You think you know Australian history? Think again. Season 2 of Apocryphal Australia brings more results from years of research into the little known corners of this wide brown land, with bits of green. Available wherever you get your podcasts ..read more

Dear Aurealis Contributors (past and present) Thank you to those who contributed non-fiction for Aurealis in 2022 and earlier.It’s time to look to 2023 – Issues 157-166. So I’d like to formally call for non-fiction submissions for 2023 and hope you will continue to write for Aurealis.Let me know if you’ve got any ideas you’d like to pitch. If you know of any fellow writers who may like to contribute non-fiction to Aurealis, I’d love to hear from them.We already have Gillian Polack continuing to write for Aurealis about early Australian SF, Lynne Green is covering pioneering female SF writers a ..read more

Stephen Higgins has released a new album of ten instrumental pieces. You can listen to ‘Clewe’ wherever you get your music from or you can buy it at Bandcamp. You can hear it at Spotify here ..read more

Apocryphal Australia brings you stories from Australia’s past that are outlandish and eye-opening, tales that have been overlooked, forgotten and neglected. We feature fiascos and deal with debacles as well as extol triumphs and acclaim achievements. No achievement is too small, no ignominy too embarrassing for us to bring them to you. Your hosts are Michael Pryor and Stephen Higgins. https://open.spotify.com/show/3koRXbW5DU1RcIigK89Rjy Available wherever you get your podcasts ..read more

The latest album of instrumental music from Stephen Higgins is available everywhere now! ‘A Kettle of Different Fish’ is the sixth album from Aurealis Co-Editor Stephen Higgins. It features 8 tracks of instrumental music ranging from the long languid ‘Lake’ to the rockier ‘Three Streets’. ‘A Kettle of Different Fish’ is available on Spotify and all other music streaming sites and is also available from Bandcamp ..read more

What if an army of Spanish conquistadors, the most brutally effective conquerors in history, found their way into a truly new world beyond the New World of the Americas? Conquist tells the story of Captain Cristóbal de Varga whose drive for glory and power leads him to a place from which he can’t escape and a people he can’t conquer. Caught in a war between two eternal enemies that seem at first to be angels and demons, he must choose sides. When he loses everything he holds dear – his command, his Incan princess, his honor, his God – he needs to find a path to redemption by conquering his obs ..read more

The past is a foreign country, all right, but it’s chock full of great SF&F titles to get us through Corona Days. Here are the latest offerings from the Aurealis Editors, complete with our pithy teasers. Overlooked: Darkfall by Isobelle Carmody (1997). Immersive, transfixing, interwoven. Underrated: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick (1965). Unsettling, bleak, hallucinatory. Forgotten: Out of the Silence by Erle Cox (1925). Ground-breaking, best-selling, Australian ..read more

What better time to read? And, as such, Aurealis is continuing our deep dive into the SF/Fantasy of the past, those books that have been sitting at the back of bookshelves for ages awaiting a re-read. Why not these give a try? Overlooked: The Prestige by Christopher Priest, 1995 . Imaginative, intelligent, gripping . Underrated: Star Gate by Andre Norton, 1958. Engaging, robust, brisk. Forgotten: The Devil’s Elixirs by E T A Hoffmann, 1815 in German, 2009 Oneworld Classics English translation. Macabre, disorienting, labyrinthine ..read more

The past might be a foreign country, but there are plenty of excellent Spec Fic reads to be found there, and aren’t good reads what we all need in these difficult times? Try these, and tell us what you think. Overlooked: Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (1963) funny, thoughtful, scary. Underrated: Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (2002) poignant, touching, powerful. Forgotten: And Disregards the Rest by Paul Voermans (1993) quirky, weird, deep ..read more

Here are some more Aurealis reading suggestions, goodies from the past, perfect for pandemic reading – or re-reading. Some of these might take some finding, but they’re well worth it. Overlooked: Wormwood by Terry Dowling (1991). Entertaining, Enthralling, Dowlingesqe. Underrated: Deryni Rising, by Katherine Kurtz (1970). Thoughtful, deliberate, intricate. Forgotten: The Sea and Summer by George Turner (1987). Prescient, incisive, Australian ..read more