Books, books, books at Pulp Fiction

Photograph by Alex of a bookshelf at Pulp Fiction, Brisbane, during author signings.

Cat Sparks and Rob Hood, Brunswick St Mall

Pre-ceremonial nibbles and drinks are as much a part of the ritual as the awards themselves.

Scott Westerfeld wins for Leviathan

Scott Westerfeld accepts the prize for Best Young Adult Novel.

Paul Haines makes history

The shadow of Paul Haines steps up to accept an unprecedented tied win for two of his own stories.

Reading Rosaleen Love

A great idea from the convenors: between winners, reading short excerpts from great Australian works that predate the Aurealis Awards. This reading was from Rosaleen Love’s “The Total Devotion Machine.”

Justin Ackroyd, golden boy

Justin Ackroyd, bookseller extraordinaire, accepts the Peter McNamara Convenor’s Award for services to the speculative fiction community.

The full 2010 Aurealis Award results can be found here. More photos from the weekend, not Aurealis-related, after the fold.

Steeple roof, St John’s Cathedral

Taken from our hotel window, the amazing St John’s Cathedral. Construction began in 1906. Finally consecrated in October 2009. Check out those herringbone patterns on the copper spires.

Brisbane lights, long exposure

Photograph by Isobel after a technique of Alex’s. If you know your electronics, you can tell the neon lights from the incandescents.

Lightning for Neda, GoMA

We took the kids to the Gallery of Modern Art. Last time I was here, the gallery gave an enormous space to art approved by the Chinese government, including heaped servings of unleavened Mao unctuoum. This time a smaller space was devoted to art from an officially-sanctioned North Korean studio. Much as I approve of reaching out to other parts of the world through cultural exchanges, I’m not entirely convinced that granting public space to totalitarian apologetics is a good trade-off.

But this piece below more than made up for it…

“Lightning for Neda” by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was created using a 16th century technique for recycling the shards of mirrors broken in transport. Waste not, want not. There are six panels here, each made from over 4,000 mirror shards arranged in complex geometric patterns. The panels are not flat, either; they are intersecting planes (see photograph below).

Farmanfarmaian fled Iran after the 1979 Revolution but returned ten years ago and has been working there ever since. “Neda” is Farsi for voice. This, my friends, is why we reach out.

Elk coated in acrylic spheres, GoMA

“Greetings, Acrylic Elk.”

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Tags: 2010, aurealis awards, cat sparks, justin ackroyd, paul haines, rob hood, rosaleen love, scott westerfeld