Are you mad?
an interview of Donna Maree
Hanson,
compiler of
Australian Speculative
Fiction: A Genre Overview
AT: Well, are
you mad? What made you approach this massive project?
DMH: Completely. It is a prerequisite to undertaking a
project such as this. Anyone associated with it—in
particular,
Cat
Sparks—is completely insane. All
that work for no pay. But it was a darn good idea and it
needed doing. Once I conceived the idea of what I wanted I
couldn't let it die, even when I failed to get grant funding
for it. However, it was the support of people like
Dr Van Ikin that really saw the task to fruition.
AT: How many people did you approach and how many
responded?
DMH: There are 135 author entries, 8 artist entries with
illustrations, 28 short fiction publications entries with
interviews of the editors and 26 new author entries.
I can't recall exactly how many didn't respond but it
would have to be at least another 50 people. Some publishers
sent stuff on but the authors didn't respond, even though I
was assured they had received the request. Some I followed
up again and again until I received a response. I am now
known as Australia's biggest and best nag.
AT: What was the general reaction, and did you have
any problems?
DMH: Do you mean to the idea of the book? Ninety-nine
percent responded positively and I felt honoured that the
authors trusted me with their words and the book production.
As for the finished product, I've had a really good response
from people who have bought it and from reviewers.
AT: What makes you interested in Australian
Speculative Fiction?
DMH: Er . . . what makes
people interested in Aussie cricketers or rugby players? I
guess for me, it was discovering in my ignorant days that
Australians write fantasy and fantasy that compares
favourably with the imported stuff I'd been reading. I read
more and I guess from that I was inspired to have a go at
writing. After that I wanted to know the market and I love
almost all that I have managed to read. We have some giants
amongst us. Discovering Australian Speculative Fiction has
been a journey for me as a reader, a fan and an aspiring
writer.
AT: You also included graphic artists. Could you say
something about them?
DMH: As I was looking at
books and hence book covers I thought it would be good to
interview these artists and preview their work. Book covers
are said to attract readers—and for me they do. But some of
the work is so interesting and complex in itself, it seems a
shame to overlook this important characteristic of the
genre.
AT: Where are you selling Australian Speculative
Fiction: A Genre Overview and who needs it?
DMH: Specialist
books stores in most states have it. I have a
list of
shops up on my website. I also sell the book from my web site. Who needs it?
Libraries, schools and readers in the genre.
The book will
start you on a journey of discovery and it will keep you reading for a while
yet.
AT: What are you doing now?
DMH: Working on
a novel, dabbling in short stories and putting together marketing material for
my book and others that I distribute. I'm publishing
Kaaren Sutcliffe's third book in her young-adult trilogy. And I'm in the
early stages of putting together some collected essays in Australian Speculative
Fiction—very early stages.
 Donna
Maree Hanson has been writing creatively since 2000.
With ten short stories and some feature articles published,
Donna is a keen organiser and is very active in the Canberra
Speculative Fiction Guild. In her spare time, when she is
not running science fiction conventions (she was chair of
the National Science Fiction Convention in Canberra in April
2004 and Conflux 2 in April 2005) or working in her real job
as an auditor, Donna works on her novel-length manuscripts
and jots down the occasional short story.
Donna co-edited
Encounters: An Anthology of Australian Speculative Fiction,
(CSFG, 2004) with Maxine McArthur, and edited the collection
by Aurealis- Award winning author, Kaaron Warren:
The Grinding House (CSFG, 2005).
In 2004 she started
Aust Speculative Fiction, a small business to promote,
distribute and publish Australian Speculative Fiction. She
is currently the Treasurer of the ACT Writers Centre and
lives in Murrumbateman (NSW) with her family, grapes, dog,
two goats and a few ducks.
In late-breaking news,
she discovered she hates tomatoes after processing some 40
kilos of them into pasta sauce. She is also rather aggrieved
by the influx of grasshoppers, who ate her sauvignon blanc.
However she is able to see the bright side, as she doesn't
have to net or harvest this year.
Australian Speculative Fiction: A Genre Overview
by
Donna Maree Hanson
Designed by
Cat
Sparks
Cover illustration by
Nick Stathopoulis
Reviews:
by Sally Murphy, in
Aussiereview
by Alisa Krasnostein, in
Australian
Specfic in Focus
by Russell B. Farr, in
Ticonderoga
Contact Donna Marree Hanson at
donna (at) austspeculativefiction.com.au
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