Awards Eligibility and 2026 Round-Up
Hello friends! "I don't need to write an end of year blog post, it's only November!" I told myself up until about five minutes ago. Alas I am susceptible to peer pressure (peer inspiration?) when I see all the weird and wonderful things other writers and artists have been creating this year. And those pretty graphics.
C.H. Pearce awards eligibility 2026
short stories - please email or DM me if you'd like a free e-copy of any story!
"Tredge, the Informationist: A Story of Sub-Market Street" in Lost Souls 03 - contrarian office worker vs her ergonomic software, body horror
"Moss and Sharps are Partners, Conditionally" in Gavagai (free to read online) - underqualified sharpshootress makes a bargain with her living weapon, body horror
"Glue Traps for Problem Rats" in Bad Romance - high-masking rat-woman learns to love herself after her daughter is born with the same "condition" (despite the title, no rats are harmed in this story!)
"Form a Shape, Besides Yourself" in Aurealis 194 (a short excerpt is free to listen on Narratives Library) - doppelgängers on a space freighter, motherhood, medical gaslighting
"Sunshine Pest Control" in Companion 01 - woman with pet pests vs her situationship who works for pest control
"Fall In" in Cosmic Horror Monthly 76 - praying mantises, snails, medical gaslighting, surreal suburbia, body horror
"Go Eat Some Worms With Callie Cooks" in [RECORDED]: An Anthology of Found Media Fiction - young woman tries to educate others about her family's live-in fungus "friend" via her online cooking videos, body horror
original art
"Epimetheus" bw internal illustration in Aurealis 189
"Spellbound" poster art for Lost Souls
"Careopticon" bw internal illustration in Lost Souls 03
"Happy Birthday Lost Souls" poster art for Lost Souls
"Sunshine Pest Control" bw internal illustration in Companion 01
"Cymothoa Exigua" cover art for Saros Issue 7: Terminally Online
"Bogong Moths" internal illustration in Solarpunk: Horror *will add this image when it comes out later this month
And fanart, honestly I just made a graphic of that because I like keeping track of the year's obsessions.
This year has been a different experiment for me. I've thrown myself into short fiction and illustration and, perhaps just as importantly, submissions tetris (bless all markets accepting simultaneous submissions). If you are looking for a great template to track your submissions, I use this downloadable template from Writers SA (caveat my spreadsheet has grown into an unrecognisable many-coloured, many-tabbed monstrosity, but it's still really useful). I've been lucky to be involved in multiple Lost Souls events in different capacities (as a performer/writer or artist) with so many wonderful local spooky creatives. Lost Souls is a magazine of dark and beautiful work as well as a great community, and if you're an Aussie writer or artist they're currently open for submissions. I had two stories illustrated by talented artists Grace Vibbert ("Glue Traps for Problem Rats" in Bad Romance) and Chris Catlin ("Form a Shape, Besides Yourself" in Aurealis 194). I got to hop up on stage at the Canberra Writers Festival with amazing writers and talk about how great the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild is. Earlier this year (+late last year) I judged in the Australasian Shadows Awards, the Conflux Short Story Competition, and I'm currently judging in the Aurealis Awards and the Robert N Stephenson Flash Fiction & Short Story Competition, so I've had the privilege of reading a lot of excellent Aussie speculative fiction and horror. All in all a great bookish year so far...
Alas no Conflux this year but I can't wait for Chimeracon this Sunday 15 November in Canberra! I'll be on "The Horrors of the Mundane" panel with Kaaron Warren, Fionn MacPherson, Dr Emma Woods, and Bookish Bron, and I'll be around most of the day.
Chimeracon info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/chimera-con-2026
I'm on submission with my debut "love letter to Backrooms" novel with my amazing agent Carleen Geisler who is now with Britt Siess Creative Management. Also, exciting debut novella news with one of my favourite weird small presses (the DREAM), but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to shout about it yet (I've signed the contract and gotten the go ahead to mention it in bios, but I might err on the side of caution and wait for more info?). I will update here when I have more!
Thank you for reading. Much love, happy writing, and take care of yourselves.
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