Australian Shadows Awards Finalists Announced

Here’s some very shiny news indeed! The finalists for the 2010 Australian Shadows Awards have just been announced and I’ve managed to get myself shortlisted twice!

This annual literary award is presented by the Australian Horror Writers Association and is judged on the overall effect – the skill, delivery, and lasting resonance – of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian.

I’m incredibly pleased to have both a novel (Madigan Mine) and a short story (“She Said” from Scenes from the Second Storey) make the final cut in such a strong field. Seriously, just take a look at the other names included on the list of finalists:

LONG FICTION

• Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott (Picador Australia)
• The Girl With No Hands by Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healy (Allen & Unwin)
• Under Stones by Bob Franklin (Affirm Press)
• Bleed by Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)

EDITED PUBLICATION

• Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis & Marty Young (Brimstone Press)
• Scenes From The Second Storey, edited by Amanda Pillar & Pete Kempshall (Morrigan Books)
• Dark Pages 1, edited by Brenton Tomlinson (Blade Red Press)
• Scary Kisses, edited by Liz Gryzb (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Midnight Echo #4, edited by Lee Battersby (AHWA)

SHORT FICTION

• “Bread and Circuses” by Felicity Dowker (Scary Kisses)
• “Brisneyland by Night” by Angela Slatter (Sprawl)
• “She Said” by Kirstyn McDermott (Scenes from the Second Storey)
• “All The Clowns In Clowntown” by Andrew J. McKiernan (Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears)
• “Dream Machine” by David Conyers (Scenes from the Second Storey)

The winners of the Australian Shadows Award will be announced on 15 April 2011.

A hearty congratulations to all the finalists!