Dan Rabarts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rabarts, Dan (1977–) gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Film from Victoria University of Wellington in 1997, and proceeded to work in the lighting sector of the film industry. At the same time, Rabarts has possessed a compulsion for writing from an early age, and self-published his first work in 2009. Rabarts has a leaning towards the darker genres and identifies his work as speculative fiction, a genre which merges science fiction and horror elements to explore possible realities.

Rabarts published his first anthology, Urban Driftwood, a collection of poetry and short prose by four young Wellington writers in 2009. The anthology explores the journey from youth into adulthood: fragments of change, the rites of passage we must go through, and what we find along the way.

In 2013, he co-edited a horror anthology with Lee Murray titled, Baby Teeth – Bite-sized Tales of Terror, published by Paper Road Press. Baby Teeth went on to win the Australian Shadows Award for Best Edited Work 2013 and the sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collected Work in 2014. The pair released their second co-edited anthology, At the Edge (Paper Road Press) in 2016.

Dan Rabarts received the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent in 2014.

His short stories have been published in a range of formats, such as: 'Paint By Numbers', published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 55 (Australia, 2012), and audio production on StarShipSofa Podcast Episode 293; 'Waking the Taniwha', published in text and audio on Wily Writers Audio Fiction (Ed. Angel Leigh McCoy, USA, 2013, reprinted in the 2014 Campbellian Anthology, reprinted in Unconventional Fantasy 2014, and provided to members of World Fantasy Convention; 'Silver, Sharp as Silk', published in Dreaming of Djinn (Ed. Liz Grzyb, Ticonderoga Publications, Australia, 2013); 'The Crooked Mile' published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Online Magazine (USA, 2013); 'Mother’s Milk', published in Regeneration (Ed. Anna Caro & Juliet Buchanan, Random Static Press, NZ, 2013); 'Where the River Shines', published in Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (Ed. Tee Morris & Philippa Ballantine, Imagine That! Studios, USA, 2013); 'Floodgate', published in The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk (Ed. Sean Wallace, Running Press, UK, 2015); 'Spindle', published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 63 (Australia, 2016); 'Tipuna Tapu', published in And Then … – The Great Big Book of Awesome Adventure Stories (Ed. Lindy Cameron, Clan Destine Press, Australia, 2016); and 'Riptide', published in Suspended in Dusk 2 (Ed. Simon Dewar, Books of the Dead Press, USA, 2016).

Rabarts has been a finalist in the Sir Julius Vogel Awards Short Fiction Category four times for his short stories: 'Crucible' (2012); 'Paint By Numbers' (2013); 'All That Glitters' (2014); 'Waking the Taniwha' (2014); and 'Floodgate' (2015). 'Crucible' was also the winner of the SpecFicNZ/Wily Writers Short Story Contest 2012. 'Children of the Tide' won the AHWA/Melbourne Zombie Con 2013 Short Story Contest, and 'Bridge' gained first place equal in the SpecFicNZ Spooky Stories Competition 2014.

Rabart’s first novel, Hounds of the Underworld, co-written with Lee Murray, was published by Raw Dog Screaming Press in 2017. Hounds of the Underworld, is the first book in the 'Path of Ra series', a crime noir/horror mash-up set in a near-future dystopian Auckland.

MEDIA LINKS AND CLIPS

• Dan Rabarts’ website
• Book Review of At the Edge on the Booksellers blog
• Baby Teeth at Paper Road Press
• At the Edge at Paper Road Press