Australian author and editor Leigh Blackmore writes to tell us he “was elected president of the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA), succeeding the association’s first and founding president, Dr. Marty Young, who bows out after five years of running the association.” The elections, will took place during the association’s annual meeting at the just-completed WorldCon, Aussiecon 4, also installed the following officers:
Vice-President: Geoff Brown
Treasurer: Scott Wilson
Secretary: Carl Schaller
Membership Officer: Amanda Spedding
General officers: Ian Mond, Jason Crowe, and James Doig (official AHWA Historian)
Blackmore “wishes to thank the previous committee and other assistants including Marty Young, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Angela Challis, David Schembri, David Carroll, Mark Farrugia, Felicity Dowker, James Cain, Kim Wilkins, Andrew McKiernan, Mick Piemontese, Felicity Dowker, Mark Farrugia, Chuck McKenzie, Ray Gates, Jeff Ritchie, Scott Wilson and the many others who have contributed to the association’s professionalism for all their hard work over the last five years in building AHWA into the organisation it is today.”
As president, he “intends to continue building on the relationships with the British Fantasy Society and the Horror Writers of America established by Marty Young, and to continue to expand initiatives for members of the AHWA as well as to build on the existing benefits of membership such as participation in the Australian Shadows Awards, Midnight Echo magazine, and mentorship programs for horror writing.