Congrats to our Aurealis Award 2021 finalists

Excuse us while we stand over here and toot our own horns – BUT we are so proud to announce that two of our creative writing presenters have been named as finalists for the 2021 Aurealis Awards! 

J.S. Breukelaar’s novel The Bridge, published by Meerkat Press, is in the running for Best Horror Novel. And Angela Slatter has been mentioned not once but TWICE, with All the Murmuring Bones listed for Best Fantasy Novel and The Tallow-Wife & Other Tales nominated for Best Collection.

“It’s an absolute honour to be a finalist for the Aurealis Awards this year,” says Angela. “What makes it even better is to be on the shortlists with friends and colleagues whose work I admire. A huge thanks to the organisers and the judges who give up their time annually to ensure these awards go ahead. Good luck to all the finalists and to everyone in the writing community who kept writing under some very trying circumstances over the last few years!”

This isn’t Angela’s first awards rodeo, having previously won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar Award, two Australian Shadows Awards, and six Aurealis Awards. And she’s not just a brilliant writer; she’s also a well-loved presenter for our Creative Writing Stage 1, Writing Workout and Novel Writing Essentials courses and Write Your Novel program.

Fellow finalist J.S. Breukelaar (the pen name of Jennifer Breukelaar) is also one of the tutors for our Creative Writing Stage 1 course. Her dark horror novel The Bridge has been compared to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and her place on the finalist list is well-deserved!

The Aurealis Awards were established in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the publishers of Aurealis magazine, to recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers. According to their website, competition this year was fierce with some panels receiving well over 100 entries, so making the list of finalists is an absolute honour.

Head to the Aurealis Awards website to view the full list of finalists.

Winners will be announced later in the year and we can hardly wait!