We all need a bit of joy in our lives right now, so it is with great pleasure we present the Aurealis Awards finalists for 2019. Congratulations to all the finalists, and a huge thanks to our panelists who have persevered through fire, flood and plague to deliver these shortlists, which contain a glorious diversity of work for your delectation. It’s a really important time to support your local creators, so if you are able, go hunt down some great reads today!

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

Scorch Dragons, Amie Kaufman (HarperCollins Publishers)

Race for the Red Dragon, Rebecca Lim (Allen & Unwin)

The Dog Runner, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)

Jinxed!: The Curious Curse of Cora Bell, Rebecca McRitchie (author) & Sharon O’Connor(illustrator) (HarperCollins Publishers)

The Glimme, Emily Rodda (Omnibus Books)

The Lost Stone of SkyCity, Heather Waugh (Fremantle Press)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

Haphaven, Norm Harper & Louie Joyce (Lion Forge)

Yahoo Creek, Tohby Riddle (Allen & Unwin)

Black Magick, Greg Rucka & Nicola Scott (Image Comics) 

Super Nova, Krys Saclier (Ford Street Publishing)

Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery, Renee Treml (Allen & Unwin)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

The Jindabyne Secret, Jo Hart (Deadset Press) 

Glass-Heart, K S Nikakis (SOV Media)

“Dragon by Subscription”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Patreon, self-published)

“Seaweed”, Andrea Teare (Breach #11)

“Each City”, Ellen Van Neerven (Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOZYA Stories, Walker Books Australia)

“Rats”, Marlee Jane Ward (Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOZYA Stories, Walker Books Australia)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Loose Stones”,  Joanne Anderton (Infinite Threads, )

“The Mark”, Grace Chan (Verge 2019: Uncanny) 

“Pilgrimage”, Matthew R Davis (Breach #10)

“The Unwrapping”, Terry Dowling (Echoes)

“Of Meat and Man”, Jason Fischer  (SNAFU: Last Stand, Cohesion Press)

“Vivienne and Agnes”, Chris Mason (Beside the Seaside – Tales from the Day Tripper)

“The Moth Tapes”, J Ashley Smith (Aurealis #117, Chimaera Publications)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“Yellowheart”, Alan Baxter (Served Cold)

“Supermassive Black Mass”, Matthew R Davis (Short Sharp Shocks! #21)

“Into Bones Like Oil”, Kaaron Warren (Into Bones Like Oil)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“Loose Stones”, Joanne Anderton (Infinite Threads, Brio Books)

“1078 Reasons”, Aidan Doyle (Translunar Travelers Lounge)

“Pigshit and Gold”, Aiki Flinthart (Dimension6 #18, coeur de lion) 

“CurioQueens”, Ephiny Gale (Constellary Tales Magazine #4)

“Good Dog, Alice”, Juliet Marillier (Wonderland, Titan books)

“Dragon by Subscription”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Patreon, self-published)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

“Like Ripples on a Blank Shore”, J S Breukelaar (Collision: Stories, Meerkat Press)

“The Orchard”, Ephiny Gale (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #76)

“Out of Darkness“, Chris Mason (Tales of the Lost, Things in the Well)

“‘Scapes Made Diamond”, Shauna O’Meara (Interzone 280) 

“To Hell and Back”, Michael Pryor (Aurealis #120, Chimaera Publications)

“The Final Prologue”, Christopher Sequeira (Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Was Not, IFWG Publishing Australia)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“Sky Tears”, Mike Adamson (Alien Dimensions #17, Maldek House)

“Wreck Diving”, Joanne Anderton (Aurealis #123, Chimaera Publications) 

“Riding the Snails”, Jason Fischer (War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia, Clan Destine Press)

“Canute”, RPL Johnson (SNAFU: Last Stand, Cohesion Press)

“What We Named the Needle”, Freya Marske (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Issue Jul/Aug 2019, Penny Publications)

“Micro”, Angela Meyer (Kill Your Darlings, Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Showcase 2019)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

“Ventiforms”, Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

“‘Scapes Made Diamond”, Shauna O’Meara (Interzone 280) 

“You Will Remember Who You Were”, Cat Sparks (Dimension6 #16)

Prisoncorp, Marlee Jane Ward (Seizure)

BEST COLLECTION

Collision: Stories, J S Breukelaar (Meerkat Press)

Blackbirds Sing, Aiki Flinthart (CAT Press)

Scar Tissue and Other Stories, Narrelle M Harris (Clan Destine Press)

Five Dragons, Pamela Jeffs (Four Ink Press)

Stray Bats, Margo Lanagan (Small Beer Press)

Men and Machines I: Space Operas and Special Ops, Charlie Nash (Flying Nun Publications)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories, Michael Earp (Ed.) (Walker Books Australia)

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Was Not, Christopher Sequeira (Ed.) (IFWG Publishing Australia)

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 13, Jonathan Strahan (Ed.) (Solaris)

Mission: Critical, Jonathan Strahan (Ed.) (Solaris) 

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

The Darkest Bloom, P M Freestone (Scholastic)

Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller (UQP)

Aurora Rising, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin) 

Dev1at3, Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)

The Harp of Kings, Juliet Marillier (Macmillan Australia)

I Heard The Wolf Call My Name, K S Nikakis (SOV Media)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Chuwa: The Rat People of Lahore, Brian Craddock (Broken Puppet Books)

Remains, Andrew Cull (IFWG Pub Aus) 

A Riddle in Bronze, Simon Haynes (Bowman Press) 

The Rich Man’s House, Andrew McGahan (Allen & Unwin) 

Body Farm Z, Deborah Sheldon (Severed Press) 

BEST FANTASY NOVEL 

Angel Mage, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

Darkdawn, Jay Kristoff (HarperCollins Publishers)

The Wailing Woman, Maria Lewis (Little, Brown Book Group)

The Harp of Kings, Juliet Marillier (Macmillan Australia)

The Darkest Bloom,  P M Freestone (Scholastic)

Graveyard Shift in Ghost Town, Michael Pryor (Allen & Unwin)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

The Subjects, Sarah Hopkins (Text Publishing)

Aurora Rising, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin) 

The Trespassers, Meg Mundell (UQP)

The Year of the Fruit Cake, Gillian Polack (IFWG Publishing Australia)

The Glad Shout, Alice Robinson (Affirm Press)

Daughter of Bad Times, Rohan Wilson (Allen & Unwin)