The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) is proud to announce its annual literary prize, the Australian Shadows Awards, is now open and seeking entries. This year, there is an important difference – the AHWA is offering a prize pool of $750 to the winners, making the Australian Shadows currently Australia’s richest genre fiction award.
The judges seek submissions in the following categories:
- Short Fiction (short stories up to 25,000 words)
- Long Fiction (novellas, novels, and single-author collections)
- Edited Publication (anthologies and magazine issues)
Works must be written or edited by Australians or New Zealanders, published in the 2010 calendar year, and have horror/dark fiction content either as a focal point or integral element.
Renowned horror literature critics Craig Bezant, Stephanie Gunn, and Jeff Ritchie comprise the preliminary judging panel, and authors Chuck McKenzie, Kaaron Warren, and Rocky Wood are the guest judges. The judges’ bios are listed on the Australian Shadows Awards website.
To arrange for work to be entered, contact Awards Director Shane Jiraiya Cummings via [email protected]. He will then supply the judges’ postal addresses and further information.
The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) is the peak professional body for Australian authors of dark fiction (horror, dark fantasy, and paranormal fiction) and has more than 250 members. The AHWA was founded in 2003, and since its incorporation in 2005, the Association has implemented an annual short story competition, a mentorship programme, online forums and resources, news and article archives, the fiction magazine Midnight Echo, and the Australian Shadows Awards.
The Australian Shadows is an annual literary award presented by the AHWA and judged on the overall effect – the skill, delivery, and lasting resonance – of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian. A shortlist of works in the categories of Long Fiction, Edited Publication, and Short Fiction is decided by a panel of three judges and presented to a Guest Judge in each category, who then selects the winners.
