Selected Non-Fiction
A selection of my non-fiction writing is listed following in order of publication. This list does not include book, game and movie reviews or similar smaller pieces. Click on blue text titles to read online. Click on blue publication links or cover thumb-nails to see more information.
Title
Publication
Covers"A Night Confrontation in the Iranian Desert"
My first published article was a travel piece about an encounter with Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1979, shortly after the Shah had been overthrown and shortly before the American hostage crisis. The article will appear in a slightly different form in my forthcoming book Blue Jeans on the Silk Trail.
The Sun News Pictorial (Melbourne newspaper), Travel Supplement, Friday, August 15, 1986 "So You Want to Buy a Word Processor"
A "how to" article advising writers how to select a word processor, now overrun and outdated by technology.
ASFWN #2, 1992 "The State of the Australian Horror Fiction Magazine"
My interest and research into Australian Fantasy and Horror fiction began to pay dividends with numerous requests for articles on the topic. This article about the history of small press horror publishing in Australia was commission for the launch of "Bloodsongs".
Also available to read online on the Australian Horror Writers Association web site.
Bloodsongs #1, 1993
SF Fan Resource Book, 1995
"The Quest for Australian Fantasy" (with Sean McMullen)
When Sean McMullen and I realised that we had done complimentary research into Australian Fantasy fiction and film we joined forces and began a successful collaboration on related articles for a number of books and magazines.
Aurealis #13, 1994 "The Search for Early Australian Horror"
This article unearths the horror fiction of early Australian writers such as Guy Boothby, Tom Collins, Edward Dyson, Henry Lawson, Barbara Baynton and others who used elements of ghosts and horror in their writing.
Also available to read online on the Australian Horror Writers Association web site.
Bloodsongs #2, 1994
"The Hunt for Australian Horror" (with Sean McMullen)
We followed the feature on Australian Fantasy with a feature of Australian Horror, this time mostly based on my horror research supplemented with Sean's movie research. The article looks at novels, anthologies, YA writing, small press, magazines and movies.
Aurealis #14, 1994
"The Hunt for Australian Horror" (with Sean McMullen)
An anthology reprint of the above article.
The Aurealis Mega Oz SF Anthology, edited by Stephen Higgins and Dirk Strasser (Chimaera Publications), 1999. This column celebrates the work of expatriate Australian writer, John Brosnan, particularly his horror novels written under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight (HAK) and Simon Ian Childers (SIC). Find them if you can, they're a lot of fun.
Also available to read online on the Australian Horror Writers Association web site.
Bloodsongs #3, 1994
Here I unearth some of the pulp horror fiction published in Australia in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
Also available to read online on the Australian Horror Writers Association web site.
Bloodsongs #4, 1995
"Kid’s Stuff: Australian Children's Horror Fiction"
In this article I demonstrate that horror writing is flourishing in Australian YA writing, exploring the work of writers such as Gary Crew, Victor Kelleher, Paul Jennings. Garry Disher and Isobel Carmody among others.
Also available to read online on the Australian Horror Writers Association web site.
Bloodsongs #5, 1995
"The Hunt for Australian Horror Fiction" (with Sean McMullen & Bill Congreve)
Here Bill Congreve took the successful Aurealis article Sean McMullen and I had written, and collaborated with us to include additional research as a cover feature story for a US magazine called The Scream Factory. The article won the 1996 William Atheling Jr. Award.
The Scream Factory#16, 1995 "Australian Children’s TV" (with Sean McMullen)
We watched a lot of video tape for this article on Fantasy and Science Fiction in Australian children's television. We have produced some great shows, but there's some shockers in there as well.
Sirius #10, 1995 "A Touch of Darkness - Gary Crew"
This column examines the threads of horror, weird and the macabre that are woven through Gary Crew's work for children and Young Adults. Crew is a rare talent with few writers matching his accomplishments in this genre.
Also available to read online on the Australian Horror Writers Association web site.
Bloodsongs #6, 1995
"Scoop: Australian SF News #1"
A bullet point news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
Eidolon 19, 1995 “A History of Australian Horror” (with Bill Congreve and Sean McMullen)
An updated version of our award winning Scream Factory article as the end piece for the ground-breaking anthology Bonescribes.
Bonescribes: Year's Best Australian Horror (MirrorDanse), edited by Bill Congreve and Robert Hood, 1995 "Scoop: Australian SF News #2"
A bullet point news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
Eidolon 20, 1996 "Cowboys and Atmosfear"
This was a feature column on Australians Brett Clements and Phillip Tanner and their A Couple 'A Cowboys company, which developed the Nightmare/Atmosfear video board game originally released in 1991.
Bloodsongs #7, 1996 "Scoop: Australian SF News #3" A bullet point news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
Eidolon 21, 1996 "Australian Fantasy" (with Sean McMullen)
The articles Sean McMullen and myself had written about Australian Fantasy had gained us a reputation as subject matter experts in the field, nevertheless we were honoured to be asked by John Clute to write the Australian Fantasy section of the prestigious and definitive The Encyclopedia of Fantasy.
This article won us the 1998 William Atheling Jr. Award while the book itself went on to the 1998 Hugo Award at the World Science Fiction Convention for Best Non-Fiction Book.
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1st UK edition), edited by John Clute John Grant, London, Orbit Books, 1997. (Hardcover)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, edited by John Clute John Grant, New York: St Martin's Press, 1997. (Hardcover)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy , edited by John Clute John Grant, New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1999. (Paperback)
Author entries (with Sean McMullen) for: Conrad Aiken, Gary Crew, Terry Dowling, G. M. Hague, Robert Hood, Victor Kelleher, Rick Kennett, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Rosemary Timperley. St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers (St. James Press), edited by David Pringle, 1997 I contributed feature essays on Australian "Fantasy", "Dark Fantasy" and "Television" (the latter with Sean McMullen) and contributed to some of the other essays. I also wrote numerous credited author profiles, plus all the uncredited author profiles in the encyclopaedia.
The The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy brought together the Australian SF bibliographic work of Graham Stone and Sean McMullen, supported by a range of contributors, each a recognised expert in their field, who wrote supporting essays and author profiles.
The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy, edited by Paul Collins, assistant editors Sean McMullen & Steven Paulsen, Melbourne University Press, 1998 (Hardcover).
The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy, edited by Paul Collins, assistant editors Sean McMullen & Steven Paulsen, Melbourne University Press, 1998 (Paperback).
"Scoop: Australian SF News #4" A bullet point news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
Eidolon 22/23, 1997 The Quest for Australian Fantasy - Continues (with Sean McMullen) Fantasy Annual 1, edited by Philip Harbottle & Sean Wallace (USA), 1997 "Scoop: Australian SF News #5" A bullet point news column about Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writing and publishing in Australia.
Eidolon 24, 1997 "Fantastique et horreur made in Australie" (with Bill Congreve)
The title of this piece translates as "Fantasy & Horror Made in Australia", a French langauage article commissioned by the editor to accompany a story by and an interview with Terry Dowling.
Ténèbres #3, edited by Daniel Conrad (France), July 1998 "Golden Age or New Dawn?" An overview of Australian SF for the 57th World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, Australia in 1999, for the glossy souvenir book published to celebrate the event.
Aussiecon 3 Souvenir Book, edited by Marc Ortlieb, 1999 "Hakwork: An Appreciation of John Brosnan"
An article on the pseudonymous horror novels of John Brosnan, based on an earlier essay published in Bloodsongs, which has been completely rewritten to bring it up to date and correct some errors and omissions contained in the original article. Sadly, John Brosnan has now passed away but hopefully this piece will honour his memory and revive interest in his wonderful tongue-in-cheek horror novels.
Studies in Australian Weird Fiction Volume 3, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj, 2009
In addition to the work listed here, I have also written written numerous business articles, presentations and papers on Project Management, cross Cultural Communication and Information Technology subjects. Most of my business writing has been published in the corporate environment, much of it company confidential, and therefore not able to be presented here.
