The
Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) is a
non-profit organisation that commenced in
2003 with the goal of providing a unified voice and sense of
community for
Australian writers of dark fiction (
horror and
dark fantasy) and to further the development of dark fiction in
Australia.
History
The AHWA built to some extent on the work of previous horror writers' associations in Australia such as the Sydney-based Gargoyle Club (1987-92)(see
Leigh Blackmore) and the Melbourne-based Australian Horror Writers (1994-1998), which grew out of
Bloodsongs magazine (its President being
Bryce J. Stevens, and its newsletter/journal
Severed Head having been edited first by Stevens then Aaron Sterns). However, the AHWA was a far more ambitious effort, conceived by its founding committee as drawing together horror writers and fans nationwide in Australia.
The AHWA was officially launched during the Continuum 3
science fiction convention in
Melbourne on July 17, 2005 by
author Richard Harland.
The founding committee members were Dr Marty Young (President),
Kirstyn McDermott (Vice President), Mick Piemontese (Secretary), Carl Schaller (Treasurer), James R Cain and
Angela Challis.
In 2005, the AHWA established the
Australian Shadows Award as an annual
literary award to honour the best published work of
horror fiction written or edited by an Australian.
Other projects established by the AHWA include the Southern Horror
Yahoo! Group mailing list for members, an annual
flash fiction and......
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