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Category Archives: Speculative Australia
Cargo (2017): Australian Horror and Aboriginal Culture
by Robin Burger Cargo is a 2017 Australian Netflix original horror film based on a 2013 short film of the same name. However, it is debatable whether it really can be described as horror since while it is certainly a … Continue reading
Posted in Gothic & Horror
Tagged Aboriginal representation, Australian movies, Australian Speculative Fiction, Cargo, Gothic & Horror, Horror, Speculative Australia, zombie
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“The Fall of the Jade Sword” (2017) and the History of Asian Australians
by Lisa-Marie Richter, Adesua Atamah, Ben Königsfeld, Kathleen Reiswich We have recently read the short story “The Fall of the Jade Sword” by Stephanie Lai and two of its central topics have caught our attention. The hero addressed in the … Continue reading
Posted in Fantasy
Tagged Asian Australians, Australian Speculative Fiction, Speculative Australia, Stephanie Lai, The Fall of the Jade Sword
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Lucy Sussex, Sonia Lovecraft, and Women’s Voices in Literature
Literature is a key tool to connect people from all places with other cultures, stories, and histories. Thus, the popularity that American and English writers and stories have had in the last centuries has been undeniably successful in their sales … Continue reading
Posted in Gothic & Horror
Tagged australian authors, female voices, Lucy Sussex, short story, sonia lovecraft, Speculative Australia
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Wife to Mr. Lovecraft – Sonia’s postcards, a mirror of their relationship
Short stories are a diverse way of storytelling that can appear in numerous different forms. When taking a look at the story ‘Wife to Mr. Lovecraft’ the reader is immediately introduced to a unique way of storytelling and a form … Continue reading
How Suspense is Created in Grace Chan’s “Of Hunger and Fury” (2020)
by Benedikt von Laufenberg In this blog post, I want to discuss Grace Chan’s short story “Of Hunger and Fury“ (2020) by focussing on three different aspects. First, it should be illustrated how the village in which the mysterious incidents … Continue reading
Posted in Fantasy
Tagged Australian Speculative Fiction, close reading, ghost story, Grace Chan, Malaysia, Of Hunger and Fury, short story, Speculative Australia
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Dichotomy in “The Fall of the Jade Sword” and the reflection of hybrid identity experiences
Introductory notes Hybrid identities often live in worlds full of dualities, worlds full of contrasts and opposites. Stephanie Lai’s short story The Fall of the Jade Sword (2017) tells the story of young Mok- Seung who spent her childhood in China but … Continue reading
Jewish Australian Speculative Fiction Event
by Sevgi Osman After reading The Time of The Ghosts by Gillian Polack, I decided to participate in an event organized by my lecturers, where Jewish Australian authors gathered and talked about speculative fiction, specifically Jewish Australian speculative fiction. Since … Continue reading
Tagged event, Gillian Polack, Jack Dann, Jason Franks, Jewish Australian Speculative Fiction, personal perspective, Rivqa Rafael, Speculative Australia
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10 Questions with Gillian Polack on The Time of the Ghosts – and one bonus!
Before we move onto the second phase of our student blogging, let’s end our series of blog posts about Gillian Polack’s The Time of the Ghosts with an interview with Gillian herself! 1. Why is the novel entitled The Time … Continue reading
Tagged 10 questions, Australian Speculative Fiction, Gillian Polack, Interview, Speculative Australia, Speculative Fiction, Time of the Ghosts
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Judging a Book By its Covers: The Time of the Ghosts
by Theodora Charalambous Everyone knows the age-old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and although most of us try to implement it in our daily lives, when it comes to the book buying experience things seem to be … Continue reading
Tagged Australian Speculative Fiction, Covers, Gillian Polack, Paratext, Speculative Australia, Time of the Ghosts
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Review: “Water” by Ellen van Neerven
by Johanna Edler The short story “Water” from the collection Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven was published in 2014 and discusses the treatment of Indigenous people in a futuristic Australia. Van Neerven is an Aboriginal Australian herself and … Continue reading
Posted in Magic Realism
Tagged Ellen van Neerven, Indigenous Australians, queer, Review, Science Fiction
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