First Friday, our monthly conversation with an industry professional, is a chance for our community to learn more about the writing and publishing industry. This May, we invite you to our online event with Alan Baxter, director of the 2023 Speculative Fiction Festival.

Speculative fiction is a broad term encompassing science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, steampunk, alternate history, new weird, supernatural, dystopian and a host of other subgenres besides—the literature of imagination without borders. Multi-award-winning author of horror and weird fiction, Alan Baxter joins us to discuss his writing career, his writing practice, and what we can expect at this year’s Speculative Fiction Festival.

This event starts online at 12:30pm (Sydney time), via Zoom, and will run for 60 minutes. If there is time, we will take audience questions at the end. Free and open to members and non-members, but RSVPs are essential.

Registered attendees will receive a link to access this event online immediately prior to the event start time on Friday 5 May.

ALAN BAXTER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE 2023 SPECULATIVE FICTION FESTIVAL

Alan Baxter is a multi-award-winning author of horror, supernatural thrillers and dark fantasy liberally mixed with crime, mystery and noir. This Is Horror podcast calls him ‘Australia’s master of literary darkness’ and the Talking Scared podcast dubbed him ‘The Lord of Weird Australia.’ He’s also a martial arts expert, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover. He creates dark, weird stories among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, where he lives with his family and other animals. Find him online at www.alanbaxter.com.au

Catch up with our previous First Friday events on Event Recap.