Speculative Fiction about Climate Change , Dystopian futures  and even Utopian ones . Fantasy about different worlds or even our own. The category ‘Science Fiction’ doesn’t begin to describe the amazing array of authors writing in this field.
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CAROLINE AILANTHUS- Ecological Memory
Imagine a world where civilization as we knew it has vanished, and forests are mostly a memory. Elzy Rodriguez is apprenticed to an itinerant ecologist Andy Cote, and together they search for answers to do with the past of her childhood and his family.
Recorded by the Author herself 2023
CHRIS ANDREWS- Moonlit Genesis
Apparently Canberra is not the dull capital city that popular media has depicted it as - there's werewolves, vampires, even succubae and incubi - so watch out! Kyle is a bit of a hybrid, part werewolf part vampire, and he is trying to stay out of trouble.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
Robbie Arnott- Flames
Another totally original Tasmanian voice- magic realism, slightly gothic and hauntingly beautiful. People die and transform , animals and humans help each other. Each story in the book distinct but connected.
Recorded at the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival 2022
ZACAHARY ASHFORD - Polyphemus
'Polyphemus' is the name of a heavy metal band that was headed for the top before the implosion of one of their members who became an addict. In this scene the rehabbed member comes back to try and rebuild the bridges. But he has made some strange deals along the way which are going to impact on the band.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
J. ASHLEY-SMITH - The Attic Tragedy
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Sylvie is a girl with a mysterious power to discern an object's history from holding it - and George is a boy with terrible scars from his past. Stripping off wet clothes from a rainstorm, in her father's attic, he is terrified if they embrace she will read the secrets his body holds.
Sylvie is a girl with a mysterious power to discern an object's history from holding it - and George is a boy with terrible scars from his past. Stripping off wet clothes from a rainstorm, in her father's attic, he is terrified if they embrace she will read the secrets his body holds.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
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SUNIL BADAMI -an allergy
Sunil reads here from his novel in progress 'an allergy' - in which a doctor recounts a number of fantastical case histories to his children ,including this one,of an unfortunate marine malady.
Recorded at Sydney Writers Festival 2016
FELICITY BANKS - The Brass Heart
She looked human on the outside, but she knew she had been altered with a clockwork heart- in her society that put her with the 'others' and prevented her from marrying the one she loved.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
ALAN BAXTER - Sallow Bend
Caleb works as a caretaker at a school. He feels nervous in social situations so keeps to himself and tends to his duties. But when two girls at the school go missing he comes under suspicion - but the truth is much darker.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
PHILLIP BERRIE- The Changeling Detective
What could be a more perfect cover for a Private Detective than being able to change your appearance at will? On the trail of an adulterous spouse, it was all going fine until a gangster's bodyguard rearranged the protagonist's face for him.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
PAULA BOER - The Bloodwolf War
Fleet is a horse and he is left on his own after his mother is killed by a wolf. This series has an all star cast of horses and the occasional 'upright being' (human!). A wonderfully, sensitive flight of fancy into the lives of animals and how they perceive us. And the the battle to the death with the dreaded Bloodwolves. There may be dragons..!
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
JAMES BRADLEY - Clade
James Bradley prefaces his read of 'Clade' with informing us of the meaning of his unusual title. His novel follows the fortunes of one family through time as they struggle to deal with the changes wrought by climate upheaval.
Recorded at Sydney Writers Festival 2016
JAMES BRADLEY - Ghost Species
A secret project to re-engineer Earth's climate and the resurrection of our ancient Neanderthal relatives form the basis of this science faction thriller. James Bradley's books always feel too close for comfort!Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2022
MARTY BRANAGAN - Locked On! - the 7th and Most Illegal in the Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy.
Marty Branagan is a UNE lecturer in Peace Studies and had the brilliant idea of co-opting author Douglas Addams to promote non-violent resistance to Global Warming. Except the wonderful Douglas Adams is no longer with us, but his spirit lives on with Arthur Dent ,Trillian, Random et al in this wild ride of a book which continues the Hitchhikers series..
Recorded at Bellingen Writers Festival 2019
J.S BREUKELAAR - The Bridge
The Bridge is a real physical barrier between two classes of people. The pure humans and the 'Mades'. Meera has lost her twin sister to the 'unmaking' - and sets out to find the mysterious Father of the Blood Temple cult to get some answers. But first, there is school.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
PAUL BURMAN- The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore
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Thomas’s last memory was being half drowned on an Australian beach and then he wakes on a plane at Heathrow airport with no recollection of how he travelled there . This is the start of a mystery as he tries to understand what is real and what is dream.
Thomas’s last memory was being half drowned on an Australian beach and then he wakes on a plane at Heathrow airport with no recollection of how he travelled there . This is the start of a mystery as he tries to understand what is real and what is dream.
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ISOBEL CARMODY - Moth's Story
Moth's Story is a short story from 'The Wilful Eye'. In this read, Moth tries without success to stop her father , the miller, making a fool of himself before the King. Moth's mother is beautiful, but refuses to intervene.
ISOBEL CARMODY - Metrowings
'Metrowings' is taken from 'The Wicked wood'. A young girl is sent by her divorcing parents from a remote island to the city.Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
Long Live the Giant
This is a short story from the book 'Green Monkey Dreams' in which a legend surrounds a mysterious tower in a green field.Recorded at the Bellingen Reader's and Writers Festival 2023
GRACE CHAN - Every Version of You
In the future, we will be able to completely remake ourselves by total immersion in a special pod filled with regenerative fluid. Sounds wonderful, but is it safe?
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
KYLIE CHAN -'Scales of Empire'
Kylie Chan is a super prolific writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. When reading out this scene she sometimes began to giggle at her own characters - she has lots of fun letting her imagination run wild!
Recorded at the Byron Writers Festival 2018
CRAIG CORMICK and HAROLD LUDWICK- On a Barbarous Coast
What if Captain Cook hadn't died and returned to England? How would it have changed History? What would it have meant for Indigenous Australians? This extract from Craig's book ( written with Indigenous writer Harold Ludwick) introduces us to the start of this speculative fiction novel with a dramatic shipwreck.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
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MATTHEW. R. DAVIS - The Dark Matter of Natasha
Davis writes about teen angst and growing up as if he remembers every excruciating moment of the experience - possible why his stories weave horror into the mix! A big Heavy Metal fan and a musician himself , Davis can write eloquently about the music industry as well.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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(Image shown :'A sort of co-existence'  Oil on Cotton duck 100 cms X 80 cms.) AARON DRIES- Damage, Inc
Imagine a world where where grief counselling has been taken, by technology, to a whole new level. Where a counsellor can become the deceased to help console the bereaved. What could go wrong?
From a collection of short stories by the author called 'Cut to Care'
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
DIRTY HEADS
A horror thriller of a world where nothing is what it seems. Where you have to keep looking over your shoulder to keep ahead of the monster that lurks in the shadows. But what if you are the monster?
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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A.D. ELLICOT - Maintenance Phase
Mary is a shape shifter. This is tricky for maintaining relationships, but also proving dangerous for her health as she tries to make her body into what she thinks is the most desirable ideal shape. This is a short story from the collection 'Body of Work'.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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JASON FRANKS - Bloody Waters
Blacklisted and denied a career in music, a female guitarist decides that offered a choice between the heads of the music industry and the Devil - she'll take her chances !
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
LISA FULLER - Ghost Bird
Horror stories and scary beasties are common to all cultures and Lisa Fuller weaves an Indigenous story of the Ghost Bird into a riveting story involving twin sisters, one of whom is 'snatched' - where did she go? The other twin, has to find her.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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Robbie Arnott- Flames
Another totally original Tasmanian voice- magic realism, slightly gothic and hauntingly beautiful. People die and transform , animals and humans help each other. Each story in the book distinct but connected.
Recorded at the Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival 2022
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LISA HANNETT - Viking women Life and Lore
We have all read and watched stories about the Vikings, but mainly about what the men in those societies did. What about the women? Turns out Viking women were a capable, fierce and fairly liberated lot who have been , up till now, not given their due in historical studies. All these stories are well researched case histories of real Viking women, dramatised and brought to life.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
RICHARD HARLAND - Ferren and the Angel
Earth is ruled by beings heavily decorated with metal , and they fight against Heaven supposedly on behalf of all Earth’s inhabitants. Tribespeople like Zonda and her father Ferren, think of them as allies even as they fear them, against the mighty force of militant 'angels'. One of these angels has fallen to earth and has been captured . A wonderful read by the author who saw the genesis of this novel in a dream.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
STEPHEN HERCZEG - The Curious Cases Of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes fans everywhere have an array of new adventures to choose from as fans of Doyle's hero continue to create new adventures for him. But Stephen Herczeg's Holmes and Watson stories come with an extra horror/fantasy twist - zombie arsonists anyone?
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
KATHRYN HORE - The Stranger
A stranger rides into town and reads the locals the riot act - reckoning is coming, and they'd better clean up their act. Then she stomps up the stairs to her bed leaving a number of bruised egos and bodies on the saloon floor below! Way out west science fiction.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
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AMIE KAUFMAN - Isles of the Gods
Amie Kaufman's heroine is a sailor, a shipowner and a magician. This is the introduction to an epic saga that has been translated into 30 languages and won multiple awards.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
L.J.KENDALL - Lost Girl
A young woman who has forgotten her identity finds herself in a dangerous situation. But how is it she knows what to do to evade her attackers?
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
KRISSY KNEEN –An Uncertain Grace
Imagine reading a memoir and seeing and feeling what the writers experienced in their life? Krissy Kneen peeks into the future and asks if we really know what we are letting ourselves in for.
Recorded at the Sydney Writers Festival 2017
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LAURA JEAN McKay -The Animals in that Country
A Pandemic is sweeping the country- but it's a virus that has a mysterious effect - it gives its victims the ability to hear the thoughts of animals. And not just animals, birds and even insects. For some this is a gift, for others a nightmare.
Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2022
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JASON NAHRUNG - Exposure
A young woman collects rare and beautiful objects for a mysterious collector. A short story from an anthology :'The Art of Being Human', that seeks to remind us that the Arts are what makes us human, and helps us to bear the vicissitudes of life.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
AMANDA NIEHAUS- The Breeding Season
Recorded at Studio 3, Bangalow 2019.
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DANIEL O'MALLEY - Blitz
Set in the London Blitz with a difference - as seen through the eyes of three women with supernatural powers. From the series 'The Rook' , someone is committing murders using the protagonists name, and now she must run before she can prove her innocence.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
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C.H. PEARCE - Jimmy Flip brings his little one to work, and it comes my turn to hold it.
It's not a normal baby . It has tentacles and dangerous vomit! Extract from the short story collection called 'Body of Work' by various authors.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
LEANBH PEARSON - The Devil and the Loch Ard Gorge
A shipwreck many years ago that hid a dark secret. One of the few survivors knows the truth and their guilty part in it - and maybe also the pact that was made with the Devil?
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
GILLIAN POLACK -The Green Children Help Out
A secret underground world called Tsarfat is found through a tunnel in France. It looks like Earth, but it is just a little bit different. Once you discover and enter it, you become a Green Child.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
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TOR ROXBURGH - Who Sleuthed It?
The only thing better than being able to understand what animals are trying to tell us, would be having them help solve crimes for us! Who killed the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, and can that policewoman really understand what the Magpie is trying to tell her? A wonderful collection of unashamedly anthropomorphic short stories.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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CAT SPARKS - Hacking Santorini
The old world has gone and now exists only on postcards which are hotly traded for services. One service that has continued is marriage ceremonies, especially in Santorini. From the collection 'Dark Harvest'.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
KEITH STEVENSON - Traitor's Run
Earth and the human race have become aggressive and violent towards other inhabitants of the galaxy. This is the first volume of a trilogy by Stevenson, and it describes a dramatic moment of betrayal as aliens fight for their lives. One human woman begins to suspect she is backing the wrong side.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
LUCY SUSSEX - Tour Guide in Utopia
So when is the 'perfect age' in history? Some of us look backward , but previous generations looked forward to an imagined perfect world. If we went forward in the future, how long before we began to notice it was not perfect?
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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C.Z TACKS - Hive
There's no such thing as a 'bone eating bee' - or is there? Certainly this read by Tacks sounds very convincing! From the 'Body of Work' collection.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
MATT TIGHE - Death Meets Noel Samuelson
This is a short story from Matt Tighe that won him the 2022 DITMAR Short Story Award at CONFLUX Speculative Fiction Convention. Matt only began writing during Covid as something to do and has now won a number of awards and a short story collection being published. It tells the story of Noel , who has a mysterious ability to converse with Death.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023
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JULIETTE WADE - The Persistence of Blood
It's a society that is dying out, so the reproductive rights of women are strictly controlled as clans attempt to survive . But Selemei has misjudged her husband's priorities.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
KAARON WARREN - Bitters
A strange society continues an age old tradition of disposing of their dead. But have they all died of natural causes? A humble worker begins to suspect the worst of a job he has done all his life.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2022
The Deathplace Set
This read is taken from 'Vandal - a collection of three top Speculative Fiction writers. As always, Kaaron Warren produces an unsettling tale based on a pack of special cards relating to real places she has travelled to.
Recorded at CONFLUX Canberra 2023