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Readings and the musical performance will be followed by an opportunity to mingle with performers and members of the Lost Souls Magazine team.
We will also be selling print copies of LOST SOULS MAGAZINE Issue 03 and artwork from members of the Lost Souls community. Posters and other artwork by C. H. Pearce.
'Happy Birthday Lost Souls!’ will be held:
6:30pm - 8:30pm, Thursday 18th June (doors open 6pm)
Gang Gang cafe (Shop4/2 Frencham Pl, Downer ACT 2602)
ENTRY FEES AND TICKET BOOKINGS
General public:
$10 (entry fee)
Or
$28 (entry fee + copy of Lost Souls Magazine Issue 03)
Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild members:
$5 (entry fee)
Or
$23 (entry fee + copy of Lost Souls Magazine Issue 03)
Book tickets
https://events.humanitix.com/happy-birthday-lost-souls-readings-and-music
Line up
J. Ashley-Smith (writer)
P.S. Cottier (poet)
Aaron Dries (writer )
Dan Power (performer, fine artist, science communicator)
Jenny Sawer (singer, musician)
Kaaron Warren (writer)
MC and Panel Host: Fionn MacPherson (writer and editor)
Food, drinks and merchandise
Food and drink will be available for purchase from Gang Gang cafe.
LOST SOULS Issue 02, books and other work by artists will also be available.
LOST SOULS Issue 03 purchased with an event ticket can be picked up at the venue.
Location and parking
Gang Gang (Shop4/2 Frencham Pl, Downer ACT 2602) is a cafe, bar and a live music venue
located in Downer Shops. The cafe is about a 10 minute drive from the middle of Canberra city, or 20 minutes by bicycle.
Parking is available in Downer Shops and along the ovals of Downer Playing Fields.
Why hold this event? Compelled to be disturbed and delighted
Many Canberrans and others across Australia are fascinated by dark, strange and beautiful arts. From horror novels, cyberpunk short stories, weird nonfiction and macabre poetry, to movies about the supernatural, witchy crafts, albums of beguiling and seductive rock and graphic novels about the monstrous and grotesque, we are primed to be creeped out. To be afraid, but to also listen, question and learn.
Many of us like to experience the gothic, uncanny and fantastic as a way of making sense of the past and present. Perhaps so that we can reveal unsettling truths about a world that often feels like it teeters on the edge of destruction. Or know more about the perils and joys of daily life. And, simply, to find pleasure in creativity and the mystery of the unknown.
Despite such interest, there are few regular events featuring local artists with their own unique spin on the beautiful and dark arts. This is a unique opportunity given Canberra has a strong and diverse group of artists who shed a bizarre and illuminating light on a variety of issues and topics. Their work contributes insights about identity, memory, love, politics, technology, survival and so much else of what it means to live in the 21st century. Often, with grace, style, wonder and infectious black humour.
We hope to help share the work of many talented artists and increase their opportunities to engage with audiences offline as well as online.
Contact and more information
Ben O'Mara
e: ben@lostsouls.net.au
w: lostsouls.net.au
Image: Phoebe Lupton, Macabre Dreams, June 2025. Photo by Jayden Barling.
Time flies in the realm of Lost Souls! Did you know we are one year old this winter solstice?
We invite you to help us mark the first year since our dark, strange and beautiful birth with readings and music on THURSDAY 18th JUNE 2026 at Gang Gang café. And to mingle with others from our lovely community as winter takes hold of Canberra.
In our third “Macabre Dreams” event for 2026, LOST SOULS MAGAZINE will acknowledge the creativity, skill and persistence of all our amazing contributors and performers after our first twelve months of publishing and hosting live events.
We are celebrating everyone who made our first birthday possible with a night of story performances from local horror authors, an “in character” short talk and dark poetry and bittersweet music.
We would also like to celebrate many achievements from the work of Lost Souls this past year. The Lost Souls team were amazed to see:
- invitation to and inclusion in 'AustLit', the national bibliographical database of Australian storytelling and print culture
- nomination of the short story, 'Bottom Feeders', by Fionn Macpherson, from Lost Souls Issue 02, for the Aurealis Awards in the short horror category
- members of the Lost Souls editorial team interviewed on ABC Radio Canberra
- promotion of Lost Souls events through the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, HerCanberra, Canberra Writers Festival, Marion and ABC Radio
- well received performances of a variety of readings and music for all events
- on average, strong magazines sales and attendance at our Spooky Stories, Strange Creations, Horror of Care and Spellbound events.
Performances for our next event will be inspired by the birthday anniversary of the growing community of Lost Souls with all its makers of macabre words, visual art, music and oral storytelling, and the winter solstice, including themes of:
- death and renewal, and
- connection with nature and the shortest day and longest night of the year.
More information about performances to come via socials.
Event: Happy Birthday Lost Souls! Readings and Music
REVIEW
Ali Alizadeh
January 2025
Pascal Plantea's film Les Chambres Rogues (Red Rooms) takes viewers on a terrifying journey into mental spaces as dark as the horrors of the dark web.
REVIEW
Phoebe Lupton
December 2024
Naomi Klein's Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World draws on memoir-cultural criticism to reveal a disturbing lack of kindness in the era of misinformation.
More on the blog
Lost Souls Magazine in print and online is proudly independent.
We are based in Melbourne and Canberra.
The design and development of this website was based on a scoping of best practice and relevant examples. Work included websites for Heat Magazine, Meanjin, Overland, The New Yorker, Rue Morgue, Dark Mountain, The Dark and Weird Studies.
We acknowledge, recognize and pay our respect to the Ancestors, Elders and families of the Bunurong/Boonwurrung, Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri/Woiwurrung of the Kulin who are the traditional owners of lands where we work and live in Victoria, and the Ngunnawal who are the traditional custodians of land in the Australian Capital Territory.
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