It’s been an absolute whirlwind three weeks, but it’s hard to believe there’s just over two days left on the campaign! Don’t forget that physical copies of the book will ONLY be available through this campaign! You are able add on extra copies or change your reward level to a multi-copy option (up to three copies) with extra discounting available on multi-book reward levels. Reward levels start at AUD$10.00 for the ebook.

ALL THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are thrilled to announce that The Art of Being Human will feature a Foreword by multi award-winning storyteller Angela Slatter, and Introduction by our very own Stephanie Lai!

Based in Brisbane, Angela Slatter‘s short fiction has been featured in publications all over the world, and her collections and novels, many of them adjacent to her intricate “Sourdough” world, are lyrical, dark, and utterly consumable pieces of literature. FableCroft has been fortunate to publish several of Angela’s stories over the years, and we’re so excited that her insights into our theme and the stories in the book will feature in the anthology.

Co-editor of The Art of Being Human, Stephanie Lai, is a painter, occasional writer, and professional climate change activist. Stephanie chaired Continuum, Melbourne’s local SFF con, in 2013, and wants everyone to talk about intersectionality and kyriarchy in SFF. She lives in Melbourne, Australia. In her Introduction to The Art of Being Human, Stephanie considers the juxtaposition of art and grief. She writes about understanding that art doesn’t need grief to be amazing or to reach its audience, but that often art helps us work through our grief, and examines how this anthology is a work of this moment, the different ways we grieve, and the myriad things we celebrate.

A bunch of our truly awesome contributors talked online about the theme and their stories over the past couple of weeks. If you’d like some insight into what the book will be like, take a look!

K G Anderson shares a beautiful reflective piece explaining the inspiration for her story “Pieced Together” https://writerway.com/2022/08/22/the-short-story-from-a-mosaic-workshop/

Joanne Anderton shares a tidbit about the genesis of her story “Birdsong” https://joanneanderton.com/wordpress/2022/08/17/the-art-of-being-human/

Joyce Chng shares a very personal insight into the genesis of her story “The World Has Gone Silent” – https://awolfstale.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/the-year-of-tears-and-the-fight-for-hope/ 

Helen Vivienne Fletcher (and her gorgeous pupper!) shares a video talking about her story “The Library” – https://www.facebook.com/Helenvivienne/videos/506745707791990/ – and reads from her story – super fitting during Book Week! https://www.instagram.com/p/ChlIxZkOBJH/  

Ephiny Gale not only digs into a bit of the inspiration about her story “Neuro”, but shares a sneak peek! – https://ephinygale.com/2022/08/14/neuro-in-the-art-of-being-human-kickstarter-live/

Nikoline Kaiser teases a snippet of her story “A trail of blue paper flowers” on Twitter https://twitter.com/NikolineKaiser/status/1562052357835341825?s=20&t=bz0KB0JJkYmnYHeb-_dGqA

Stephanie Lai offers an insight into the conception of the anthology https://yiduiqie.tumblr.com/post/692691175794262016/the-art-of-being-human

Juliet Marillier shares a snippet of her story “Greatheart” and talks about the power of music and stories to heal and teach – https://www.julietmarillier.com/2022/08/14/bagpipes-a-monster-and-the-power-of-storytelling/

Kirstyn McDermott draws on the impact of capitalism on our capacity for creativity in discussing her story “Seeding Trouble” (and offers another sneak peek!) – https://kirstynmcdermott.com/2022/08/11/the-art-of-being-human-seeding-trouble/

Steve Quinn talks about how wealth inequality helped inspire his story, “The Maiden, the Statistician, and the Architect” – https://www.steve-quinn.net/2022/08/14/the-art-of-being-human-anthology-kickstarter/

Tansy Rayner Roberts has been sprinkling little nuggets of joy all over the internet about her story “Welcome to the Death Trade” – check out her Facebook and Insta feeds!

Kaaron Warren talks about beauty, and loss, and the hope that things can be built anew, in the inspiration for her story “Everything so slow and quiet” https://kaaronwarren.wordpress.com/2022/08/23/the-art-of-being-human-anthology/

And of course, we revealed the stunning cover by Amanda Rainey!

Submissions close: December 1, 2020

The world in 2020 has been tipped upside down and shaken in ways we could barely have imagined, except perhaps in the post-apocalyptic and dystopic worlds of story. Amidst pandemic illness and death, political machinations and despair, one of the casualties has been, at least in a financial sense, the Arts. Governments across the world have slashed funding, galleries, theatres and entertainment venues have closed amid lockdown restrictions, money is being carefully metered with jobs more uncertain than ever, meaning our creatives across all industries are suffering. And yet, more than ever, we are turning to art to stay sane in lockdown, to keep our spirits up in isolation, and to remind us that despite the hardship, there is beauty in this world. 

To that end, FableCroft is coming out of hiatus in this year of social distancing and staying at home, to call for submissions on a brand new original anthology, The Art of Being Human. Co-edited by Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai, this anthology seeks to remind readers of the hope and beauty of the Arts, and the way our engagement with writing, music, film, theatre, artworks in all media, and craft of all kinds are at the core of our humanity. We are looking at this through a broad context, seeking work that in some way demonstrates the beauty and hope of humanity through a lens of “the arts” in some form.

Stories should be between 2,000 to 20,000 words long, and not previously published. Poetry of any length is also welcome. Works are invited from all over the world, but must be primarily in the English language.

Stories must contain speculative elements – science fiction, fantasy and horror and their sub-genres are all welcome, but we recommend researching FableCroft’s past projects for an idea of the sort of stories we publish. Generally, no erotica or splatterpunk is desirable. Please query the editor before sending stories outside those limits.

SEE OUR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR MORE INFORMATION.