Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Awards and Champagne

Nothing beats winning an award, but seeing good friends shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards comes pretty close!

This year Trent gets the bouquet for most shortlistings amongst the RORees. Trent's short story 'Delivery' is a finalist in the Science Fiction section. But, on the night, we'll also be cheering for Margo's 'The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross' and Tansy's 'Fleshy' in the same section. Trent's story, 'Day Boy', is a Finalist in the Horror section and, his story 'Cracks' is a Finalist in the Young Adult section, appearing with fellow RORee, Dirk's story titled, 'This is not my Story' (although, in this case it is!).

Richard is a Finalist in the Best Short Children's books section with 'Escape!, Under Siege, Race to the Ruins, the Heavy Crown'. (This one may also be up for the Longest Tittle!). Plus we'll be cheering for Margo in the Best Fantasy section with 'Tender Morsels' and Marianne in the SF section with 'Chaos Space.' On top of that, Rowena, Margo, Richard and Trent all have stories in 'Dreaming Again', which is a Finalist in the Best Anthology section. And Visiting Author, Cat Sparks's story 'Sammarynda Deep' is a Finalist in the Fantasy section.

So January 24th will be a big night for the RORees! Most of the Australian Speculative Fiction scene will be coming to Brisbane for the event. The awards evening is held at the Judith Wright Centre, entry only $27.50 per person. It's worth attending for the fun of catching up with everyone in the Ozzie spec fic scene.

Also over the weekend there will be the Recovery Breakfast, at 9.30 am, at the Stanford Hotel. And the Industry Seminar, 11am, at the Queensland Writers Centre. (Entry for this is included in the price of the award's ceremony ticket). So mark this weekend in your diary and come along. We're a friendly bunch!

I'd love to see my friends win, but ultimately the winner is Speculative Fiction, as we celebrate the genre. Congratulations to everyone who is a Finalist and a big Thank You to the team of volunteers who run the award.

Cheers, Rowena

4 comments:

Flinthart said...

...pretty sure I don't have a story in "Dreaming Again." At least, I don't remember submitting anything. But I'm very tired. Anything's possible.

Satima Flavell said...

You're not only a friendly bunch but a very clever one, Rowena. You can be proud of each other's achievements!

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

Sorry Launz. It was Dirk Strasser, not Dirk Flinthart. A mental slip on my part. I'll edit my post!

Cheers, R.

Rowena Cory Daniells said...

So true, Satima.

The Spec Fic genre is a remarkably friendly group to belong to.

Cheers, R.