Another month, another update from the Guild! May has flown by at hyperspeed, taking with it that most sacred of scifi holidays May 4th, as well as highlighting how many exciting stories are getting told at the Guild. From screenplays to short fiction, this has been a month of narrative intrigue, and we can’t wait to see what June has locked and loaded for us.

Member News

Scarlet Sails

Guild Member Felicity Banks of Hosted Games is excited to announce her latest interactive novel, Scarlet Sails, is available for purchase on Steam! No sound effects, no visuals… just a rollicking adventure told entirely through text, where you make choices along the way! You can purchase the game via Steam. Congratulations Felicity!

Macabre Dreams

Guild member Ben O’Mara is part of the team behind Lost Souls Magazine, a new publication of macabre poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and illustration. The first issue will be launched at “Macabre Dreams” at Gang Gang Cafe at 6:30pm on Wednesday, 18 June 2025! The night will celebrate beautiful, strange and dark arts with readings and music by local Canberra writers and artists. Red Saunders, who you may remember as the incredible cover artist from our Body of Work anthology, will also make an appearance. The event is free, but registration is required! Find out more and register to attend at this link.

Monthly Meeting Recap

This month we were treated to a screenwriting 101 course hosted by our very own Americo Alvarenga. Americo explained the dos and don’ts of screenwriting, the way it differs from other kinds of writing, and how what’s written on the page can eventually end up on the big screen. These kinds of talks are always exciting, and help expand the repertoire of skills we all use as writers and creatives. If you missed the meeting that’s okay! Reach out to Americo or another member of the committee and you can get the slides, or come to a Scribbles and Nibbles and pick people’s brains for their knowledge. All of you who submitted questions for Jose Molina, who sadly was unable to give his responses in time for the meeting, we will organise for another event to hold a discussion and learn more about Jose’s amazing career.

The next monthly meeting is on 18 June, with topic and speaker TBC. If members of the guild have particular topics they would like to see discussed at meetings, or have presentations they would be willing to give, please let us know by sending your suggestion through to [email protected].

Anthology update

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted their stories for the planned CSFG anthology ‘Never Say Die’. We have received a large number of excellent submissions, and slush readers are working their way through the list.

As some of you may have seen posted on the website and socials, there has been a delay in selecting the successful stories which should be announced sometime in June. If you submitted a story to the anthology and haven’t received a confirmation email yet, please let Charis know at [email protected] and CC in [email protected].

Short Story Critique Group – Now with Extra Group! 

Short Story Crit Group is growing! This year we have seen an uptick in stories submitted for the group, and as a result will now be holding critique sessions twice a month. These sessions are welcome to everyone, and are open to stories of up to 7k words for reading and feedback from the group. If you haven’t got a story to submit, but would still like to attend to read and learn to critique short stories then you are more than welcome!

Sessions are the first and last Wednesday of each month, with a cap of four stories per session. Submission deadline of stories for the session is the weekend before, to give readers enough time to read and compile their thoughts. The goal of these critique groups is to lift writers up, and focus on how to achieve the story they were aiming for, rather than breaking stories down.

You can learn more about the group in our discord channel, or on our groups.io page where the stories are uploaded for reading. For anyone unsure about if they want to submit, we encourage you to come along to a session and see how it is run to get a feel of if it’s right for you!

Book Club

The second CSFG Book Club discussed Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman, a story about Australia being colonised by a foreign force. Attendees discussed amongst other things: the book’s depiction of colonialism versus its real world counterpart, the effectiveness of multiple perspectives and plot twists in emphasising narrative themes, and how readers visualised Australia and the book’s invaders.

Voting for the next book opens on 1 June 2025 on Discord. The theme is: Books by authors with acclaim in another profession. The books that will be voted on are:

  • The Queue by Abdel Aziz
  • The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
  • Contact by Carl Sagan
  • On the Beach by Neville Shute

The roundtable discussion for the winning book will be held as a voice call on the third Tuesday of July at 7:15 PM in CSFG’s Discord Community Hangout. 

Facilitators Wanted!

With the expansion in our numbers, CSFG is looking for facilitators for our short story and novel critique groups! What does this mean? It means people who can lead a small group through a critique session, guide conversation to make sure it stays flowing, and make sure that everyone is having a fun time. You don’t have to know what to do already – we will teach you! As a volunteer-run, member-led organisation, the Guild values empowering our community and seeks to foster and share our members’ skills. Plus, facilitation is a skill that can be carried outside of the Guild, whether that’s to your day job, tricky personal conversations, or moderating panels or group discussions at conventions and conferences.

We are currently seeking expressions of interest for people who have or want to develop facilitation skills. If you’re keen,let us know at [email protected]. Our experienced facilitators are happy to share what they know. If we get enough interest, we can also schedule a workshop where we can learn and practice together!

June Events

Wednesday 4th – Short Story Critique Group (session 1): 7:30pm (online) (stories due by Sunday 1 June)

Saturday 7th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, Pulp Book Cafe, 18 O’Hanlon Pl, Nicholls  (in person)

Wednesday 11th – Novel Critique Group: 7:30pm (online)

Wednesday 18th – Monthly Meeting: Monthly Member’s Meeting: 7:30-9:30pm, Burns Club, 28 Kett St, Kambah (hybrid)

Saturday 21st – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes Pl W, Parkes (in person)

Wednesday 25th – Short Story Critique Group (session 2): 7:30pm (online) (stories due by Sunday 22 June)

Friday 27th – 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 La Veille de l’examen [the Night before the Exam], 1985 by Leonid Pasternak, held by Musée d’Orsay https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/artworks/la-veille-de-lexamen-…