We have said goodbye to August! Was this newsletter a day late? Perhaps. Much like the false spring which we here in Canberra have become very used to, it may have been a fake out designed to keep you on your toes. August has seen the usual round of suspects in the form of short stories, novel critique, movie night, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that warmer weather and longer days cannot come soon enough. September has a chock-a-block lineup of things to do, and we can’t wait to see all of you there.

UC First Anthology – Marigolds and Other Flowers

Our friends over at the University of Canberra are excited to be launching this year’s anthology of student short stories Marigolds and Other Flowers. CSFG is actually a sponsor of this anthology, and we hope that our members can join us in supporting the latest cohort of writers from the university.

Marigolds and other Flowers will be launching at Smith’s Alternative on Tuesday 16 September from 6:30-8:30pm.

CSFG members are welcome to attend the event, which will feature poetry and prose readings, and the anthology will be available to purchase. We hope to see you there!

Monthly Meeting Recap

This month, we were so excited to have had Madison Lee visit us to talk about what it’s like to work with an illustrator, and about her art practice. Madi shared some great insights into how commissioning an artist works, the kinds of illustrations that work best for different kinds of mediums, and her experiences working as an artist and making a living from her art.

If you missed her talk, you can see more about Madi’s work at her website Mad Dog Ink.

We don’t have a presenter locked in for September yet, but it’s a great chance to remind members that if there are topics that you want to see us talk about, or if you have an idea for a presentation you want to give, reach out and let us know! The committee are always eager to hear from members about the things you guys want to learn more about. You can email us at [email protected].

CSFG AGM

The CSFG Annual General Meeting will be held during the October monthly meeting on 15 October 2025. For those of you new to the Guild, this is where the committee updates on our finances, any projects that have been completed in the committee year, and a new committee is voted in. You can see the Agenda for this meeting here: CSFG 2025 Annual General Meeting – Agenda

Last AGM, the new CSFG Code of Conduct was raised for members to provide commentary on. This has been uploaded to the website, and can be seen here: CSFG Code of Conduct. At this meeting, members will vote to accept the Code of Conduct, or raise any concerns. We encourage everyone to give it a read ahead of the meeting.

This year, we are also bringing some exciting new writing the committee has been collaborating on – policy documents. Several new CSFG policies including our updated financial policies, market stall vendor and sales policy, and our guide to what it means to be on the committee. These will be released in the lead up to the meeting for members to review, and we will be taking feedback on these policies during and following the AGM.

The Ditmar Awards – vote now!

In case you missed it, the Ditmar Awards released their shortlist, and it’s studded with CSFG members! If you’ve attended Conflux or Continuum in the past few years, or have a ticket for this year’s Conflux convention, you’re eligible to vote. Voting is open until midnight on 25 September 2025. The Ditmar Awards will be presented at Conflux (3-6 October 2025) and we encourage you to come along if you can! To vote, click here and fill out the form.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit nominations, and congratulations to all our finalists!

Short Story Crit Group Highlight

We never get tired talking about how cool our short story critique group is, and to prove it to all of you we have some fantastic lines from last week’s crit group to share with you all.

From Dulce Et Decorum Eggst by G. Lucien Lax:

Catesby goes down head-first, hard. When he pulls himself up, his eyepatch has come loose, spewing ribbons of wine-dark gauze.

From Pool of Terror by Ben O’Mara:

Who knew that the simple act of trying to step through a pair of automatic doors could scare the living shit out of me?

If you want to read more of some amazing stories like these ones, and learn more about how to critique stories to improve your writing, come and check out our short story critique group on the first and last Wednesday of each month, online from 7pm. Reach out to a member of the committee if you want to learn more, or email us at [email protected]

[Your Picture Here]

CSFG is home to many wonderful artists, and it just so happens that once a month we are looking for a header image for our newsletter. If you are an artist, and would like your work showcased as part of our news, then let us know! Full credit given at the bottom of the page, and we can link to any shop/website that you use as well. Reach out to [email protected] if you are interested!

September Events

Wednesday 3rd – Short Story Critique Group (session 1): 7:00pm (online) (stories due by Sunday 31st August)

Wednesday 10th – Novel Critique Group: 7:30pm (online)

Saturday 13th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes Pl W, Parkes (in person)

Wednesday 17th – Monthly Meeting: Monthly Member’s Meeting: 7:30-9:30pm, Burns Club, 28 Kett St, Kambah (hybrid)

Tuesday 23rd – Book Club: The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay: 7:15pm (online)

Wednesday 24th – Short Story Critique Group (session 2): 7:00pm (online) (stories due by Sunday 20th September)

Friday 26th – Movie Night: 8pm (online)

Saturday 27th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes Pl W, Parkes (in person)

 

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 featured image provided to us by Americo Alvarenga.