The Aurealis Awards are one of my favourite events on the literary calendar, a crash of companionship, congratulations and commiserations, but above all, good company drawn from the ranks of the Aussie speculative fiction community — agents, publishers, writers, readers.
Sadly, my study schedule means I probably won’t be at them this year — the first I’ve missed since, I think, 2007 — but I hope to catch up with many folks at Bundy WriteFest in Bundaberg in May and Continuum in Melbourne in June.
If you’re able to get to Canberra for the awards on April 11 — tickets are $40 before March 11, $50 thereafter — get along and share the love! Margo Lanagan is the host for the evening’s shenanigans — that should be a hoot, right there!
The awards also make a darn fine suggested reading list if you’re interested in what Aussie spec fic writers are into, so keep an eye out for the finalists when they’re released soonish.
Addendum (27 Feb): finalists have been released and can be found here
Also on the radar is GenreCon, an industry get together with lots of panels and bar time to find out what’s what in the genre world. That’s in Brisbane at the end of October. Again, sadly, I probably won’t be going due to a family event at the same time, but it’s well worth the effort.
