Bill Congreve Bill Congreve i(A23400 works by) (birth name: William David Congreve)
Also writes as: Jacci Olson
Born: Established: 1959 Nairobi,
c
Kenya,
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East Africa, Africa,
;
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: 1961
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BiographyHistory

Sydney-based writer, publisher, editor, reviewer and bookseller Bill Congreve holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Macquarie University. In 1994 he founded the specialty press MirrorDanse. The press is well-known for The Year's Best Australian SF and Fantasy anthology series (co-edited by Congreve and Michelle Marquardt). He has also been associated for many years with the Infinitas Bookshop (Sydney), at times working in the store as well as representing Infinitas at external events.

Congreve's decision to establish MirrorDanse was influenced in part by the realisation while travelling overseas between 1987 and 1990 that the speculative fiction small press industy was burgeoning in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom but hardly existed in Australia. After settling back in Sydney he considered publishing a magazine devoted to science fiction, fantasy and horror but discovered that Aurealis and Eidolon had by then cornered the niche Australian market for these genres. He then considered a horror-specific magazine, initially to be called User Unfriendly Fiction, but was this time beaten by Chris Masters' Esoteric Order of the Dragon. A chance suggestion in 1991 by former music journalist and editor of Mean Streets magazine, Stuart Coupe, led Congreve to get in touch with Robert Hood. The respected author offered his help and support for any publishing venture that Congreve might consider, which led to an approach to Five Island Press (then involved almost exclusively with poetry) to publish the first anthology of new Australian horror stories. Intimate Armageddons was subsequently published in 1992 and provided Congreve with the impetus to establish his own small press, MirrorDanse.

As a writer Bill Congreve has produced both technical and fiction works (primarily in the horror and science fiction genres) and has also edited a number of anthologies. Among the short story collections he has compiled are Intimate Armageddons (1992), Bonescribes: Year's Best Horror 1995, Passing Strange: A New Anthology of Speculative Fiction (2002) and Southern Blood: New Australian Tales of the Supernatural (2003).

Aside from his publishing and editing roles with MirrorDanse, Congreve is actively involved in both the science fiction/fantasy communities and the broader small press industry. He has been on the advisory panel for the Shirley Jackson Awards, acted as a judge for the Aurealis Awards, and been invited to speak at numerous official engagements, including for example The Society of Editors (NSW) Inc. (2010). Congreve was also a book reviewer for Aurealis for twelve years.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy : Fourth Annual Volume The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy : Volume 4 Chatswood : MirrorDanse Books , 2008 Z1549083 2008 anthology short story science fiction fantasy

Comprising twelve stories by twelve Australian authors, contributors to the fourth volume in Mirrordance Books Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy series are: Greg Egan, Adam Browne, Terry Dowling, Trent Jamieson, Lucy Sussex, Richard Harland, Cat Sparks, Ben Peek, Rick Kennett, Ana Tambour, Rjurik Davidson, and Garth Nix.

2008 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Anthology Division
y separately published work icon The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy : Volume 2 Chatswood : MirrorDanse Books , 2006 Z1371674 2006 anthology short story fantasy science fiction
2007 winner Ditmar Awards Best Collected Work
y separately published work icon The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy : Volume 1 Chatswood : MirrorDanse Books , 2005 Z1213880 2005 anthology short story fantasy science fiction
2006 shortlisted Ditmar Awards Best Collected Work
Last amended 23 Jun 2014 14:05:21
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