April 2011

ROBIN HOBB will be at Dymocks in King Street, Newtown, Sydney, for a reading and book signing, from 6.30 to 8.30pm on 6 April (in between Supernova appearances). Admission $20, box office 02 9956 6771.

Sir TERRY PRATCHETT will be at Storey Hall, RMIT, Mebourne on April 12 for “Imagination, not intelligence, made us human”, presented by the Wheeler Centre. This event is booked out (ah, the limitations of a once-a-month format) but Wheeler Centre events are normally recorded and posted onto their website within a week of the event. (www.wheelercentre.com)

And pTerry will also be at the Sydney Opera House on April 17. Book by April 8 for the chance to have your Discworld book personalised. (www.sydneyoperahouse.com)

For those who didn’t catch the WILLIAM SHATNER update in last month’s Bullsheet, he will also be doing conventions while in Sydney and Melbourne in addition to his speaking engagements. Details can be found here: http://www.thehubproductions.com/events/star-trek-2011/home (submitted by Clare McDonald)

AWFULLY WONDERFUL: Science Fiction in Contemporary Art, part of Performance Space‘s Uneasy Futures theme, runs from 15 April –14 May, launching Thursday 14 April at 6pm (CarriageWorks, Sydney). Exploring a spectrum of seductive, terrifying and fantastic potential futures, the exhibition presents new and existing work by eleven Australian artists including time machines, hand made robots, meteorological instruments, interplanetary communication, mars gravity simulation, wearable technologies and apocalyptic visions. (www.performancespace.com.au)

Shearer’s Bookshop are hosting WHEN GENRES ATTACK! on Friday 13 May at 7.30pm. P.M. Newton, Kirsten Tranter and James Bradley will be discussing genre: Where does genre fiction end and literary fiction begin? What constitutes a genre? Will a work of speculative fiction ever win the Booker Prize? Bookings essential. (www.shearersbookshop.com.au)

AHWA (Australian Horror Writers Association) is seeking members to take on officer roles. Vacancies include Treasurer, Exec Editor for Midnight Echo mag; general committee member; Chat Rooms manager; Market Hive manager. Contact Leigh Blackmore at ahwa@australianhorror.com for more information. (www.australianhorror.com)

GRAHAM STORRS, author of TimeSplash (Lyrical Press, Inc., Feb. 2010), is now represented by literary agent Ineke Prochazka of Sydney-based agency The Book Harvest. (Submitted by Graham Storrs)

Holroyd Theatre Co. in Sydney is looking for more cast members to participate in their PRODUCTION OF MASKERADE, to be staged in June. They meet for rehearsals every Tuesday at 7:30pm at St Stephens Presbyterian Church Merrylands, on the corner of Merrylands and Monitor road. You can contact Matt on 0414 69 59 39 or just turn up next Tuesday. (Courtesy of Discworld Monthly)

NEW RELEASES

None. Really? Tell us about yours.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Voting for the 2011 NAFF closes midnight “Sunday 4 April” (so that’s either tonight or tomorrow night; cast your vote today to be sure). Voting forms are available at http://2011.swancon.com.au/naff-voting-form/ and http://ozfanfunds.com/NAFF_VOTING_2011.pdf.

The finalists for the AUREALIS AWARDS were announced in late March, with the winners to be announced on the 21 May. Congratulations to all the finalists. (www.aurealisawards.com)

Melbourne author and illustrator, and Oscar winner, SHAUN TAN has been awarded Sweden’s Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a prestigious children’s literature award named after the Swedish creator of Pippi Longstocking. (Submitted by K.A. Moylan)

CONVENTIONS

SWANCON/NATCON, SUPANOVA, and NULLUS ANXIETAS are all on in April.

A calendar of events can be found here: Australian Spec Fic Events Calendar.

Got more news? Add it in the comments and/or send an email to have it included in next month’s issue.