Marlee Jane Ward
Marlee Jane Ward writes speculative fiction and dreams of the future.
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Marlee Jane Ward is a writer living on Wurundjeri Land in Melbourne, Australia. She grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales, studied creative writing at the University of Wollongong and is an alum of the Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle, Washington.
She is the author of the award-winning Orphancorp Series (which is in early development for the screen.) Her short fiction is published in Aurealis, Apex, Interfictions, Terraform and others. You can find her non-fiction in Overland, Meanjin, KYD, Scum Mag and more.
She spends most of her time managing the inside of her own head but is also living her dream of being an apocalypse witch and someone’s fabulous goth aunt.
Fiction · Posts · Books
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Atavistacular
Published Dec 14, 2020 · 1,457 words (6 minutes) · 4 likes · 410 views
Science Fiction transhumanism It Girl portmanteau
You’ve never known embarrassment until you’ve shown up at a skinrave with the same facio-cranial avatar upgrade as your nemesis. Luckily, Cordite Hadli’s doctor will set her up with a proto-trend so unique, it’ll settle this rivalry once and for all.
Australian author Marlee Jane Ward is a graduate of Clarion West, and her work has appeared in Terraform, Apex, Aurealis, and more.
Content note: mature.
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Voyeur
Published Sep 27, 2020 · 2,606 words (10 minutes) · 1 like · 127 views
I think, when it comes to my writing, that there will be this dividing line between my ‘bleak’ phase and something else. I feel like I’m straddling that line right now: with no clear idea where to go from here, but with a distinct feeling that I need to make something less… sad. Can I write hope? Can I imagine something better than what I think we’re in for? I don’t know. Let’s see. Anyway, this is not that. This is from my bleak period. Enjoy!
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The Great House Thrippet, Season 246, Episode 12
Published Aug 3, 2020 · 2,894 words (11 minutes) · 1 like · 240 views
Piyel is part of a late-stage reality television dynasty, and she wants out.
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The Husband In Your Head
Published May 19, 2020 · 2,828 words (11 minutes) · 2 likes · 281 views
Literary Fiction Science Fiction dystopian post apocalypse
A wall, the things that hold us down, and longing.
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Starving to Death in Brunswick West
Published Mar 7, 2020 · 1,653 words (7 minutes) · 1 like · 1161 views
Science Fiction quarantine pandemic
The story of a quarantine told in recipes. Originally published on the now-defunct Australian short-story website 'Slink Chunk Press'. The only story I've ever written in 2nd person, and probably the only one I ever will.
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The Structure
Published Mar 7, 2020 · 3,562 words (13 minutes) · 337 views
This is one of the first short stories I finished when I refocused on writing starting in 2012. I got the idea when I was lost in a multi-storey carpark, trying to find my car. This was one of my Clarion West application stories (I mean, one of the successful ones!) It took 2nd place in the KSP Foundation's annual short-story prize in 2014, and was originally published on the now-defunct but totally rad Australian science-fiction short-story site 'Slink Chunk Press'.
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Phasing In, Phasing Out
Published Aug 29, 2019 · 4,065 words (15 minutes) · 4 likes · 705 views
When Diana starts to phase-shift every time she daydreams, she’s taken off assignment and sent to a hospital for time travelers with the chain-smoking faux-French Fabienne. After a lifetime of avoiding the present, she’ll need to decide if she can embrace the here-and-now.
Author Marlee Jane Ward hails from Melbourne, and her work has appeared in Terraform, Apex, The Sockdolager, and many more.
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Phasing In, Phasing Out
Published Aug 29, 2019 · 4,065 words (15 minutes) · 334 views
A hospital for time travellers, and unrequited love...
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The Rainmaker Goddess, Hallowed Shaz
Published Aug 1, 2019 · 1,707 words (7 minutes) · 1 like · 359 views
A goddess, a too-big dress and the entire sky.
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