November has already been a busy month, and it is going to get busier! Which is why we are sending this mini update out of schedule.
Launch of Never Say Die
Thank you to everyone who came to our launch event for Never Say Die last night at Smith’s Alternative. We had such a great turnout that we were bursting out the door of the room and ran out of chairs, for which we as the committee are truly so grateful to have seen. We had some amazing readings from C.H. Pearce, Emma Gerts, and Merri Andrew, and we sold out of our limited edition launch copies hand bound by Charis at Star Bookbinding.
Never fear if you missed out on a copy! We have plenty more which will be available for sale at the upcoming Geek Markets on 22 November, as well as posters of the fantastic cover art by Madison Lee.
If you can’t make it to the markets, you can purchase a physical or e-book copy through the CSFG online store.
(left to Right) C.H. Pearce, Emma Gerts, and Merri Andrew giving readings during the Never Say Die launch event.
Photos from Americo Alvarenga and C.H. Pearce.
November Monthly Meeting Cancelled
Due to limited availability of the new committee, we are unfortunately going to have to cancel our monthly meeting for November.
But never fear! If you are going to miss all our company, we have more events lined up which will interest you!
Macabre Dreams: Strange Creations
The reason that we have so many committee members away is because we are all going to be at the upcoming Lost Souls event Strange Creations!
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Love bizarre and beautiful art? We’ve got a night of strange creations for you!
Come along for stories of hair with a will of its own, shadow flowers, monsters beyond the garden and much more. There will be haunting, emo-country inspired music. And the macabre, springtime birth of LOST SOULS MAGAZINE Issue 2.
Featuring performances by Dr Cobi Calyx, Fionn MacPherson, S.R. Underschultz, Imogen Wall and Brendan Vincent. Hosted by Ben O’Mara from Lost Souls Magazine.
Gather with us to enjoy some weird blooms of creativity as spring nears its end!
Buy tickets at Humantix here: https://events.humanitix.com/strange-creations-readings-and-music
CSFG members get a discount on entry to the event. Thank you to Ben O’Mara and the Lost Souls team for their ongoing support of the Guild!
Special General Meeting
Do you love numbers? Do you adore paperwork? Well in which case do we have just the event for you. The committee needs to hold a special general meeting to update members on our finances for the financial year 2024-2025. To do this, we are booking in a Special General Meeting for 15 December 2025. Tis the season!
You can see the agenda for the meeting here: SGM Agenda
A zoom link will be circulated ahead of the meeting.
Geek Markets X-Mas Edition
CSFG will be at the upcoming Geek Markets on Saturday 22 November from 9am-5pm! We will have a table selling our merch and guild member’s stock, as well as hosting a Flash Fiction workshop.
We are still looking for volunteers for the table, and you can sign up here if you are interested: Geek Markets Volunteer Sheet.
Anyone who volunteers at least 2 hours of their time gets to waive the CSFG sale commission on any of their stock sold! You also get to hang out with a cool crowd, and we will turn a blind eye if you eat too many of the table lollies.
If you want to have your stock on the table, you can fill out our Seller’s Agreement form to register your details and your stock. Reach out to a member of the committee if you have any questions!
December Crit Group Meetings
The close of 2025 is less creeping towards us and more moving at a dead sprint in our direction. This means it’s time for some reflection, and some planning. Traditionally, December’s crit group meetings have been an opportunity for members to discuss what they felt did and did not work within the group format, and possible improvements to be made in the coming year.
As such, Short Story Crit Group and Novel Crit Group will not be taking or reading submissions for the month of December, and instead will be hosting Critique Critique group during the meeting times.
If you have ideas for how you want to see critique groups run for next year, then this is your big chance to share those ideas with us! We encourage anyone who is interested to come along, or to submit ideas in writing to [email protected] if you aren’t able to make the meeting itself.
If critiquing writing makes you a better writer, then no doubt critiquing critique will make better critters of us all.
End of Year Celebration
The year is nearly over, which means it is time to party!
We are excited to say we have booked in for an End of Year Celebration for the Guild at Verity Lane Market in Canberra on Saturday 13 December 2025 from 5-9pm. All are invited, and folks can stay for as long or as short as they desire. There will be food and drinks available from the venue for purchase.
We hope to see you there!
November Calendar (updated)
Wednesday 5th – Short Story Critique Group: 7pm (online) (stories due the Sunday before)
Saturday 8th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes (in person)
Wednesday 12th – Novel Critique Group: 7:30pm (online)
Tuesday 18th – Book club: 7:15pm (online)
Saturday 22nd – Geek Markets, 9am-5pm, Exhibition Park, Canberra (in person) and Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes (in person)
Wednesday 26th – Short Story Critique Group: 7pm (online) (stories due the Sunday before)
Friday 28th – Movie Night: 8pm (online)
For information about any of these events or activities, reach out to us at [email protected] or message a committee member on Discord.
Note: links to join hybrid meetings online are shared through csfg.groups.io and the CSFG Discord server.
This month’s feature image is the cover art of Never Say Die by Madison Lee. See more of her work at maddogink.com.au