News – December 2025

Happy End of Year everyone! Whether it’s a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Celebration of Yule, or a Slàinte Mhath for Hogmany, we wish everyone a happy and restful holiday period from us here at the Guild.

On an official business front, December has been a time of reflection and preparation. Our critique groups turned their critical eyes inward, to discuss and plan for next year’s meetups and continue to grow and develop our formulae to get the best that we can out of these meet ups. The committee also had a planning day, where we brainstormed ideas to make 2026 even bigger and better than 2025. We also had a great end of year celebration and catch up at Verity Lane! Thank you to everyone who came, and it was a lot of fun to see a swathe of old faces and even a few new ones! All in all, we have had a great end to the year, and are looking forward to turning our gaze to the new year ahead!

President’s Update

Hope everyone is having a most excellent end of year. I want to thank the CSFG committee for the excellent work they’ve done in running booths at the cons, hosting our crit groups, and launching an anthology. Truly takes a village and I can’t thank them enough. I also want to take this opportunity to appreciate and thank everyone in the guild. I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the support, the advice, the good times, and the love I’ve received from the folx here. This time of year can be hard on people. The stress is real, the idea that you have to be everything for everyone can be overwhelming, and of course, the depression, the anxiety, and all the not-so-fun stuff that comes along with this time of year. I want you to know you’re not alone. We may not know exactly what you’re dealing with, but we can empathize, and I can promise that some of us have been where you are. And although we may not be able to get you out of that hole, we can jump in with you. We’re writers after all. We can always, “once more into the breach, dear friends, once more.”

For those with loved ones near you, may you have a wonderful time together. With those who may not have anyone around, know that we’ve got love for you here.

We’ve got some great stuff ahead in the coming year that we can’t wait to share with all of you, in the meantime, be safe. Be kind to yourselves, and be excellent to each other.

— Americo

Monthly Meeting

We didn’t have a December monthly meeting! We all met up and shared drinks and snacks instead. Thank you to everyone who came to our end of year catch up, it was fantastic to see so many familiar faces, and a few new people! While we love to catch up and write, it was also nice to have an event where the only thing on the agenda was to hang out. It wrapped up what has been an exciting year for the Guild, and we are looking forward to what next year is going to bring us.

This month, we are excited to take everyone back to the dawn of time when the Guild was first formed. Join us to listen to a few of the founding members speak about the history of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, how it started, and the early days of the organisation. This is a topic which has been of interest to us for a while, as the 30th anniversary of CSFG approaches in a few short years.

Links to the online presentation will be available closer to the date, otherwise we look forward to seeing you 7pm on Wednesday 21 January at the Burns Club in Kambah.

CanCon

CSFG is going to be at CanCon! Come see us in the Budawang pavilion over the 24th to the 26th of January, where we will have a stall with member’s books and members themselves to chat writing, reading, and any other hyperfixations which take them that day.

We will also need some volunteers to help us out! CanCon goes over three days, so while we have a smaller table, we will still need plenty of hands to man it. You can sign up to be a volunteer at this handy spreadsheet. Just a reminder that if you volunteer for at least 2 hours, you will get to sell any of your stock or merchandise without paying the 10% sales fee to have stock on the CSFG table.

If you want to sell stock on the table, you can register your interest and the stock you are looking to sell by filling in this form: CSFG Market Sellers Agreement

Membership Drive

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not because of the holidays, but because it’s time to renew your CSFG membership! We will send a separate update outside of the newsletter, but this is your pre-reminder that the nerd tax is due. For only $5 you get unlimited access to a community of writers, creatives, fans, and appreciators, as well as our critique groups, our regular get togethers, our monthly meetings, and anything else which the committee decides to organise.

If you are already a member and can’t remember the last time you paid your dues, or you’re new to the org and want to test the waters, you can sign up or renew your membership here.

Critique Groups

After taking a month off, our two critique groups are back with a bang. Unlike many other crit groups, CSFG’s are open to all, with no obligations except reading the stories submitted for a particular meeting. Even if you’ve never critiqued anything before, we recommend coming along and developing your crit muscles.

Short Story Crit runs on the first and last Wednesday of every month – slightly adjusted in January and December – with submissions due by the weekend before. Everyone is welcome to attend, whether submitting or critiquing or just listening in.

Novel Crit runs a bit differently. We use our January meeting for expressions of interest, and to set up a critique schedule for the rest of the year. If you’re interested in having your novel critiqued in 2026, you’ll need to attend our first meeting on Wednesday 14th January, so we can get our calendar set up. As with Short Story Crit, however, everyone is welcome to read and critique regardless of whether they’ve submitted something.

We also had positive feedback for getting a comic book club up and running where we will read and talk about a comic/graphic novel every month! We will get more info soon on when we will start that up.

January Calendar

Saturday 3rd – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes (in person)

Wednesday 14th – Novel Critique Group: 7pm (online)

Saturday 17th – Scribbles and Nibbles: 10am, National Library of Australia, Parkes (in person)

Wednesday 21st – Monthly Meeting: 7pm, Burns Club, Kambah (hybrid)

Wednesday 28th – Short Story Critique Group: 7pm (online) (stories due the Sunday before)

Friday 30th – 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 Hunters in the Snow 1565 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

2024 member updates!

2024 is (nearly) dead! Long live 2024… particularly as it was a busy and productive year for CSFG members. Some highlights are listed below (if I’ve missed you, better keep and eye on the mailing list… and your membership status!), but a huge shout-out and congratulations to all our members, whatever their 2024 may have brought them. Now here’s to a fantastic, scientifical, and horrific (in a good way) 2025.

Community

CSFG Lifetime Member Kaaron Warren made appearances at the  Canberra Writers Festival, CrimeFest Bristol, Capital Crime and Cymera Edinburgh.

Dr Gillian Polack was an honorary fellow for a month at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, where she got to meet students who studied herwork as part of their MA. Some studied the novel, The Time of the Ghosts, but most were looking at short fiction. This was part of a resarch visit to Germany supported by Deakin University. She was the Invited Creative Guest at the Virtual International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, and made appearances at the  Glasgow World Science Fiction Convention, Octocon (Irish National Science Fiction Convention), Balticon (Baltimore Science Fiction Convention), Melbourne Continuum, Nebulas, and Levitation (UK National Science Fiction Convention).

Rob Porteous worked on and contributed to The Sum of All Writers, and anthology was put together by a collective of US writing coaches and their friends. Rob edited and laid it out. The anthology is to raise funds to support emerging speculative fiction writers and has already raised about $20,000 in pre-orders. Rob also offers his own speculative fiction coaching services.

Steve Herczeg is currently running the Kickstarter for his second collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, The Curious Cases of Sherlock Holmes Volumes 3 & 4.

Publications

From Donna Maree Hanson, the short story collection Robot Hearts and the novel Destiny’s Blood (as Dani Kristoff).

From Steve Herczeg, the short stories “Death comes to Pine Gulch” (Gunslingers: Campfire Tales #2), “With the assistance of the Wiltshire Widow” (Steel True, Blade Straight), “A Death at Stonehenge” (No Holidays for Sherlock Holmes), “The Adventure of the Flustered Theologian” (Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in 1886), “The Case of the Trepoff Murder” (MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories), “The Case of the Fallen Spirit” (Sherlock Holmes takes the Stage Volume 2), “The Deaths on the Edge of Standish Woods” (MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories), “The Disappearance of the Wild Bunch” (The American Adventures of Solar Pons), “The Adventure of the Ruddy-Faced Bookseller” (Sherlock Holmes and the Great Lady Detectives), “The House” (Spillwords Halloween Collection).

From Lily Mulholland, the short story “Body of Work’  (Spawn 2: More weird tales about pregnancy, birth and babies).

From T. R. Napper, the short stories “Burned Like Coal” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction) and “Highway Requiem” (The Year’s Best Science Fiction on Earth 2), the novella, Ghost of the Neon God, and the novel, The Escher Man.

From Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, the essay “Afrofuturism and Exploring Cultural Identity as a Process of Becoming” in the newly published Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction.

From Celia Pearce, the short stories “Down the Hatch” (Cosmic Horror Monthly #51), “Practice Makes Perfect” (Conflux 18: Missions and Quests), and “Dualhaven” (The Off Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird).

From Dr Gillian Polack, the audiobook for The Wizardry of Jewish Women, a collection of three novels under Enchanted Australia, the novel Langue[dot]doc 1305 in the collection A Rift in Time, and a chapter on Jewish Speculative Fiction in Australia and New Zealand, in Valerie Frankel’s Jewish Fantasy Worldwide.

From Rob Porteous, the novella Dancing with Storms (The Sum of All Writers).

From Cat Sparks, the Calvaria Fell short story collection with Kaaron Warren, a first publication in Spanish for the short story “Metal pesado” (Excelsius 2024), and the short story “Beasts of Bone and Promise” (Time Machine Australia Bound).

From Kaaron Warren, the novel The Underhistory, the novella The Emporium, the short stories “Bright Hearts” and “The Ruins, with a Spectator”, and the Calvaria Fell short story collection with Cat Sparks.

Awards

• T. R. Napper for Best SF Novel (Aliens: Bishop) and Best SF Novella (“A Marked Man”)
• Celia Pearce for YA Short Story (“Integrated Learning”)
• Kaaron Warren for Best Novella (Bitters).

• Kaaron Warren won Best Novella for Bitters
• T. R. Napper for Best Novella (“A Marked Man”) and Best Short Story (“Highway Requiem”)
• Celia Pearce for Best New Talent, Fan Artist, and Short Story (“Jimmy Flip Brings His Little One to Work, and It Comes My Turn to Hold It”).

And other wins and nominations include:

• Kaaron Warren won the Australian Shadows Awards Best Novella for Bitters
• Celia Pearce for the Brave New Weird Awards with “Jimmy Flip Brings His Little One to Work, and It Comes My Turn to Hold It”.

#aurealisAwards #awards #ditmarAwards #memberNews

New Membership Level Added
During our members meeting, I was asked about a Student rate for membership. I said at the time we didn't have a formal student level but we would never turn away a potential member who couldn't afford the current full membership dues.

Today I announce we now have a Student/Fixed Income membership level. On the Join page, scroll down for the link then when you get taken
https://humanistswle.org/2023/new-membership-level-added.html
#MemberNews #MembersMeeting