Aurealis magazine has been successful in its grant application from the Australia Council Literature Board for 2008. This will mean increased pay rates for Australian authors appearing in issues #41 and #42 to be published in 2008. Now is the time to send us your best story for consideration. See our guidelines. Now is also the time to take out a subscription to Aurealis as our policy has always been to fast-track the reading and evaluation of submissions from subscribers.

Congratulations to the finalists for the 2007 Aurealis Awards!

Winners will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 26 January 2008.

best science fiction novel
Marianne De Pierres, Dark Space, Orbit
Jack Heath, Remote Control, Pan Macmillan
David Kowalski, The Company of the Dead, Pan Macmillan
Sean Williams, Saturn Returns, Orbit
best science fiction short story
Simon Brown, ‘Lonely as Life’, Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications
Penelope Love, ‘Whitey’, Shadow Plays, Elise Bunter
Chris McMahon, ‘The Eyes of Erebus’, Daikaiju! 2 – Revenge of the Giant Monsters, Agog! Press
Cat Sparks, ‘Arctica’, Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications
Cat Sparks, ‘Hollywood Roadkill’, On Spec, #69
best fantasy novel
Jennifer Fallon, The Gods of Amyrantha, The Tide Lords Book Two, Harper Collins/Voyager
Lian Hearn, Heaven’s Net is Wide, Tales of the Otori The First Book, Hachette Livre
Sylvia Kelso, The Moving Water, Book 2 of the Rihannar Chronicles, Thomson Gale
Glenda Larke, Song of the Shiver Barrens, The Mirage Makers Book Three, Harper Collins/Voyager
Michael Pryor, Heart of Gold, Second Volume of The Laws of Magic, Random House
best fantasy short story
R J Astruc, ‘The Perfume Eater’, Strange Horizons, #16
Adam Browne, ‘An Account of an Experiment by Adam Browne’, Orb Speculative Fiction, #7
Garth Nix, ‘Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again’, Jim Baen’s Universe, April 2007
Angela Slatter, ‘The Angel Wood’, Shimmer, November 2006
Cat Sparks, ‘A Lady of Adestan’, Orb Speculative Fiction, #7
best horror novel
The panel of judges for this division declined to select a short list from the nominated works.
However, the winning novel will be announced at the ceremony.
best horror short story
Terry Dowling, ‘Toother’, Eclipse, #1
Richard Harland, ‘Special Perceptions’, At Ease with the Dead, Ash-Tree Press
Rick Kennett, ‘The Dark and What It Said’, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, #28
Ben Peek, ‘Black Betty’, Lone Star Stories, #23
Anna Tambour, ‘The Jeweller of Second-Hand Roe’, Subterranean, #7
best young adult novel
Kate Constable, Taste of Lightning, Allen & Unwin
Anthony Eaton, Skyfall, UQP
Juliet Marillier, Cybele’s Secret, Pan Macmillan
Michael Pryor, Heart of Gold, Second Volume of The Laws of Magic, Random House
Scott Westerfeld, Extras, Simon Pulse
best young adult short story
Deborah Biancotti, ‘A Scar for Leida’, Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications
Shane Jiraiya Cummings, ‘Yamabushi Kaidan and the Smoke Dragon’, Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications
Garth Nix, ‘Bad Luck, Trouble, Death and Vampire Sex’, Eclipse, #1
Garth Nix, ‘Holly and Iron’, Dark Alchemy, Allen & Unwin
Tracey Rolfe, ‘Cast Off’, Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications
best children’s (8-12 years) long fiction
Isobelle Carmody, A Mystery of Wolves, Penguin Books
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
Emily Rodda, The Key to Rondo, Omnibus Books
Carole Wilkinson, Dragon Moon, Black Dog Books
best children’s (8-12 years) short fiction
Luke Edwards, Ock Von Fiend, Omnibus Books
Anna Fienberg & Barbara Fienberg, Tashi and The Mixed Up Monster, Allen & Unwin
Marc McBride, World of Monsters, Scholastic Australia
Briony Stewart, Kumiko and the Dragon, UQP

The Aurealis Awards Gala Ceremony will be held on 26 January 2008.
For ticket info or more detail on the Aurealis Awards, visit the website:
www.aurealisawards.com

Antipodean writers are well represented in Ruins Terra, an anthology with a great Bob Eggleton cover, out from US spec fic publisher Hadley Rille Books. The local authors are Jenny Blackford and Ivan Sun from Melbourne, and Lyn McConchie and Doug Van Belle from New Zealand. Ruins Terra has a US RRP of $13.95. It is available now from online booksellers including Ziesing Books and amazon.co.uk, and it should be available at a discounted price from amazon.com by Christmas.

Terry Dowling’s Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear (Cemetery Dance Publications) was announced the joint winner of the International Horror Guild award for best collection at the World Fantasy Convention in Saratago Springs, New York.

The Sir Julius Vogel sub-committee of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand  is currently accepting nominations for science fiction and fantasy works first published in the 2007 calendar year.
Nominations open on November 1, 2007 and close on January 26, 2008.
You can find full details about the nomination procedures and rules, including eligibility criteria. Detailed nomination FAQ are available.
To make a nomination please email:  sjv_awards@sffanz.sf.org.nz. Please send one nomination per email and include as many contact details as possible for the nominee as well as yourself.
For more information about SFFANZ and the SJV Awards, please go to the SFFANZ web-site.

    Saturday 1 December: IP Picks National Writing Competition for Unpublished Manuscripts closes. Now in its seventh year, the IP Picks national writing competition is now open for submissions! Offering royalty publication to the winners in the Best Fiction, Best Creative Non-fiction, Best Poetry and Best First Book, the competition offers an excellent opportunity for established and emerging authors to be published with one of Australia's leading independent publishers. Highly Commended and Commended entries are also considered for publication. To see the conditions and download an entry form, and to view past winners, please go to http://www.ipoz.biz/ip/ip_picks.htm

Thursday, 25 October: Speculative Fiction Reading. Lucy Sussex, Andrew Macrae and Jane Routley, three local Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, will read from their work at the Northcote Library as part of the Northern Notes Writers Festival. 32-38 Separation Street Northcote, 6:30 – 7:30pm. This is a free event – all welcome.

Speculative Fiction
with Lucy Sussex
Workshop: How do you speculate in fiction? Can you write science fiction without being a scientist? And how can crazy ideas be turned into credible stories? This workshop is aimed at beginning to intermediate writers of the non-realistic, the futuristic, and the fabulous. It will discuss and provide exercises in ideas creation, story development, creating an alternate world, and workshopping fictions. Writers are required to bring along a favourite example of science fiction writing, and a story idea. They are also required to submit a sample of their fiction (no more than 1000 words), prior to the workshop. Learn how to let your imagination play, and have the great fun of turning ideas into narratives.

For further information and Lucy’s bio visit the Victorian Writers Centre website and click on upcoming events and training courses

When: Saturday 6 October, 10am-4pm
Where: VWC Space 1st floor Nicholas Blg 37 Swanston St Melbourne
Cost: Non-member $130, VWC Member $90 / $80VWC conc
Bookings: 9654 9068

Bernadette Foley, Publisher, Orbit Australia is reading submissions for the new Australian SF imprint and remarked, "My colleague Deonie Fiford and I are reading the submissions. We would prefer full manuscripts rather than sample chapters and an outline. And we would also like the author to include some information about themselves."

Ms Foley told Aurealis, "The three most important points are:

1. People need to be patient. We will read everything we receive but it will take time.
2. If submissions are to be returned we need correctly stamped self-addressed envelopes.
3. And, we would prefer hardcopies rather than emails as they are easier to keep track of."

Send manuscripts to:
Bernadette Foley, Orbit Australia, Hachette Livre, Level 17, 207 Kent Street, Sydney 2000

    Agog! Press is pleased to announce a new anthology of speculative fiction to be launched at Swancon 2008. Working title 'Canterbury 2100', edited by Dirk Flinthart, is open for submissions from Australian and New Zealand authors until 1 December 2007. Standard manuscript formatting applies. Payment offered: AUS $30 plus a copy of the anthology. Email your submissions as .rtf or .doc files to Dirk Flinthart at: canterbury2100 at gmail.com