The best part about submitting to U.S. journals and prizes is that you get their rejection emails in the middle of the night. Nothing like being woken up at 3 a.m. to learn you suck. But this time…no suck! Kelli Jo Ford, an incredible writer btw, somehow decided I was the winner of Ruminate magazine’s short story prize.

My winning story, ‘The Florist’, was meant to be a satire on political polarization. It turned into something else, though; in all honesty I’m at a loss about what this one actually means. But I’ll still take the check!

By the sounds of it, the story will published in the U.S. autumn.

https://www.ruminatemagazine.com/blogs/ruminate-news-and-events/2021-william-van-dyke-short-story-prize-winners-alex-cothren-amber-blaesen-wardzala

As usual, way late with this, but I reviewed Michael Winkler’s Grimmish for the April 2021 issue of Australian Book Review. The ‘novel’ is an absolutely bizarre mix of fact and fiction about a little known boxer, and I loved it. Give me the weird, weird, weird ones any day.

https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue/962-april-2021-no-430/7608-alex-cothren-reviews-grimmish-by-michael-winkler

Before the U.S. election (which aged me about a decade, by the way), The Conversation asked me to talk about Borat 2, and how I thought it might effect voters. The article is fun, but for real giggles check out the comments section, where the HUNTER’S LAPTOP MATTERS brigade are in full force. You can check it out here.

The Conversation asked me to choose something that I turn to for comfort in troubling times.

My answer: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

This show has been an obsession of mine for years, so it was a pleasure to write about. The hardest part was choosing which clips to include in the article!

You can read my take on the show here.

Late news, part 2!

I reviewed Ronnie Scott’s The Adversary for the May 2020 issue of the Australian Book Review.

I suspect that the book might be an acquired taste, but I enjoyed its neurotic, witty narrator.

You can read the review here.

Note: ABR was not successful in its latest round of funding. It is an important voice for Australian literature, so you should support it with a subscription.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, waaaaay late with this news, but I had story published in the latest Island (159).

The story, ‘The Tick Tock Killer’, is a satirical look at how true-crime shows are skewing our understanding of violence against women.

Island’s fiction editor is Ben Walters, who has been a kind supporter of my work in the past. I am very grateful to him for accepting this story, and I highly recommend that you become an Island subscriber ASAP.

 

 

In response to the ongoing environmental disaster that is the Australian bushfires, Meanjin has put together a collection of recent writing on climate change. I’m honored to say that my story, Let’s Talk Trojan Bee, is a part of this collection.

The magazine is also raising money for Wildlife Victoria by donating $25 from every $50 digital subscription to the magazine. So: there’s never been a better time to subscribe and stay informed on the dying days of the Anthropocene.

 

 

Very excited that my story, ‘Let’s Talk Trojan Bee’, is included in the Spring 2019 issue of Meanjin.

The Meanjin team did an incredible job formatting the story, which is told entirely through quotes (some fake, some real) from a range of media sources.

There’s also a lovely picture of a bee!

Aside from my story, the issue includes Paige Clark’s amazing story ‘Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’, runner-up in the Peter Carey Short Story Award, and a hard-hitting essay on climate change by James Bradley.

Click here to read more about the issue.

 

 

I had an amazing day in Bacchus Marsh, where I was lucky enough to win the Peter Carey Short Story Award. Apart from the obvious shock and delight of winning, getting to drink a beer with the judge, Nic, and the award organizers, Wayne & Jem (excellent writers themselves), was a real pleasure. The Shire mayor even invited me to come to his place for a writer’s retreat!

My story, ‘Let’s Talk Trojan Bee’, will be published in the spring 2019 issue of Meanjin, alongside Paige Clark’s story, ‘Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’, which sounds amazing.

Big thank you again to the organizers and everyone else I met down in Moorabool Shire.

Writers: make sure you enter this comp next year!!

Pretty excited, no scrap that, bloody heaps excited to have a story long-listed for the Peter Carey Short Award. The story, “Let’s Talk Trojan Bees”, is a piece of speculative fiction in which climate changes leads to bee migration leads to right-wing conspiracy theories leads to chaos. It’ll be a part of my PhD creative artefact.

Winners/Runner-ups announced in early-June. Some prestigious writers elsewhere on the list, so chances are slim, but I just watched the Liverpool-Barcelona 2nd leg, so I ain’t giving up!