The 2008 Ditmar Shortlist has been published. Congratulations to Rjurik Davidson on his nomination for Domine, published in issue #37 of Aurealis.

In the tradition of the Datlow/Windling and Gardner Dozois edited Year's Best anthologies comes the third in the award winning series, The Year's Best Australian SF & Fantasy, edited by Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt.

'… a staple guide to what's newest and best Down Under.' and '… the best introduction you'd get to the very best in the field.' Van Ikin, Sydney Morning Herald.
'Editors Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt once again serve up an excellent selection of the previous year's top imaginative short stories.' Terry Dowling, Weekend Australian.
'Anyone who eschews this collection because "sci-fi isn't literary" is an idiot.' Lucy Sussex, The Age.
'There’s been an explosion in science fiction writing in Australia. More writers, more stories, a higher standard and greater international recognition than ever before. With the Year’s Best series we’re bringing the best of the small press – and the best of the stories published overseas – to a wider audience.' says Congreve.
The Year’s Best Australian SF & Fantasy, Third Annual Volume, edited by Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt, is the latest release from MirrorDanse Books, Australia’s oldest and most successful independent publisher of SF.

Justine Larbelestier was interviewed by Fantasy Magazine, along with Ekaterina Sedia, Scott Westerfeld was interviewed by Public Radio International, and Justine and Scott were interviewed together by The Village Voice.

 Jonathan Strahan and Jack Dann are amongst a group of authors asked "What purpose does Short Fiction serve?" by SF Signal.

 

Ian Irvine's latest and probably last (and definitely the best) book trailer,
for his three ecothrillers has been posted on youtube.

If anyone's wondering what it takes to put together a decent trailer, here's
the inventory:

• Picture research, approx 24 hours. They're all public domain images, ie free for any use. To buy from photo libraries would be at least $1500.
• Music research, about 6 hours in royalty-free music sites. Limited licence cost about $50.
• Font research, 2 hrs. Fonts, $20.
• Writing the script: about 15 hours getting the words right, and considering there's only a few hundred of them, that's a lot of work per word, but worth every penny.
• Misc time viewing prelims, troubleshooting etc, at least 6 hours.
• Ian's son putting it together in Premiere: 10.5 hours.

Is it worth it as a book promo investment? Good question. Ian'll let you know in due course.

Allen & Unwin publisher Louise Thurtell has recently taken on an absolutely terrific fantasy manuscript, received via Friday Pitch. The as yet unnamed manuscript will be published next January.
 
Subscribers should be reminded that the Friday Pitch is still on-going. Email submissions must be sent on a Friday, with the first chapter and synopsis attached in Word for PC files or files compatible with Word for PC. If the prologue or first chapter is very short (less than 5 A4 pages) you're welcome to send a second chapter.
 
Initially A&U respond with a brief pro-forma email by the following Friday saying whether Ms Thurtell is interested in pursuing further material or not. Send submissions, only on a Friday to: louiset@allenandunwin.com

Jill Rowbotham has interviewed Sean McMullen for the Higher Education Australian. It'll be in this Saturday's (9 February) Australian.

Paul Collins was interviewed on Station 31's NatChat show on January 18: http://www.nat.org.au/chat.html

Chimaera Publications and Aurealis magazine would like to congratulate all the shortlisted writers and winners of the 2007 Aurealis Awards. The field was of a particularly high standard this year, indicative of the increasing quality of Australian speculative fiction.

Fantastic Queensland should be congratulated for the quality of the Awards weekend and the friendliness with which everyone is welcomed. Thank you Ron, Kate and Damon for your hard work and calmness amidst the action.
 
best science fiction novel
David Kowalski, The Company of the Dead, Pan Macmillan
best science fiction short story
Cat Sparks, ‘Hollywood Roadkill’, On Spec, #69
best fantasy novel
Lian Hearn, Heaven’s Net is Wide, Tales of the Otori The First Book, Hachette Livre
best fantasy short story
Garth Nix, ‘Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again’, Jim Baen’s Universe, April 2007
best horror novel
Susan Parisi, Blood of Dreams, Penguin Group (Australia)
best horror short story
Anna Tambour, ‘The Jeweller of Second-Hand Roe’, Subterranean, #7
best young adult novel
Anthony Eaton, Skyfall, UQP
best young adult short story
Deborah Biancotti, ‘A Scar for Leida’, Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications
best children’s (8-12 years) long fiction
Kate Forsyth, The Silver Horse, The Chain of Charms 2, Pan Macmillan
Kate Forsyth, The Herb of Grace, The Chain of Charms 3, Pan Macmillan
Kate Forsyth, The Cat’s Eye Shell, The Chain of Charms 4, Pan Macmillan
Kate Forsyth, The Lightning Bolt, The Chain of Charms 5, Pan Macmillan
Kate Forsyth, The Butterfly in Amber, The Chain of Charms 6, Pan Macmillan
best children’s (8-12 years) short fiction (tied)
Marc McBride, World of Monsters, Scholastic Australia
and
Briony Stewart, Kumiko and the Dragon, UQP
Peter McNamara Convenors' Award for Excellence
Terry Dowling, Rynemonn, Coeur de Lion Publications
Terry Dowling has long been a respected writer of science fiction and supporter of the speculative fiction community. In 2007 his book Rynemonn was released. This work is theculmination of the exceptional Tom Rynosseros stories that Dowling haspublished over more than a decade.
His work fits comfortably next to genre fiction writers such as Ray Bradbury or Ursula K. LeGuin. His literary skill and richness of storytelling equally bring to mind comparisons with writers such as Isak Dinesen and Thornton Wilder.
Therefore, the convening judges of the Aurealis Awards 2007 have awarded the Peter McNamara Convenors' Award for Excellence to Terry Dowling for Rynemonn, his magnum opus of the Tom Rynosseros/Tom Tyson saga.
GOLDEN AUREALIS
Novel: David Kowalski, The Company of the Dead, Pan Macmillan
Short Story: Cat Sparks, ‘Hollywood Roadkill’, On Spec, #69

Sci Phi, edited by Jason Reddie of The Sci Phi Show,  is a new journal aimed at readers who like science fiction but want to think about its implications a little more.  Each issue contains short stories and articles which look at various philosophical ideas through the lens of science fiction.

Issue #1 contains stories and articles by Matt Wallace, Paul S. Jenkins, Lee Battersby, Jason Pomerantz, Geoffrey Maloney, Michael Spence, Stephen Dedman, Ben Goertzel and Stephan Vladimir Bugaj, Ryan Nichols, and Jason Rennie.

The Sci Phi Journal comes in various  formats, including an audio book (mp3 format) for your listening pleasure.  All stories and articles are professionally read.
 
One of the highlights of the first issue is  an article which explores the concept of "Lookism" prejudice based on the ideas in  the Ted Chiang story, "Liking What You See: A Documentary."
 
Cost is $7 per issue, available from http://sciphijournal.com/