Kyla Ward

Kyla (Lee) Ward is an Australian writer of speculative fiction, poet and actor. Her work has been nominated multiple times for the Ditmar Award, the Aurealis Award and the Rhysling Award. She won the Aurealis Award in 2006 for her collaborative novel Prismatic (as by 'Edwina Grey').

Biography

Ward was born in New South Wales, Australia. She attended the University of Technology, Sydney where she gained a BA in communications.^[1]

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 for best short fiction but lost to Lucy Sussex and Jack Dann.^[2] In 2006 she won her first award with the novel Prismatic, co-authored with Evan Paliatseas and David Carroll under the shared pseudonym of Edwina Grey. Prismatic tied with Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus to win the Aurealis Award for best horror novel.^[1][3]

Ward has also contributed to role-playing games including Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game 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.^[1] 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. Ward has also worked as an assistant director and sound recordist in a number of short films,^[1] for instance as sound recordist on Indulgence (1996) (written and directed by Glenn Fraser).

Artwork

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.^[1]

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

Novels

• Prismatic (2006, with Evan Paliatseas and David Carroll as Edwina Grey)

Short fiction

• "The Feast" (1999) in Aurealis No. 24 (ed. Dirk Strasser, Stephen Higgins)
• "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)
• "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)
• "Reading the Game" (2013) in
• "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)

Poetry

• The Land of Bad Dreams (edited by Charles (Danny) Lovecraft). Sydney: P'rea Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9804625-7-9. Illustrated by the author.

Note: The launch of this book was accompanied by dramatic readings by various theatre groups. Video of the performances is available at Kyla Ward's website. Reviewing the volume at Hellnotes, the reviewer praised Ward's work:

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

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

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 No. 28 (ed. Niall Harrison)

Articles

• "Gaming Freeform" (1994) in Australian Realms No. 17
• "Australia" (1996) in The BFI Companion to Horror (ed. Kim Newman)
• "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

References

General

• Kyla Ward at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• "Boys and Ghouls Come Out to Play" (newspaper article focussing on Australian women writers of horror).

Specific

External links

• Official site
• Kyla Ward at Tabula Rasa
• Kyla Ward at the Internet Movie Database
• Audio story reading by Kyla Ward on Radio 2SER "Final Draft" program