The darkest month of the year makes for excellent inspiration about the shadowy, the mysterious, and the haunting, and June has seen its fair share of horrors. Written horrors, of course, things have been great in other aspects! From debuting our new second Short Story Crit Group, to meeting new members, to celebrations of Guild members’ achievements, the last month of the first half of the year has been one for the ages.

Member News

CSFG want to congratulate long time member T. R. Napper for his fourth Aurealis win! His work Ghost of the Neon God took out the Best Sci-Fi novella category, taking its place among T’s other award winning Sci-Fi works. Ghost of the Neon God is set in near-future Australia and explores themes of class, personal sacrifice, and the nature of artificial intelligence. You can read more about the novella, and about T’s other works, on his website nappertime.com. Congratulations from the Guild!

   

 

Monthly Meeting Recap

Sadly, due to various clashes, our June Monthly meeting had to be cancelled. We apologise for this missed opportunity to hang out together as a group, but the good news is that the July monthly meeting is on track and we have a great guest speaker lined up for you all!

This month, we’ve got local comic book legend Brendon Dann to come talk to us! Brendan is the owner of Dee’s Comics, and a local legend in the comic scene here in Canberra. Join us to hear about a guy with (as he lovingly put it) too much enthusiasm on the journey of one idiot and an accidental publishing venture to change the way comics are published and distributed in Australia. From Dee’s Comics to Midnight Factory, and why sharing stories matters!

Stick around for the conversation and stay for the Q&A!

Our meeting will be held on 16th July from 7:30-9:30pm, in person at the Burns Club in Kambah, or online via zoom.

Novel Critique Group

For those of you who are new to the Guild, or if you have been around for a while but aren’t certain, each month the Guild hosts our Novel Critique Group online! This differs from Short Story Critique Group in that submissions happen at the beginning of the year, with one novel per month allocated a slot in advance.

We currently have two groups which alternate each month. This means you have two months to read each novel, and you only have to read five of the ten submitted. Reading the novel and coming with a positive attitude are the only two requirements for attending the group!

We have our schedule for the year already booked out, but never fear! Novel critique is open to members who haven’t submitted their work but are interested in seeing how the group runs, or helping out fellow Guild members by giving feedback on their work. It is a chance to grow your skills in close reading and critique, as well as showing support for members who have undertaken the mammoth task of completing a first draft.

If you want to learn more, or have any questions about Novel Critique Groups, you can reach out to us at [email protected] or by joining our discord channel and checking out our Novel Critique Group chat!

July Events

Wednesday 2nd – Short Story Critique Group (session 1): 7:30pm (online) (stories due by Sunday 29th June)

Saturday 5th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, Pulp Book Cafe, 18 O’Hanlon Pl, Nicholls  (in person)

Wednesday 9th – Novel Critique Group: 7:30pm (online)

Wednesday 16th – Monthly Meeting: Monthly Member’s Meeting: 7:30-9:30pm, Burns Club, 28 Kett St, Kambah (hybrid)

Saturday 19th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes Pl W, Parkes (in person)

Tuesday 22nd – Book Club: 7:15pm (online) – The Queue, by Basma Abdel Aziz

Wednesday 23rd – Short Story Critique Group (session 2): 7:30pm (online) (stories due by Sunday 20th July)

Friday 25th – 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 Nymphs Dancing to Pan’s Flute by Joseph Tomanek (1889 – 1974), unknown collection