''Agog! Smashing Stories'' is a 2004 Australian

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

edited by

Cat Sparks Catriona (Cat) Sparks (born 11 September 1965, Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian science fiction writer, editor and publisher. Publishing As manager and editor of Agog! Press with her partner, Australian horror writer Rob Hood, Sp ...

Background

''Agog! Smashing Stories'' was first published in Australia in 2004 by

Agog! Press Agog! Press was an independent Australian book publisher, specializing in speculative fiction short story collections. Founded in 2002 by Cat Sparks, the press published nine anthologies of speculative fiction. In 2006 Agog! Press forged a ...

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

format. It was a short-list nominee for best collected work at the 2005

Ditmar Awards The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise a ...

but lost to ''

Black Juice ''Black Juice'' is the first collection of short stories by Australian writer Margo Lanagan. It was released in paperback by Allen and Unwin in 2004, and features the author's widely anthologised short story "Singing My Sister Down", which won th ...

'' by

Margo Lanagan Margo Lanagan (born 1960 in Waratah, New South Wales) is an Australian writer of short stories and young adult fiction. Biography She grew up in Raymond Terrace and moved to Melbourne circa 1971/1972. After overseas travel, she moved to Sydney ...

. ''Agog! Smashing Stories'' features 20 stories by 20 authors. Two of the stories featured in the anthology won an Aurealis Award. Brendan Duffy's, " Come to Daddy" won the 2004 Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story and Louise Katz' "

Weavers of the Twilight "Weavers of Twilight" is a 2004 fantasy short story by Louise Katz. Background "Weavers of Twilight" was first published in 2004 in ''Agog! Smashing Stories'', edited by Cat Sparks and published by Agog! Press. It was published alongside 19 othe ...

" won the 2004 Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story. Four other stories were also short-list nominees and the Ditmar Awards and the Aurealis Awards – " The Border" by

Richard Harland Richard Harland (born 15 January 1947 in Yorkshire) is an English fantasy and science fiction writer, living in New South Wales, Australia. He was born in 1947 in Huddersfield, United Kingdom and migrated to Australia in 1970. He has been an aca ...

was a finalist for the Aurealis Award for best horror short story, Simon Brown's, " Water Babies" was a nominee for the 2005 Ditmar Award for best novella or novelette, and

Ben Peek Ben Peek (born 12 October 1976 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian author. His middle name is Michael. Peek's short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including '' Fantasy Magazine'' and ''Aurealis''. His fi ...

's " R" and

Deborah Biancotti Deborah Biancotti is an Australian writer of speculative fiction. Biography Biancotti was born in 1971 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Her first work was published in 2000 with her short story "The First and Final Game" which was featured in ...

's "

Number 3 Raw Place A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

" were both short-list nominees for the 2005 Ditmar Award for best short story. Artwork by Cat Sparks for ''Agog! Smashing Stories'' was also a short-list nominee but lost to

Kerri Valkova Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

who created the cover for

's ''

The Black Crusade ''The Black Crusade'' is a 2004 horror novel by Richard Harland. It is a prequel to Harland's earlier novel '' The Vicar of Morbing Vyle''. It describes the journey of the hapless Basil Smorta, a multilingual bank clerk, who is forced into the co ...

''.

*Foreword by Cat Sparks *"Regolith", short fiction by

Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...

*"Warchalking", short fiction by Paul Haines and Claire McKenna *"Humosity", short story by Jeremy Shaw *"

", short story by

*"Gaslight à Go Go", short fiction by

Dirk Flinthart A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...

*"The Cascade", short story by

Sean McMullen Sean Christopher McMullen (born 21 December 1948 in Sale, Victoria) is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author. Biography McMullen is one of Australia's leading science-fiction and fantasy authors and has written over 70 stories and 1 ...

*"Seven Wives", short story by Bryn Sparks *"Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", short story by Justine Larbalestier *"Temenos", short story by

Kim Westwood Kim Westwood is an Australian author born in Sydney and currently living in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory. She has won the Aurealis Award twice, a Scarlet Stiletto Award and a Ditmar Award. She was shortlisted for six awards includi ...

*"Maelstrom", short fiction by

Martin Livings Martin Livings (born 1970) is an Australian author of horror, fantasy and science fiction. He has been writing short stories since 1990 and has been nominated for both the Ditmar Award and Aurealis Award. Livings resides in Perth, Western Aust ...

*"They Say It's Other People", short story by Paul Haines *"Inside the Mountain", short story by Grace Dugan *" R", short story by

*"Gin Jackson: Neophyte Ranger", short story by

Marianne de Pierres Marianne de Pierres (born 1961) is an Australian science fiction author. Born in Western Australia, she finished her undergraduate studies at Curtin University in Perth and later studied a Postgraduate Certificate of Arts in Writing, Editing and P ...

*" The Border", short story by

*" Water Babies", novelette by Simon Brown *"

", short story by Louise Katz *"Endure", short story by

Trent Jamieson Trent Jamieson is an Australian writer of speculative fiction. Biography Jamieson was first published in 1994 with the short story "Threnody" which was published in the winter edition ''Eidolon (Australian magazine)''. In 2003 Jamieson was nomi ...

*" Come to Daddy", short fiction by Brendan Duffy *"Porn Again", short story by Iain Triffitt

References

2004 anthologies Australian anthologies Fantasy anthologies {{anthology-book-stub

Background

Contents

References