk Strasser says, “Fantastic Queensland took the Aurealis Awards to a new level during its six years, and all the signs indicate that SpecFaction NSW Inc will maintain this standard of excellence. With Sydney now joining past hosts Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, we can truly claim the Aurealis Awards as fully national.”

To allow sufficient time for entries this year, the nomination period will extend to 31 December 2010 and the Awards ceremony will be late April/early May 2011.

The Awards website will continue to be at www.aurealisawards.com. The Co-convenors are Nathan Burrage and Susan Wardle, and general queries should go to nscrypt@gmail.com until the website has been updated. If you wish to register an expression of interest in being on one of the judging panels for this year, please email the Judging Coordinator, Keith Stevenson, at aajudges@optusnet.com.au.

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Association of New Zealand is please to announce this year's finalists for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards.
 
Something Better Than Death by Lucy Sussex, published in Aurealis #42, and Paul Haines' Spot of Liver from TMP's Slice of Life are amongst the finalists in the Short Story category.
 
The voting will occur at Au Contraire – the national science fiction convention being held in Wellington, New Zealand over the weekend of the 27 – 29 August 2010. All Au Contraire attendees and SFFANZ members are entitled to vote. For more information about Au Contraire — including how to obtain tickets to attend — please visit their website.

Weblog items appear first at our Twitter page: http://twitter.com/aurealisXpress

Teen Writers Get Serious with Melina Marchetta. NSW Writers Centre workshop April 24th http://bit.ly/b9oBIV

Aussiecon 4's Hugo Ballot is now online. Deadline 31st July 2010 http://bit.ly/9ySAua

Larbalestier, Harland & Murray shortlisted for Ethel Turner Prize, NSW Premier's Literary Award http://bit.ly/dp6Txj

Deborah Biancotti, Kaaron Warren, Amanda Pillar & Jennifer Brozek took out the Australian Shadows Awards http://bit.ly/9edoIm

Jonathan Strahan: New book cover for Legends of Australian Fantasy!! http://brizzly.com/pic/1WKH

The Book Show asks "how are local writers coping with the Harry Potter and Twilight phenomena?" http://bit.ly/cT7U29

Kate Eltham shares 3 books that have had an impact in her life for ABC RN's Off the Shelf segment http://bit.ly/cfpdqa mp3 or stream

New Galactic Suburbia podcast up! http://bit.ly/cb5SUn Episode 2 & 3

Karen Healey (@kehealey) – Writing From A Strange Land: The Imaginative Displacement of Margaret Mahy http://bit.ly/cnNRHJ @strangehorizons

Recommend "strongly Australian" stories for @editormum75's reprint anthology Australis Imaginarium http://bit.ly/boSzjG

Read Alert has Shaun Tan's Adelaide Festival Award acceptance speech http://bit.ly/9GKeG7

Melina Marchetta on The Conversation Hour http://bit.ly/a6SoRh mp3 download

Up now TISF 17: Ben Peek reads 'Under The Red Sun', Keith reviews Mirror Space. Free at www.tisf.com.au or iTunes.

Australian Spec Fic blog carnival, March 2010 http://bit.ly/9HRWbZ

The Aurealis office will be closed during school holidays, 27 March – 11 April.

The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) has selected thirteen of the best and scariest works of horror fiction from 2009 as the finalists in the annual Australian Shadows Award, the highest honour for horror, dark fantasy, and paranormal fiction in Australia and New Zealand. And one of those is Aurealis issue 42 in the edited publication category.

More information can be found at the Australian Horror Writers Association website.