The anthology “Best Australian Speculative Fiction: Short Stories 2026” will translate some of the best speculative fiction created by Australian authors. A total of 17 short stories in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres will be promoted across the Chinese World in digital and print formats. These authors are winners and finalists of the prestigious Aurealis Awards, Australia’s premier award for speculative fiction. A pilot project, this will mark the first time a collection of Australian speculative fiction is professionally translated and presented to Chinese readers worldwide.

The “Best Australian Speculative Fiction: Short Stories 2026” is an important pilot for two reasons. First and foremost, Australian literary voices are often overshadowed by British and American authors. Particularly in the Chinese World, where books from Korea and Japan are equally popular as their European and American peers, Australian speculative fiction is bordering non-existence. Now we have the opportunity to introduce the breath and depth of Australian speculative fiction to Chinese readers, who are hungry for fresh, original and diverse stories and idea(l)s amidst the increasing recognition and popularity of speculative fiction in recent years. This opportunity is unmissable and will help propel Australian speculative fiction to this significant non-English market.

Equally significant, as demonstrated by the quality of the 17 stories selected for this anthology, Australian authors working in this field are among the best globally. Yet, speculative fiction has long been underrepresented in our country’s mainstream publishing, including but not limited to our national and industry-based efforts to promote Australian literature to the world. A translated anthology of Australian speculative fiction will not only help promote the authors and the broader genre of speculative fiction, but it can also foster new readership and lead to new literary connections in and between the English and Chinese Worlds.

The raised fund will be used in the following ways:

1. To pay royalties to the authors and the cover designer.
2. To pay wages to the translator, editor and proofreader(s).
3. To produce the anthology in digital and print formats.
4. To promote the anthology both online and offline.
5. To help plan the "Best Australian Speculative Fiction: Short Stories 2027" anthology.

Science Fiction:

• “The Combat Pilot’s Dictionary” by Arden Baker, 2024 Winner, Aurealis Awards - Best Science Fiction Short Story
• “The Last Reader” by Greg Foyster, 2024 Finalist
• “Life in The Dirt” by Henry Neilsen, 2024 Finalist
• “In War with Time for Love of You” by Carol Ryles, 2024 Finalist
• “Hollywood Animals” by Corey Jae White, Winner, 2023 Aurealis Awards - Best Science Fiction Short Story (Tie)
• “Customer Service” by Emily Wyeth, Winner, 2023 Aurealis Awards - Best Science Fiction Short Story (Tie)

Fantasy:

• “The Beautiful Thing You Once Were” by J Ashley-Smith, 2024 Finalist, Aurealis Awards - Best Fantasy Short Story
• “Ashes” by Tania Fordwalker, 2022 Finalist
• “Another Tide” by Will Greatwich, 2024 Winner, Aurealis Awards - Best Fantasy Novella
• “Remembering the Hungry Ghosts” by Emmi Khor, 2024 Finalist
• “What Bones These Tides Bring” by Nikky Lee, 2023 Finalist
• “Beautiful Horizon” by Steve Simpson, 2022 Finalist

Horror:

• “Flesh of My Flesh” by Ben Matthews, 2024 Winner, Aurealis Awards - Best Horror Short Story
• “Hackles” by Jeff Clulow, 2024 Finalist
• “These Pale Shadows” by Kirstyn McDermott, 2024 Finalist
• “An Object of Vision” by Guan Un, 2024 Finalist
• “Il re Giallo” by Matthew R Davis, 2023 Finalist

The anthology’s cover will be designed by Tim Goschnick, an artist and illustrator from Naarm (Melbourne) who creates utopian dream worlds in vivid, technicolor detail. Drawing inspiration from science fiction, nature, suburbia, 60's psychedelia and underground comics, his work is a balancing act between playful abstraction and detailed figurative scenes, flatness and depth, fantasy and realism. He studied Digital Art at RMIT and has been working as a freelance illustrator, concept artist and graphic designer since, incorporating traditional drawing, painting and printmaking with digital techniques. You can visit Tim's website Here.

Born in Taiwan and now based in Australia, Christine Yunn-Yu Sun is a writer, translator, reader, reviewer, journalist and independent scholar in English and Chinese languages. Backed by 30 years of experience as a professional translator, she has been assisting emerging and established anglophone authors, publishers and literary agents to translate, publish and/or promote their titles to the Chinese World since 2012. Christine has served as a judge for the Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Speculative Fiction on a voluntary basis since 2017, presented at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention, and written for the Speculative Insight, an award-winning journal “for exploring the ideas and themes that stand behind, inform, and develop out of, speculative fiction”. You can find Christine's blog Here.

You can read the following Letters of Support from some of the authors featured in the "Best Australian Speculative Fiction: Short Stories 2026" anthology:

• "Internationally, the Australian voice is often overshadowed by British and American authors, and we firmly believe that the Australian experience is unique enough to warrant a more serious approach to speculative fiction in our literary spaces... The Chinese-speaking world has a hunger for new science fiction, and Australia has some incredible voices telling these stories - we just need to bridge this gap." Read more from Arden Baker.

• "Speculative fiction is undergoing something of a renaissance at present... [Readers] are hungry for new speculative fiction and nowhere more so than the giant Asian markets of China and Taiwan. Helping Australian Creators enter these markets makes eminent financial sense and it's this writer's belief that the returns will come. But only if we offer help to the very few people qualified and inspired to get things started." Read more from Jeff Clulow.

• "China has joined the United States as the leading publisher of speculative fiction, both in terms of volumes of titles and influence on trends in the genre, and yet there have been few projects to position Australian authors within this crucial and growing publishing market. [This] anthology will increase interest in Australian speculative fiction among Chinese language readers, and by doing so create new opportunities for other Australian authors." Read more from Greg Foyster.

• "Although there are thriving speculative fiction scenes in both Australia and China, it is rare for them to come into direct contact. Owing to the language barrier and economies of scale, it is more likely for both scenes to experience influence flowing outward from the cultural centres of the United States. Readers in Chinese (whether in China or abroad) are probably unaware of the breadth and diversity of Australian speculative fiction, and [this] project will go a long way to bridging that gap." Read more from Will Greatwich.

• "I anticipate that not only would bringing Australian speculative fiction to a Chinese audience be a terrific way to promote the work of authors such as myself, that this could in turn lead to further projects and anthologies, for example, [of] Chinese fiction translated into English." Read more from Ben Matthews.

• "Speculative fiction is a thriving collection of genres both internationally and here in Australia, although it has been underrepresented in Australian mainstream publishing in recent years. A translated anthology that makes accessible a sample of some of the very best Australian speculative fiction for such a significant non-English market [as China] will help promote both the authors involved and the genre more broadly, fostering new readership outside of Australia." Read more from Kirstyn McDermott.

• "This [is] an exciting privilege for all authors involved because, in most cases, our stories originally appeared in small press publications with limited budgets and marketing capabilities. I wholly support [this project] for giving Australian authors this valuable opportunity to have our stories translated and reprinted in a professional manner, and to be made available for readers far from home." Read more from Carol Ryles.

• "This is an important project because Australia consistently has some of the best speculative writers in the world. And not only that, but China has the biggest speculative fiction readership in the world, with their magazine Science Fiction World having a readership upwards of 100,000. This project would help to translate already existing works into a readership that is hungry for new stories and ideas, thus leading to increased interest in Australia and potential readership and publication for Australian authors." Read more from Guan Un.

Forthcoming...