Kyla Ward
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kyla (Lee) Ward is an Australian writer of
speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...
, poet and actor. Her work has been nominated multiple times for the
Ditmar Award The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise ...
, the
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
, the Australian Shadows Award, the
Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...
and the
Rhysling Award __NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best speculative poetry, science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. The award name was dubbed by Andrew Joron in reference to a character in a science fiction story: the bl ...
. She won the
Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 by ...
in 2006 for her collaborative novel ''Prismatic'' (as by 'Edwina Grey').


Biography

Ward was born in
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. She attended the
University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a technical institution can be traced back t ...
where she gained a BA in communications.


Writing

Ward was first published in 1994 with her poem "Mary" which was featured in the magazine ''Bloodsongs''. In 2002 her short story "The Boneyard" was nominated for the
Ditmar Award The Ditmar Award (formally the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award; formerly the "Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award") has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (the "Natcon") to recognise ...
for best short fiction but lost to
Lucy Sussex Lucy Sussex (born 1957 in New Zealand) is an author working in fantasy and science fiction, children's and teenage writing, non-fiction and true crime. She is also an editor, reviewer, academic and teacher, and currently resides in Melbourne, Aus ...
and
Jack Dann Jack Dann (born February 15, 1945) is an American writer best known for his science fiction, as well as an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, the majority being as editor or c ...
. In 2006 she won her first award with the novel ''
Prismatic An optical prism is a transparent optics, optical element with flat, polished surfaces that are designed to refraction, refract light. At least one surface must be angled—elements with two parallel surfaces are ''not'' prisms. The most fami ...
'', co-authored with Evan Paliatseas and David Carroll under the shared pseudonym of Edwina Grey. ''Prismatic'' tied with
Will Elliott Will Elliott (born 1979) is an Australian horror and fantasy writer living in Brisbane, Queensland. He currently tutors at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Profile Elliott dropped out of a law degree at the age of 20 when he developed s ...
's ''
The Pilo Family Circus ''The Pilo Family Circus'' is a 2006 horror novel by Australian author Will Elliott. Premise It follows the story of Jamie, who, after a random incident of nearly hitting a clown with his car, finds himself being stalked by three sadistic clo ...
'' to win the
Aurealis Award for best horror novel The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, Horror fiction, horror writers". To qualify, a ...
. Ward has also contributed to role-playing games including ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game The ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game'' (''BtVSRPG'') is a role-playing game published by Eden Studios, Inc. in 2002. It is based on the popular television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' that ran from 1997-2003. The BtVPSRPG us ...
'' by Eden Studios, Inc. and White Wolf's '' Demon: The Fallen''.


Acting

Ward has also been a member of the Theatre of Blood repertory company where she acted and also wrote. In 2018 she became the eponymous Guide to Deadhouse, Tales Of Sydney Morgue, an immersive theatre production devoted to true crime in Sydney city and taking place at historic locations. Ward wrote and produced and acted in the short film ''Bad Reception'' which premiered at A Night of Horror 2009 and screened at the Vampire Film Festival in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. Ward has also worked as an assistant director and sound recordist in a number of short films, for instance as sound recordist on
Indulgence
' (1996) (written and directed by
Glenn Fraser Glenn Fraser is an Australians, Australian filmmaker. Life and career He attended Woollahra Public School and then Sydney Boys High School, in Moore Park from 1980 to 1985. His films have received awards and his work has been exhibited in maj ...
).


Artwork

Apart from illustrating her own collections, Ward also has contributed artwork for various publications including '' Fables and Reflections'', the cover of ''Epiphanies of Blood: Tales of Desperation and Thirst'', '' Southern Blood'', ''Borderlands'', ''Bloodsongs'', ''Tabula-Rasa'', and ''Burnt Toast''.


Awards and nominations


Bibliography


Novels

*''
Prismatic An optical prism is a transparent optics, optical element with flat, polished surfaces that are designed to refraction, refract light. At least one surface must be angled—elements with two parallel surfaces are ''not'' prisms. The most fami ...
'' (2006, with Evan Paliatseas and David Carroll as Edwina Grey) *'' Those That Pursue Us Yet'' (2023)


Collections

*
The Land of Bad Dreams
' (edited by Charles (Danny) Lovecraft). Sydney: P'rea Press, 2011. . Illustrated by the author, poetry and prose. Contains otherwise unpublished work. Note: The launch of this book was accompanied by dramatic interpretations by various theatre groups. Video of the performances is available on the kylawtr Youtube channel. Reviewing the volume at Hellnotes, the reviewer praised Ward's work

*
The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities
' (edited by Charles (Danny) Lovecraft). Sydney: P'rea Press, 2019 . Illustrated by the author, poetry, prose and essay. Contains otherwise unpublished work. Note: The launch of this book was accompanied by a "danse macabre". Video of the performances is available on the kylawtr Youtube channel. *

' (edited by Alessandro Manzetti). Trieste: Independent Legions Publishing, 2022 . Cover art by Alessandro Amoruso, short fiction. Contains otherwise unpublished work.


Short fiction

*"The Feast" (1999) in '' Aurealis'' No. 24 (ed. Dirk Strasser,
Stephen Higgins Stephen E. Higgins (born 1938) is an American law enforcement official who served as the third Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from 1983 to 1993, subsequently known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explos ...
) *"The Boneyard" (2001) in ''Gothic.net'' September 2001 *"Poison" (2002) in ''Passing Strange'' (ed. Bill Congreve) *"Sakoku" (2002) in '' Agog! Fantastic Fiction'' (ed.
Cat Sparks Catriona (Cat) Sparks (born 11 September 1965, Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australians, Australian science fiction writer, editor and Publishing, publisher. Publishing As manager and editor of Agog! Press with her partner, Australian horr ...
) *"Kijin Tea" (2003) in '' Agog! Terrific Tales'' (ed. Cat Sparks) *"The Oracle of Brick and Bone" (2005) in ''Borderlands'' No. 5 *"The Bat's Boudoir" (2007) in '' Shadowed Realms'' No. 9 *"A Tour of the City of Assassins" (2009) in ''Ticon'' No. 4 *"Cursebreaker: The Welsh Widow and the Wandering Wooer" (2010) in ''Scary Kisses'' (ed. Liz Grzyb) *"Erina Hearn and the God of Death" (2010) in '' Macabre: A Journey Into Australia's Worst Fears'' (ed. Angela Challis & Marty Young) *"Cursebreaker: The Jikininki and the Japanese Jurist" (2013) in ''The New Hero: Vol. 1'' (ed. Robin D. Laws) *"The Loquacious Cadaver" (2013) in ''The Lion and the Aardvark: Aesop's Modern Fables'' (ed. Robin D. Laws) *"Who Looks Back?" (2013) in ''Shotguns v. Cthulhu'' (ed. Robin D. Laws) *"The Character Assassin" (2013) in ''Schemers'' (ed. Robin D. Laws) *"Cursebreaker: the Mutalibeen and the Memphite Mummies" (2015) in ''Hear Me Roar'' (ed. Liz Grzyb) *"The Leucrotta" (2015) in ''Gods, Memes and Monsters: A Twenty-first Century Bestiary'' (ed. Heather J. Wood * "And In Her Eyes the City Drowned" (2018) in ''Weirdbook #39'' * "Should Fire Remember The Fuel?" (2020) in ''Oz Is Burning'', (ed. Phyllis Irene Radford) * "A Whisper in the Death Pit" (2021) in ''Weirdbook #44'' * "Gargoyles as they Grumble" (2022) in ''The Gargoylicon - Imaginings and Images of the Gargoyle in Literature and Art'', (ed. Frank Coffman) * "This Attraction Now Open Till Late" (2022) in ''Vastarien Spring 2022 (Vol 5 #1)'' * "The Varying Value of Graves" (2022) in ''Damnation Games'' (ed. Alan Baxter)


Poems

*"Mary" (1994) in ''Bloodsongs'' #3 (ed. Chris A. Masters, Steve Proposch) *"Herbal Tea" (1995) in ''Bloodsongs'' #6 (ed. Steve Proposch) *"Night Cars" (1999) in ''Abaddon'' #2 *"The Land of Dreams Gone Bad" (2011) in ''Midnight Echo'' #5 *"The Exorcism" (2011) in ''Midnight Echo'' #5 *"The Kite" (2011) in ''The Land of Bad Dreams'' *"The Soldier's Return" (2011) in ''The Land of Bad Dreams'' *"Lucubration" (2012) in ''Avatars of Wizardry'' (ed. Charles Lovecraft) *"Necromancy" (2014) in ''Spectral Realms'' #1 *"The Stone of Sacrifice" (2016)in ''Spectral Realms #4'' *"Dual Purpose" (2017)in ''Spectral Realms #6'' *"Vanth – A Myth Derived" (2017) in ''Eternal Haunted Summer : Summer Solstice 2017'', ed. Rebecca Buchanan *"Tattered Livery" (2017) in ''Weirdbook #37'' *"Libitina's Garden – a triptych" (2018)in ''Mythic Delirium 4.4'' *"Revenants of the Antipodes" (2019) in ''HWA Poetry Showcase V'', ed. Stephanie Wytovich *"Mourning Rites”, (2019) in ''The Audient Void #7'' *"The Siege", (2020) in ''HWA Poetry Showcase VII'', ed. Stephanie Wytovich *"Lo Stregozzo", (2020) in ''Eternal Haunted Summer : Winter Solstice 2020'', ed. Rebecca Buchanan *"Wardrobe Malfunction", (2021) in ''Infectious Hope: Poems of Hope and Resilience from the Pandemic'', ed. Silvia Rondoni *"Never Leave the Path", (2023) in ''Eternal Haunted Summer : Winter Solstice 2023'', ed. Rebecca Buchanan *"Ophelia's Return" (2024) in ''HWA Poetry Showcase X'', ed. Angela Yuriko Smith *"Malvolio's Revenge" (2024) in ''Spectral Realms #10'', ed. S.T. Joshi *"Miranda's Resolve" (2024) in ''Spectral Realms #10'', ed. S. T. Joshi


Role-playing games

*''Mystical Places'' *"Arcanities" (2001) *"The Schriebach Estate" (2001) *"The Scalper" (2009) in ''Eden Studio Presents'' #3 *''The Demon Storyteller's Guide'' (2002, co-author) *"Suffer the Children" (2003) in ''Fear to Tread'' *"The Court of Chimera" (2009) in ''Eden Studio Presents'' #3 *"Dominion" (2009) in '' Pyramid Magazine'' #3/10 *"The Journey of the Dead" (2011) in Pyramid Magazine #3/38 Contributed to: *''The Demon Players' Guide'' (2003) *''Damned and Deceived: the Book of Thralls'' (2003) *''Demon: The Earthbound'' (2003) *'' Time of Judgment'' (2004)


Scripts

*''Bad Reception'' (2008) directed by Andrew Orman, 4TOD Productions. Screened at A Night of Horror 2009, and the Vampire Film Festival 2009 *''Chocolate Curses, "a comedy in dubious taste."'' (2010) directed by Steve Hopley. Played as part of the Season II program of the Theatre of Blood *''It's Only Magic,'' with Jon Blum. Intomedia (2020) directed by Josh Aviet.


Essays

*"Scaring the Children" in ''Bloodsongs'' No. 8 (ed. Steve Proposch) *"Playing the Classics: Role Playing Your Favorite Novels" (2002) in '' Black Gate'' (ed. John O'Neill) *"Reading the Game – Depictions of Role-Playing in Popular Culture" (2013) in ''
Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online magazine, online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and non-fiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in S ...
'' No. 28 (ed.
Niall Harrison Niall Sidney Harrison is a British medical writer and science fiction editor, critic and publisher. He was a judge of the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2006 and 2007 and Guest of Honour at Eastercon 2023. Biography Harrison read biochemistry at Ma ...
*"A Shared Ambition - Horror Writers in Horror Fiction" (2017) in ''Midnight Echo #12'' *"The Danse Macabre" in ''The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities'' (2019) P'rea Press. *"Vampire Poetry" in ''Penumbra #2'' (2021) Hippocampus Press.


Articles

*"Gaming Freeform" (1994) in ''Australian Realms'' No. 17 *"Australia" (1996) in ''The BFI Companion to Horror'' (ed.
Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction – both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at the age of eleven & ...
) *"Castle, Sweet Castle" (2002) in d20weekly.com *"Get Lost" (2004) in ''Dragon'' No. 326 *"Tomb Raider" (2005) in ''Dragon'' No. 327 *"The Petit Tarrasque and Other Monsters" (2005) in ''Dragon'' No. 329 *"Australian Gargoyles" (2007) in ''Art Monthly Australia'' No. 200 *"Coffin Culture" (2008) in ''Black: Australian Dark Culture'' #3 *"Dark Humour in Revelation of the Daleks" (2010, with David Carroll and Kate Orman) in ''Burnt Toast'' *"Symbolism" (2010, with David Carroll and Kate Orman) in ''Burnt Toast'' *"Dungeons and Deadlines" (2011) in ''WQ Magazine'' *"Spot the Horror Writer" (2017) in ''HWA Newsletter #215'' *"The Blacker the Shadow" (2021) in ''Outside In Wants To Believe'' (ed. Stacey Smith?) *"The Whole Dining Room Suite" (2022) in ''Outside In Walks With Fire'' (ed. Stacey Smith?) *"Kyla Lee Ward is Stuck in a Gothic World!" (2023) in ''Gingernuts of Horror'', April 2023 *"How to Stake a Timelord" (2023) in ''Outside In Regenerates'' (ed. Stacey Smith?) *"A Rookwood Ramble" (2023) in ''HWA Newsletter #267'' *"Long Be-nightmar'd - on dreams in Gothic and Weird Fiction" (2024) in ''JOURN-E 3.1'', ed. Frank Coffman *"Childhood Fears - Those That Pursue Us Yet" (2024) in ''Gingernuts of Horror'', March 2024


References

;General * *"Blood Sisters" by Alex Speed, ''The New Weekly'', December 25, 1995 (magazine article focusing on Australian women writers of horror). * ''Australian Speculative Fiction: A Genre Overview'' by Donna Maree Hanson, Aust Speculative Fiction 2005 *
World of Horror Interview with Kyla Lee Ward
', Horror Writers Association blog, 10 August 2023 ;Specific


External links

*kylaward.co

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Kyla Australian women novelists Australian women short story writers Australian poets Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Technology Sydney alumni