Gillian Polack | |
|---|---|
 Gillian Pollack in 2012 | |
| Born | April 1961 Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupation | Writer Editor |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Genre | Speculative fiction |
| Website | |
| www | |
Gillian Polack (born April 1961) is an Australian writer and editor. She is a Medievalist and works with writers on history in fiction, also writing and editing mainly in the field of speculative fiction. She has published ten novels, numerous short stories and nonfiction articles, and is the creator of the New Ceres universe. [1]
Gillian Polack was born in Melbourne. She went to local state schools. She attended Melbourne University and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in History, with the Margaret Kiddle and Felix Raab Prizes. She did her Master of Arts at the Centre for Medieval Studies (University of Toronto) and submitted her thesis for Doctor of Philosophy in History at the University of Sydney. She later took out teaching qualifications at the University of New England and a Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Writing at the University of Western Australia. Gillian is currently affiliated with Deakin University. [2] She currently lives in Canberra, ACT. She is Jewish. [3]
Polack was the Australasian delegate for the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention and presented the Hugo award for Best Fanzine in 2014. [4] In 2009, she was also the co-convener for Flycon, [5] the first online international Science Fiction Convention. [6] Polack was the convenor and judge of the Conflux short story competition in 2010 and spent seven years, from 2006 to 2013, as Conflux's acting project leader in charge of planning and organising its annual historical banquets, employing her knowledge as a food historian and teacher of food history at the Australian National University. [7] [8]
Polack has been the Guest for Honour for several science fiction conventions including Sydney Freecon in 2006, the Conflux Science Fiction Convention in 2008 [9] and the Liburnicon science fiction convention in Opatija, Croatia in 2014. [10]
The many delays in publishing her novel The Art of Effective Dreaming, mostly as a result of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike, have prompted questions as to whether the book is cursed. [11]
Polack's nonfiction work covers a broad spectrum. Her scholarly work focuses both on the Middle Ages and on modern writers, with, for instance, a feature article on the Middle Ages in Robin Reid's Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. [13] She reviews speculative fiction [14] and has written guests posts on subjects ranging from writing [15] to history. [16]
Polack created the New Ceres universe for a short story. [1] Alisa Krasnostein, now of Twelfth Planet Press, used this universe as the basis for the New Ceres webzine [17] and for stories set in the New Ceres universe. [18]
Polack is the co-editor of Masques, published by Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, 2009 [19] and of the Baggage anthology published by Eneit Press run by Sharyn Lilley, 2010. [20] The table of contents includes K. J. Bishop, Jack Dann, Kaaron Warren and Jennifer Fallon.
Polack has taught at the Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University [21] and at the Canberra Writers' Centre. Her guest teaching has included History for fiction writers at the NSW Writers' Centre [22] and floortalks at museums such as the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery. [23] She has also been a panellist at the Canberra Literary Festival.
Gillian Polack has worked on many committees and been asked to give talks for many organisations, both in paid and voluntary capacities. She has been a member of the Australian NGO Working Group for the UN World Conference Against Racism, a past member of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women, ACT, and was the vice-president and National Director of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (1994–1997). [24]
Kirsten Jane Bishop is an Australian writer and artist. In 2004, her first book, The Etched City, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. She is a recipient of the Aurealis Award for best collection.
The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.
Sean Llewellyn Williams is an Australian author of science fiction who lives in Adelaide, South Australia. Several of his books have been New York Times best-sellers.
The Ditmar Award is Australia's oldest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and horror award, presented annually since 1969, usually at the Australian "Natcon". The historical nominations and results of the Award follow.
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian writer of young adult fiction best known for her 2009 novel, Liar.
Lucy Sussex is an author working in fantasy and science fiction, children's and teenage writing, non-fiction and true crime. She is also an editor, reviewer, academic and teacher, and currently resides in Melbourne, Australia.
Kaaron Warren is an Australian author of horror, science fiction, and fantasy short stories and novels.
Martin Livings is an Australian author of horror, fantasy and science fiction. He has been writing short stories since 1990 and has been nominated for both the Ditmar Award and Aurealis Award. Livings resides in Perth, Western Australia.
Catriona (Cat) Sparks is an Australian science fiction writer, editor and publisher.
Tansy Rayner Roberts is an Australian fantasy writer. Her short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and Aurealis. She also writes crime fiction as Livia Day.
The Australian Shadows Awards are annual literary awards established by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) in 2005 to honour the best published works of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian/New Zealand/Oceania resident in the previous calendar year.
Jason Nahrung is an Australian horror author and journalist who lives in Melbourne with his partner Kirstyn McDermott. Nahrung has previously written for The Courier-Mail newspaper in Queensland, with a special interest in speculative fiction and horror-related topics. He was co-winner the 2005 William Atheling Jnr award for Criticism or Review. His first novel, The Darkness Within, was published in June 2007 by Hachette Livre in Australia. Nahrung has also published some horror and speculative fiction short stories.
Andrew J McKiernan is an Australian speculative fiction writer and illustrator.
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 November of the prior year and 31 October of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
Kim Westwood is an Australian author born in Sydney and currently living in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory.
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
Angela Slatter is a writer based in Brisbane, Australia. Primarily working in the field of speculative fiction, she has focused on short stories since deciding to pursue writing in 2005, when she undertook a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing. Since then she has written a number of short stories, many of which were included in her two compilations, Sourdough and Other Stories (2010) and The Girl With No Hands and other tales (2010).
Jo Anderton is a writer of fantasy, horror, and other types of speculative fiction. She has been a finalist for and won multiple awards for her work.
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