It’s been a while since I’ve done this so please bear with me…

Ok relax. I’m not going to invoke golden ages or lights on the hill.

The first thing I want to do is to welcome my co-editor Stuart Mayne. Stuart will be writing his share of the editorials in the future. Next issue we will interview ourselves so you can get to know us and get an idea of where we are coming from.

When I last had a lot to do with Aurealis, we were incredibly pleased with the fact that we got the magazine up and running, kept it going and made it grow. The fact that the magazine is still going strong is a source of great pride for all of us who are involved in it. That, of course, should include the writers. Where would we be without them? Ok we would save a lot on writer’s payments but I can’t help thinking that something would be missing. But it is the writer’s who determine the nature of this magazine and we have been blessed over the years with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to story selection. And it is going to get better.

Rather than talk of a new Golden Age of Australian SF (and there have been plenty of those) I prefer to think of the Australian SF scene as simply continuing to evolve. There seems to be a settling going on. It isn’t as if the Australian SF community is maturing…That implies stagnation or at best, an acceptance of what we are and what we can be. I still get a sense of vibrancy: Not so much that there are new worlds waiting to be discovered as new writers waiting to write them. Strange new worlds maybe….Hell, strange new writers for all I know.

For all of the people who have been buying and reading Aurealis for some time, thanks for sticking with us. If you are just joining us….There are plenty of back copies available. Look if we are going to keep this going we can’t stay all poetic and inspirational ALL the time.

Lots of stories. Lots of writers…old and new. Heaps of good stuff. Hope you like it.

Stephen Higgins