Welcome to the website of Australian graphic novelist and scripturient Shane W Smith!
Shane’s latest graphic novel, Triumviratus, is live on Kickstarter now!
Media-friendly bio
Shane W Smith is an Australian graphic novelist who uses genre to explore and uncover some of the deeper meanings of human experience. His books have been shortlisted for awards a total of five times, including the fan-favourite Undad. His latest work, an epic fantasy graphic novel about jealousy and self-esteem and a world brought to its knees by the misadventures of three young people in love, will launch in late 2018. Shane has a Bachelor degree in Creative Writing, and might be the only person in the world to get a comic published in a refereed academic journal. He lives in Australia with his wife and four young children.
Grab the post-apocalyptic-musical-adventure-romance escapades of the bohemian Stargazer band for free here: http://shanewsmith.com/changetheworld/
Publications
Long books
Academaesthetics (2007)
The Lesser Evil (2011/12, 2017 remaster)
Peaceful Tomorrows (2013, 2017 remaster)
The Game (2014)
James Flamestar and the Stargazers (2014)
Undad (2015)
Undad – Volume Two (2015)
All The King’s Men (2016)
Short pieces
Custard (2006 FIRST – Vertebrae)
Parlour Tricks (2012)
Pestilence (2012) (with Gavin Thomson)
I Am Become Death (2013)
Killeroo: Gangwar (with Darren Close and Dan Gibbs) (2012-2017)
Exposure (2014)
A Moment In Time – Tango With Orangos (2015)
Awards
PEACEFUL TOMORROWS – Aurealis Award for best illustrated work/graphic novel in 2013 – finalist
THE GAME – Aurealis Award for best illustrated work/graphic novel in 2014 – finalist
UNDAD – Australian Shadows Award for best graphic novel in 2015 – finalist
UNDAD – ACT Writing and Publishing Award for 2015 – highly commended
ALL THE KING’S MEN – ACT Writing and Publishing Award for 2016 – highly commended
Works in progress
Triumviratus
Line in the Sand
The Winds of Change
Selected interviews and guest spots
<!–DAZ3D Artist Profile (Oct 2011)
ACTWrite featured author (Dec 2011)
Interview with Jess C Scott (March 2012)
Interview with Writer’s Party (April 2012)
“The Lure of Science Fiction” at Book Lovers’ Paradise (April 2012)
“What to do after signing a publication agreement” at Writers and Authors (April 2012)
Interview with An Occasional Blagh (May 2012)
“Carrot or Stick?” at GimmeTheScoopReviews (May 2012)
“Making the Time to Write” at Mommy Adventures (May 2012)
Interview with Books Are Magic (May 2012)
“Writers Who Write About Their Writing” at We Fancy Books (May 2012)
“Dreams and the Folks who Dream Them” at Indie Writers Review (May 2012)
“Adapt or Abandon?” in May issue of ACTWrite (May 2012)
Interview with Review Me Twice (February 2013)
Interview with Earth Prime Time (September 2013)
Interview with Robert JR Graham (November 2014)
Interview with Comic Book and Movie Reviews (January 2015)–>
Podcast interview with Crowdfunding Comebacks (April 2015)
“The Evolving Zombie Metaphor” at Horror Talk (May 2015)
Podcast interview with The Modern Meltdown (May 2015)
Interview with QRD (June 2015)
Interview for Comic Con-Versation (June 2016)
ComixLaunch: Top Kickstarter tip (June 2016)
Podcast interview for So You Want To Be A Writer (June 2016)
Interview with Meri Amber (Sept 2016)
“Writing for kids: How to write comics” at AllisonTait.com (August 2017)
“Evolving a project – the Virtues of a Daring Adaptation” at ACJ (April 2018)
Follow Shane
on Twitter
on Facebook
via his mailing list
Contact
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Writing
Shane studied creative writing at the University of Canberra, and often wishes he was still there. His Honours project in Creative Research, entitled Academaesthetics: How The Essay And Comic Can Save Each Other, was published in the October 2007 edition of Text, a refereed academic journal, and is available to read for free.
Shane has been writing since before living memory. This website was created way back in 2008 as an attempt to showcase his work. At the time, Shane was working on the first draft of The Game, and posted that draft page-by-page on this site (spoiler alert: nobody read it, and he is very relieved this was the case).
The next graphic novel Shane worked on, The Lesser Evil, was accepted for publication by ZetaBella, and is available to purchase in its entirety in both print and digital formats.
Peaceful Tomorrows, the sequel to The Lesser Evil, was published in two parts in 2013, and was a finalist in the 2013 Aurealis Awards in the Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated Book category. A fully redrafted version of The Game, which takes place in between the two books, was published in mid-2014, and was shortlisted for the 2014 Aurealis Award for Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated Book.
Shane’s latest project involved editing and producing the artwork for an anthology of shorter pieces set in the same universe entitled All The King’s Men. The anthology was published in late 2016.
Shane’s other published titles include the zombie family drama Undad, which was shortlisted in the 2015 Australian Shadows Awards and the 2016 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards; and James Flamestar and the Stargazers, a post-apocalyptic-musical-adventure-romance made in collaboration with composer Tim Irving.
Works in progress include a fantasy epic entitled Triumviratus; a branching digital narrative entitled Line in the Sand; and a number of short stories which are currently seeking a loving forever home.
Family
While in his third year of university, Shane met Katie Walsh, and his life was turned upside down forever. They got engaged on Christmas Eve 2007, and married on August 31, 2008. They bought their first house that October.
They are extremely happy. So happy in fact that they decided to expand their family. Barkley the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel entered their family in December of 2008 (and sadly passed away in November of 2014). The amazing and talented Annie Walsh-Smith was born in February 2010; the happy and energetic Liam Walsh-Smith was born in June 2012; the blonde whirlwind Nella Walsh-Smith arrived on her due date in June 2014; and the tiny Molly Walsh-Smith was born in March 2016.
Becoming a dad was the best thing he ever did… even better than Undad.
The Lesser Evil comes with Imperial endorsement.