Angela Slatter
Encyclopedia
Angela Slatter is an award-winning 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 created an extensive portfolio 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).
2006, Angela Slatter's short stories have appeared in anthologies and journals in Australia and internationally. Her work has been listed for Honourable Mention by Ellen Datlow
, Gavin Grant
and Kelly Link
; and she has been nominated three times for the Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story
. Along with the Aurealis Awards, Slatter has been nominated for the Ditmar Award
on two occasions: as Best New Talent in 2008, and for Best Short Story in 2010.
Slatter has a Masters (Research) in Creative Writing. She occasionally teaches creative writing at Queensland University of Technology
.
In 2010, she published two short story collections: Sourdough & Other Stories with Tartarus Press
(UK) which received a Starred Review at Publishers Weekly
, and The Girl with No Hands & Other Tales (Ticonderoga Publications
).
Slatter is currently working on a "duopoly" consisting of the novels Well of Souls and Gate of the Dead.
for her "evocative and poetic prose" in Sourdough & Other Stories, and her writing garnered similar comments from Jeff Vandermeer
, who described it as "brilliant, muscular, and original". In particular, Slatter has received critical acclaim for her style of retelling or "reloading" fairytales.
Individual short stores have, at times, been highlighted by reviewers: in particular, her story "The Jacaranda Wife" was perceived as one of the best stories in Jack Dann
's Dreaming Again anthology by The Australian
, as well as being praised by The Cairns Post
and
The Sydney Morning Herald
, who wrote: "The collection's trump card is the quality of its new writers, many of whom produce stronger stories than some of the veterans ... Particular standouts are ... Angela Slatter's haunting The Jacaranda Wife, set in colonial Australia, seems to build towards a climax truly sinister, yet instead leaves you with beautiful imagery that is as otherworldly as it is strangely touching."
Similarly, Scoop Magazine described her collaborative story, "The February Dragon" (with Lisa L Hannett) as being a "highlight" of Scary Kisses.
Kim Wilkins
has cited Slatter as a SF author of note in a forthcoming chapter in the Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing.
Slatter was the subject of an extensive feature in Issue 21 of Black Static Magazine, which had her photograph on the cover. Its review of Sourdough and Other Stories states, "The effect is almost as if Quentin Tarantino had decided to write fairy stories instead of scripting Pulp Fiction." (page 44)
Her collection, The Girl With No Hands and other tales is a finalist for the 2010 Australian Shadows Award
for Long Fiction, and her story "Brisneyland by Night" is a finalist for Short Fiction.
In May 2011, Slatter was the winner of 2010 Aurealis Award
for Best Collection with The Girl With No Hands and other tales and Best Fantasy Short Story for The February Dragon, co-written with L.L. Hannett. This award was jointly awarded to Thoraiya Dyer for Yowie.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Primarily working in the field of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
, 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 created an extensive portfolio 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).
Biography
A graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers WorkshopTin House
Tin House is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon and New York City. The Tin House magazine was conceived in the summer of 1998 by Portland publisher Win McCormack. He envisioned a journal that would be graphically appealing and free of the stale substance...
2006, Angela Slatter's short stories have appeared in anthologies and journals in Australia and internationally. Her work has been listed for Honourable Mention by Ellen Datlow
Ellen Datlow
Ellen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
, Gavin Grant
Gavin Grant
Gavin J. Grant is a science fiction editor and writer. He runs Small Beer Press along with his wife Kelly Link. In addition, he has been the editor of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet since 1996 and, from 2003 to 2008, was co-editor of the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology series along with...
and Kelly Link
Kelly Link
Kelly Link is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism...
; and she has been nominated three times for the Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story
Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers"...
. Along with the Aurealis Awards, Slatter has been nominated for the Ditmar Award
Ditmar Award
The Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom...
on two occasions: as Best New Talent in 2008, and for Best Short Story in 2010.
Slatter has a Masters (Research) in Creative Writing. She occasionally teaches creative writing at Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
.
In 2010, she published two short story collections: Sourdough & Other Stories with Tartarus Press
Tartarus Press
Tartarus Press is a small, international award-winning, independent small press run by R.B. Russell and Rosalie Parker. It has two distinct specialities....
(UK) which received a Starred Review at Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, and The Girl with No Hands & Other Tales (Ticonderoga Publications
Ticonderoga Publications
Ticonderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specialises in collections of science fiction short stories.-History and current:...
).
Slatter is currently working on a "duopoly" consisting of the novels Well of Souls and Gate of the Dead.
Reception
Slatter's works have been well received. She has received praise from Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
for her "evocative and poetic prose" in Sourdough & Other Stories, and her writing garnered similar comments from Jeff Vandermeer
Jeff VanderMeer
Jeffrey Scott VanderMeer is an American writer, editor and publisher.He is best known for his contributions to the New Weird and his stories about the city of Ambergris, in books like City of Saints and Madmen.-Biography:...
, who described it as "brilliant, muscular, and original". In particular, Slatter has received critical acclaim for her style of retelling or "reloading" fairytales.
Individual short stores have, at times, been highlighted by reviewers: in particular, her story "The Jacaranda Wife" was perceived as one of the best stories in Jack Dann
Jack Dann
Jack Dann is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-editor of story anthologies in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres...
's Dreaming Again anthology by The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
, as well as being praised by The Cairns Post
The Cairns Post
The Cairns Post is a major News Corporation newspaper in Far North Queensland that exclusively serves the Cairns area. It has daily coverage on local, state, national and world news, plus a wide range of sections and liftouts covering health, beauty, cars and lifestyle.It is the oldest business in...
and
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, who wrote: "The collection's trump card is the quality of its new writers, many of whom produce stronger stories than some of the veterans ... Particular standouts are ... Angela Slatter's haunting The Jacaranda Wife, set in colonial Australia, seems to build towards a climax truly sinister, yet instead leaves you with beautiful imagery that is as otherworldly as it is strangely touching."
Similarly, Scoop Magazine described her collaborative story, "The February Dragon" (with Lisa L Hannett) as being a "highlight" of Scary Kisses.
Kim Wilkins
Kim Wilkins
Kim Wilkins is an Australian writer of popular fiction based in Brisbane, Queensland. She is the author of several mass-market novels, including her debut horror novel, The Infernal , which won Aurealis Awards for both horror and fantasy...
has cited Slatter as a SF author of note in a forthcoming chapter in the Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing.
Slatter was the subject of an extensive feature in Issue 21 of Black Static Magazine, which had her photograph on the cover. Its review of Sourdough and Other Stories states, "The effect is almost as if Quentin Tarantino had decided to write fairy stories instead of scripting Pulp Fiction." (page 44)
Her collection, The Girl With No Hands and other tales is a finalist for the 2010 Australian Shadows Award
Australian Shadows Award
The Australian Shadows Award is an annual literary award established by the Australian Horror Writers Association in 2005 to honour the best published work of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian...
for Long Fiction, and her story "Brisneyland by Night" is a finalist for Short Fiction.
In May 2011, Slatter was the winner of 2010 Aurealis Award
Aurealis Award
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.-History:...
for Best Collection with The Girl With No Hands and other tales and Best Fantasy Short Story for The February Dragon, co-written with L.L. Hannett. This award was jointly awarded to Thoraiya Dyer for Yowie.
Collections
- Sourdough and Other Stories, Tartarus PressTartarus PressTartarus Press is a small, international award-winning, independent small press run by R.B. Russell and Rosalie Parker. It has two distinct specialities....
, 2010 ISBN 9781905784257 - The Girl With No Hands and other tales, Ticonderoga PublicationsTiconderoga PublicationsTiconderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specialises in collections of science fiction short stories.-History and current:...
, 2010 ISBN 9780980628876 - (forthcoming) Midnight and Moonshine, with Lisa L Hannett, 2012
Anthologies
- “The Curious Case of Physically-Manifested Bedsheet Mania & Other Tales”, co-authored with Lisa Hannett, in Jeff VandermeerJeff VanderMeerJeffrey Scott VanderMeer is an American writer, editor and publisher.He is best known for his contributions to the New Weird and his stories about the city of Ambergris, in books like City of Saints and Madmen.-Biography:...
's and Ann VanderMeerAnn VanderMeerAnn VanderMeer is an American publisher and editor, and the second female editor of the venerable horror magazine Weird Tales. She is the founder of Buzzcity Press.Her work as Fiction Editor of Weird Tales won a Hugo Award...
’s Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, Tachyon PublicationsTachyon PublicationsTachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies....
, 2010. - “Genevieve and the Dragon”, Worlds Next Door, 2010.
- “The February Dragon”, co-authored with Lisa Hannett, Scary Kisses, 2010.
- “Brisneyland by Night”, Sprawl, 2010.
- “Sister, Sister”, Strange Tales III, 2009.
- “Light as Mist, Heavy as Hope”, Needles & Bones, 2009.
- “The Piece of Ice in Miss Windermere’s Heart”, New Ceres Nights, 2009.
- “The Jacaranda Wife”, Dreaming Again edited by Jack DannJack DannJack Dann is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-editor of story anthologies in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres...
(HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
), 2008. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year’s Best Horror (ed. Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
). - “I Love You Like Water”, 2012.
- “The Nun’s Tale”, Canterbury 2100, 2008.
- “Sourdough”, Strange Tales II, 2007. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
Magazines and Journals
- “The Chrysanthemum Bride”, Fantasy Magazine, December 2009
- “Words”, The Lifted Brow # 5, June 2009 issue, shortlisted for Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story 2009
- “Frozen”, Mort Castle’s Doorways Magazine, Issue 8, April 2009
- “The Girl with No Hands”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #23, 2008
- “Dresses, three”, Shimmer 2008. Short-listed for Best Fantasy Short Story Aurealis Award 2008. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year’s Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2009)
- “The Hummingbird Heart”, Shimmer 2008. Honourable Mention, 2008 Year’s Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2009)
- “Skin”, The Lifted Brow #3
- “Little Radish”, Crimson Highway, 2008 Honourable Mention, 2008 Year’s Best Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, 2009)
- “Pressina’s Daughters”, Winter 2007/2008, issue #71 of ONSPEC: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic.
- “The Danger of Warmth”, Crimson Highway 2007.
- “Cedar Splinters”, Artworker Magazine, October 2007.
- “The Little Match Girl”, Shimmer #3, 2006. Honourable Mention, 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
- “Bluebeard”, Shimmer #4, 2006. Honourable Mention, 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
- “The Angel Wood”, Shimmer #5, 2006. Short-listed for Best Fantasy Short Story Aurealis Award 2007. Honourable Mention, 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant).
- “The Juniper Tree”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #18, 2006.
- “Red Skein”, Walking Bones Magazine, 2006.
Flash Fiction
- “Inheritance”, The Daily Cabal, June 2009.
- “Brisneyland by Night – Part Four”, The Daily Cabal, June 2009.
- “Aeaea Street”, The Daily Cabal, May 2009.
- “Lantern”, The Daily Cabal, May 2009.
- “Brisneyland by Night – Part Three”, The Daily Cabal, May 2009.
- “Brisneyland by Night – Part Two”, The Daily Cabal, April 2009.
- “The Impatient Dead”, The Daily Cabal, April 2009.
- “Hermione’s Farewell”, The Daily Cabal, April 2009.
- “Red New Day”, The Daily Cabal, March 2009.
- “Foundation”, The Daily Cabal, February 2009.
- “Beggar-maid”, The Daily Cabal, January 2009.
- “Sunday Drivers”, The Daily Cabal, October 2008.
- “Things Best Left Alone”, The Daily Cabal, October 2008.
- “Seek”, The Daily Cabal, November 2008.
- “Brisneyland by Night”, The Daily Cabal, December 2008.
- “The Problem of Thorns”, The Daily Cabal, December 2008.
- “Binoorie”, The Daily Cabal, December 2008.
- “Little Green Apples”, Microfiction Antipodean SF, issue 110
- “Crush”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 103
- “Swept Off Her Feet”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 74
- “Mating Season”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 72
- “Shades and Shadows”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 71
- “The Halite Chronicles”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 70
- “Midnight Swim”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 69
- “Icon of the Underworld”, Microfiction in Antipodean SF, issue 67
Articles
- “Finding a Literary Agent: The Ugly Truth”, in The Australian Writer’s Marketplace, 11th edition, 2011/12, August 2010.
- “Getting Published: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, feature article with Katherine Lyall-Watson, November 2008 issue of Writing Queensland.
- “To Review or Not to Review”, feature article, October 2007 issue of Writing Queensland.
- “Zen and the Art of PhD Maintenance”, Issue 4 of The Definite Article, October 2007.
- “Little Red Riding Hood: Life off the Path”, Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, Volume 1, Issue 12, 2008.
- “Tin House: What I Did On My Summer Vacation”, feature article, October 2006 issue of Writing Queensland.
- “Postcard from Tin House”, June 2006 issue of Writing Queensland.
- “Kim Wilkins: Brisbane Gothic”, Feature Article in Antipodean SF, issue 75