Ahira's Hangar

A writer I know, Maryanne Mahonraj, has become the director of the Speculative Literature Foundation, www.speculativeliterature.org/. Ms. Mahonraj is an author and editor, she was previously the fiction editor of the internet based Webzine Strange Horizons www.strangehorizons.com. She is graduate of the Clarion workshops, addtionally, she is currently engaged in pursuing her Ph.D. The foundation website is loaded with links and content, concerning the writing, reading and teaching of
'speculative literature' (including fantasy, SF, magical realism, cross genre writing, etc.) Ms Mahonraj's personal website is www.mamohanraj.com.

Here is a press realease regarding the Foundation's debut:
Speculative Literature Foundation (SLF) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --
January 2004

We are delighted to announce the official launch of the Speculative
Literature Foundation (www.speculativeliterature.org), with our mission
"to promote literary quality in speculative fiction, by encouraging
promising new writers, assisting established writers, facilitating the
work of quality magazines and small presses in the genre, and developing a
greater public appreciation of speculative fiction."

We hope to accomplish this by creating a free comprehensive resource
website, by developing materials for outreach to schools and libraries,
and by raising funds to redistribute as grants and awards for quality work
by individuals and organizations.

The first award we will present will be the 2003 SLF Fountain
Award, $1000 in prize money for excellence in short fiction. A select
jury will accept nominations from magazine and anthology editors, and
announce the winner and honorable mentions on June 1st, 2004. (For more
details, including nomination guidelines, please see our website.)

The foundation is supported by annual membership fees, and we encourage
all those who read, write, and generally appreciate speculative fiction
(by which term we mean to encompass the broad range of fantastic
literature, from hard sf to sword and sorcery to magical realism to
slipstream) to stop by our site, take a look at the resources we offer,
and consider joining as supporting members. Your membership fees will go
directly towards the ongoing development of grants and awards to reward
literary excellence in the genre; we're also pleased to welcome new
volunteers to our staff.

For more information on what the Foundation offers, please visit our
comprehensive website and take advantage of our extensive (and growing)
set of free resources geared towards the needs of readers, academics,
editors and writers. Thank you for your time, and again, you can find us
at:

www.speculativeliterature.org

- Mary Anne Mohanraj
Director, SLF taraswizard
Allan Rosewarne N9SQT/WDX6HQV
Chicago area
W/T forever, always
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