Friday, February 02, 2007

Australian Shadows judge

I've accepted an an invitation from Australian Shadows Award director Kirstyn McDermott to join the judging panel.

Myself and two other judges will prepare a short-list for the guest judge.

It's a great honour to be asked and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into Australian horror and also contributing something to the community.

(For those who don't know, the Australian Shadows is an annual award presented by the Australian Horror Writers Association and judged on the overall effect - the skill, delivery, and lasting resonance - of a work of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian and published either in Australia or overseas.)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi computers,

Thanks! Australian horror, I think, is held back by the fact that it's a niche market and the Australian market is very small. So it's hard for Australian authors to make a mark internationally.

Off the top of my head, I'd recommend The Darkness Within by Jason Nahrung and Mil Clayton, Prismatic by Edwina Grey (both by Hachette Australia), or for a general overview of short fiction by Australian horror writers, Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror (Brimstone Press).

Email me - garykemble@yahoo.com.au - if you'd like more info eg on where to get these.

There is a long tradition of horror in Australia.

I don't know about 'carving out respect'. I think Australian horror is below the radar for most Australian readers, just because of the problems I mentioned earlier with getting books on shelves in major bookstores. But maybe the arrival of Hachette in Australia will help this -- they certainly did a great job with The Darkness Within.

Unknown said...

The previous comment might seem a bit weird. Got sucked into replying to a comment linking back to a commercial site. Still, my response stands!