2024 Aurealis Awards Shortlist Announcement

Posted on April 15, 2025 by aaconvenor

Now in its 30th year, the 2024 Aurealis Awards, Australia’s premier speculative fiction award, attracted more than 830 entries across 15 categories, including 34 nominations in the tri-annual Sara Douglass Book Series Award (totalling over 120 books), and record numbers in the Children’s Fiction category. 

Aurealis Awards judging coordinator Tehani Croft said, “We are extremely grateful to our 50-plus judges for the enormous task they take on. While some panels do have relatively small numbers of entries, others regularly read 50 or more book-length works or over 100 short stories each year. We also sometimes see unusually large entry numbers in categories like Children’s Fiction and Graphic Novel, which was the case this year, and it’s always wonderful to see growth in traditionally smaller fields.”

Congratulations to this year’s finalists. The winners will be celebrated at the 2024 Aurealis Awards ceremony, which will take place online at 4pm AEST on Sunday 4 May, 2025.

NOTE: A shortlist for the Convenors’ Award for Excellence is not published. The eligible nominations for this special Award will be shared on the Aurealis Awards website, with the winner announced at the ceremony.

​The finalists for the 2024 Aurealis Awards are:

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

Andromache Between Worlds, Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins Publishers)

The Bother with the Bonkillyknock Beast, Karen Foxlee & Freda Chiu (ill.) (Allen & Unwin)

The Apprentice Witnesser, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)

Landovel, Emily Rodda (Allen & Unwin)

The Midwatch, Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)

Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria, L M Wilkinson & Lavanya Naidu (ill.) (Albert Street Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“Time’s Key”, Emily Larkin (Stepping Sideways: Worlds of Steampunk & Dystopia, Rhiza Edge)

“Maiden’s Dawn”, Nikky Lee (A Night So Dark and Full of Stars, Deadset Press)

“The Audition”, Juliet Marillier (Borderlands: Riding the Slipstream, Ford Street Publishing)

“In a League of Her Own”, Jeanette O’Hagan (Stepping Sideways: Worlds of Steampunk & Dystopia, Rhiza Edge)

Waking Flora, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

“What are False Stars to a God?”, Alexander Te Pohe (Avast!, Fremantle Press)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Hackles”, Jeff Clulow (Remixed Myths, Third Eye Press)

“Changeling”, Michael Gardner (Aurealis #167, Chimaera Publications)

“Flesh of My Flesh”, Ben Matthews (Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, IFWG Publishing)

“These Pale Shadows”, Kirstyn McDermott (Nosferatu Unbound, IFWG Publishing)

“Envelopes”, Matt Tighe (Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, IFWG Publishing)

“An Object of Vision”, Guan Un (Fission #4, British Science Fiction Association)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“The Beautiful Thing You Once Were”, J Ashley-Smith (Bourbon Penn 33)

“Lacebound”, Eliza Baker (Aurealis #170, Chimaera Publications)

“Remembering the Hungry Ghosts”, Emmi Khor (Best Australian Yarn 2024, The West Australian Newspaper)

Bonnets at Dawn, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

“Market of Loss”, Matt Tighe (Aurealis #176, Chimaera Publications)

“Before the Forest”, Kell Woods (Reactor Magazine)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“The Combat Pilot’s Dictionary”, Arden Baker (Aurealis #167, Chimaera Publications)

“Dog of War”, Colin Clark (Aurealis #170, Chimaera Publications)

“The Last Reader”, Greg Foyster (Conflux 2024, CSFG/Conflux)

“The Station”, Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker (New Australian Fiction 2024, New South Books)

“Life In The Dirt”, Henry Neilsen (Aurealis #173, Chimaera Publications)

“In War with Time for Love of You”, Carol Ryles (Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth, and Babies, IFWG Publishing)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

Action Tank: Book 3, Mike Barry (Mike Barry Was Here)

The Star Tide Shores, Henry Goeldner, Livio Baggio (ill.) (Kickstarter)

In Utero, Chris Gooch (Top Shelf)

Your Highness, Your Highness, N S Kane, Chris Pitcairn (ill.) (N S Kane Comics)

The Sweetness Between Us, Sarah Winifred Searle (Allen & Unwin)

Titans: Out of the Shadows, Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott (ill.) (DC Comics)

BEST COLLECTION

Pick Your Potion, Ephiny Gale (Foxgrove Press)

Kindling, Kathleen Jennings (Small Beer Press)

The Heart of the Labyrinth and Other Stories, D K Mok (self-published)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Fission #4, Eugen Bacon & Gene Rowe (Eds.) (The British Science Fiction Association)

Found 2: More Stories of Found Footage Horror, Andrew Cull & Gabino Iglesias (Eds.) (Vermilion To One Press) 

Celestial Bodies, Aidan Demmers (Ed.) (Tiny Owl Workshop)

Far-Flung, Samuel Maguire (Ed.) (Tiny Owl Workshop)

Calvaria Fell: Stories, Cat Sparks & Kaaron Warren (Meerkat Press)

New Adventures in Space Opera, Jonathan Strahan (Ed.) (Tachyon Publications)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Plagued Lands, Nikki Brooke (Crow Knight Film & Publishing Realm)

Aisle Nine, Ian X Cho (HarperCollins Publishers)

They Watch From Below, Katya de Becerra (Page Street YA)

Liar’s Test, Ambelin Kwaymullina (Text Publishing)

Anomaly, Emma Lord (Affirm Press)

Deep is the Fen, Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“We Who Remain”, Nikky Lee (A Night So Dark and Full of Stars, Deadset Press)

“A Daredevil Duchess’s Guide to Castle Hauntings”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Castle of Secrets, self-published)

“Bell, Book and Lamp”, Angela Slatter (Bound in Blood, Titan Books)

“Maleficium”, Kyla Lee Ward (Discontinue If Death Ensues, Flame Tree Publishing)

Shattered, Pauline Yates (Black Hare Press)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

“Another Tide”, Will Greatwich (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Firkin Press)

“Doors”, Nikky Lee (Don’t Forget to Shut the Gate, Northshore Press)

Talon Marked, Sue-Ellen Pashley (Deadset Press)

“A Daredevil Duchess’s Guide to Castle Hauntings”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Castle of Secrets, self-published)

Hotel Charybdis, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

“The Good Old Days”, Craig Rosenberg (Uncertainties VII, Swan River Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

The Javan War, John Birmingham & Jason Lambright (Gigantic Bombs Corporation)

“Captain Santiago and the Sky Dome”, Tracy Cooper-Posey, (Celestial Hearts, Tandy Lion)

“We Who Remain”, Nikky Lee (A Night So Dark and Full of Stars, Deadset Press)

“Daisie and Maisie, External Hull Repair Experts”, Sean Monaghan (Analog Science Fiction Science Fact, Dell Magazines)

Ghost of the Neon God, T R Napper (Titan Books)

“Shadow Films”, Ben Peek (Lightspeed #164)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Remedy, J S Breukelaar (PS Publishing)

Rock Zombie, A B Finlayson (self-published)

The Count, David-Jack Fletcher (Slashic Horror Press)

Jasper Cliff, Josh Kemp (Fremantle Press)

Carve Your Soul to Pieces, Ben Pienaar (self-published)

Bodily Harm, Deborah Sheldon (Undertaker Books)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL  

Thoroughly Disenchanted, Alexandra Almond (HarperCollins Publishers)

Kavithri, Aman J Bedi (Gollancz)

The She-Wolf of Baker Street, Narrelle M Harris (Clan Destine Press)

The End and Everything Before It, Finegan Kruckemeyer (Text Publishing)

The Briar Book of the Dead, A G Slatter (Titan Books)

Skysong, C A Wright (Pantera Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Transported, Kate Fitzpatrick (New Found Books)

Inheritance, Genevieve Gannon (Pantera Press)

The Temp, Martin Livings (self published)

Big Time, Jordan Prosser (University of Queensland Press)

Temporal Boom, J M Voss (Shawline Publishing Group)

Juice, Tim Winton (Hamish Hamilton / Penguin Random House)

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

The Aurora Cycle: Aurora Rising (2019) / Aurora Burning (2020) / Aurora’s End (2021), Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)

Warrior Bards: The Harp of Kings (2019) / A Dance with Fate (2020) / A Song of Flight (2021), Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)

The Last Binding: A Marvellous Light (2021) / A Restless Truth (2022) / A Power Unbound (2023), Freya Marske (Tor)

Deepwater Trilogy: Monstrous Heart (2020) / Deepwater King (2021) / Firetide Coast (2022), Claire McKenna (Harper Voyager UK / Harper Collins Australia)

The Old Kingdom: Sabriel (1994) / Lirael (2001) / Abhorsen (2003) / Clariel (2014) / Goldenhand (2016) / Terciel and Elinor (2021), Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

The Radiant Emperor: She Who Became the Sun (2021) / He Who Drowned the World (2023), Shelley Parker-Chan (Mantle)

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2024 Convenors’ Award for Excellence Nominations

Posted on April 14, 2025 by aaconvenor

Each year we make the eligible nominations received for the annual Convenors’ Award for Excellence public. There are several reasons for this:

  • There is no shortlist announced, so it feels right to recognise the nominations;
  • These are items you may not otherwise have come across, so we’d like to make sure you know about them;
  • It may help people figure out what might be eligible in future.

It is very important to note that this list is NOT a shortlist – it is simply a list of the eligible entries we received for the Award this year (please note also that these can be self-nominated). The convenors consider all eligible entries in deciding the winner, but there is no shortlist generated, and only the winner will be presented at the ceremony.

A reminder what this award is for:

The Convenors’ Award for Excellence is awarded at the discretion of the convenors for a particular achievement in speculative fiction or related areas in that year that cannot otherwise by judged for the Aurealis Awards. 

This award can be given to a work of non-fiction, artwork, film, television, electronic or multimedia work, or one that brings credit or attention to the speculative fiction genres.

This year’s nominations are:

Eugen Bacon (Ed.), Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction (Bloomsbury Academic)

In this vibrant and approachable book, award-winning writers of black speculative fiction bring together excerpts from their work and creative reflections on futurisms with original essays.

Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction edited by Eugen Bacon showcases creative-critical essays that negotiate genre bending and black speculative fiction with writerly practice. As Afrodecendant peoples with lived experience from the continent, award-winning authors use their intrinsic voices in critical conversations on Afrofuturism and Afro-centered futurisms. By engaging with difference, they present a new kind of African study that is an evaluative gaze at African history, African spirituality, Afrosurrealism, “becoming,” black radical imagination, cultural identity, decolonizing queerness, myths, linguistic cosmologies, and more.

Contributing authors – Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Dilman Dila, Eugen Bacon, Nerine Dorman, Nuzo Onoh, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, Stephen Embleton, Suyi Okungbowa, Tobi Ogundiran and Xan van Rooyen – offer boldly hybrid chapters (both creative and scholarly) that interface Afrocentric artefacts and exegesis. Through ethnographic reflections and intense scrutinies of African fiction, these writers contribute open and diverse reflections of Afro-centered futurisms.

The authors in Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction feature in major genre and literary awards, including the Bram Stoker, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Locus, Ignyte, Nommo, Philip K. Dick, Shirley Jackson and Otherwise Awards, among others. They are also intrinsic partners in a vital conversation on the rise of black speculative fiction that explores diversity and social (in)justice, charting poignant stories with black hero/ines who remake their worlds in colour zones of their own image.

Eugen Bacon, “The Writer as an Agent of Change” (Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature)

This is a version of a public address that Dr Eugen Bacon delivered as the 2024 University of Tasmania Hedberg Writer in Residence in October 2024. In it, Bacon shares her vision of the power of storytelling and the role of the activist speculative fiction writer in a time of social, political, and environmental crisis.

Livia J. Elliot, Reflections (Prowess Games)

I am nominating Reflections, a low-fantasy literary interactive novelette for its innovative and groundbreaking approach to interactive fiction. Unlike many works in this genre, which follow conventional branching-path narratives, this piece challenges and expands what interactive fiction can be.

In particular, once finished (and even if “reset”) Reflections “remember” that the reader/player completed it, and changes, adding new revelations and choices that contribute to the overall theme of the story. This unconventional use of interactivity contributes to the deeply allegorical nature of the story, which delves into the themes of emotional language surrounding trauma and depression—and why expression is fundamental to a survivor’s quality of life. The delicate portrayal of these issues offers readers an insightful exploration of the ways in which individuals navigate and process their emotional landscapes.

The combination of a thoughtful, allegorical narrative with its innovative use of interactive fiction mechanics makes this work a standout piece, deserving recognition for how it pushes the boundaries of both genre and storytelling.

Reflections is free-to-read through the mobile game Unearthed Stories, available on Android (GooglePlay store) and iOS/iPad (through AppStore) for free.

Livia J. Elliot, Static Signal Living Legacy (Prowess Games)

Static Signal Living Legacy is a work of text-based interactive fiction. It is a hard sci-fi novel set in Western Australia (in the near future, year 2088); its setting is inspired by the real-life SKAO project (renamed in-book to ARA). This is a highly innovative piece of fiction, since — contrary to what is often done in interactive fiction — the reader/player plays through multiple points-of-view, directing a large cast of characters as their actions relate in unexpected ways. Thematically, this work discusses how limited someone’s agency can be when looking at a large society, and how even the smallest of our actions can affect others. As a result, the choices within the story are purposefully small — like adopting an attitude, or thinking about something — with little-to-no guidance on what would the consequence of those actions be.

Static Signal Living Legacy is free to read through the free-to-install app Unearthed Stories, developed by Aussie indie game dev Prowess Games.

Claire Fitzpatrick, “The Afterlife in Speculative Fiction: A Memoir (Sort of)” (Aurealis #169)

I wrote this memoir following the suicide of my husband. I wanted to explore grief and the way it, as well as the afterlife, is depicted in speculative fiction. I hope others find some comfort from my work.

Claire Fitzpatrick, Horror Films That Meaningfully Address Grief and Loss (The Ginger Nuts of Horror)

This personal article is a reflection of my personal journey of grief following the suicide of my husband, and some of the films I watched to help me understand and navigate my loss. I hope it resonates with others and assists them in their own time of need.

GuffNasm, Terra Utopia (Virtual Worlds)

This is a concept album based on the speculative novel by Phil Moore. GuffNasm is ALSO Phil Moore in his guise as a composer and musician.

Alexandra Pierce, Speculative Insight: Year 1 (Speculative Insight)

This book collects all of the essays published in the first year of Speculative Insight‘s publication (2024). The journal is edited and published by an Australian, Alexandra Pierce, and has included work by several Australian authors, as well as many international creators. It seeks to “explore the breadth and depth of the themes, ideas, and issues of science fiction and fantasy,” by paying smart people to write thoughtful essays on intriguing topics.

The essays range from those looking at a particular character (eg Murderbot) to those examining an entire genre (eg historical fiction); some are quite academic (Rjurik Davidson’s time travel essay, “Critical Choices”); other are more light-hearted (Tansy Rayner Roberts’ series on Pratchett’s Men). All of the essays are intended to be accessible to a non-academic audience. Speculative Insight publishes one free essay a month, and one that is subscriber-only. There are few venues in Australia — indeed, internationally — that focus on non-fiction about speculative fiction, and pay its contributors, and are accessible to a general audience in both content and cost. These 26 essays (25 original to the journal, and one reprint) powerfully argue that such non-fiction is a worthwhile endeavour and can add significantly to discussions within the speculative fiction field.

Pauline Yates Author, Spotlight Series

During 2024, I have interviewed and showcased at least 50 authors in the speculative fiction writing community. Each interview comprised of tailored questions to learn more about the person behind the writer, and peek into their writing world, with room for author links and published works. The individual interviews were published weekly on my WordPress blog and each interview was then shared across multiple social media platforms including Instagram reels and YouTube shorts to maximize networking. The purpose of the Author Spotlight series was to promote authors and their published works, educate readers about the reality of being a writer, and inspire emerging/established writers with information about publication pathways, writing craft, and writing and publishing expectations. Multiple genres were covered under the speculative fiction umbrella including science fiction, horror, thrillers, and mystery writers, and authors were located in multiple countries including Australia, America, Canada and England.

My author Spotlight series has been well-received within the speculative fiction community, and the support shown through sharing the interviews has highlighted the need for this type of author/publication exposure in the ever-fracturing social media landscapes.

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2024 Aurealis Awards ceremony

Posted on April 9, 2025 by aaconvenor

The 2024 Aurealis Awards ceremony will take place online at 4pm AEST on Sunday 4 May, 2025.

While we regret that the anticipated in-person event won’t be possible due to external factors which have impacted the organisation in recent months, we look forward to celebrating with friends and fans across Australia on this special occasion.

Mark your calendars, and May the Fourth be with you!

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Aurealis Awards: Behind the Curtain podcast

Posted on January 17, 2025 by aaconvenor

Check this out! The very excellent Alexandra Pierce has published the first episode of our 30th anniversary celebratory podcast, Aurealis Awards: Behind the Curtain.

In this podcast, Alex talks to people who have organised and judged for the Aurealis Awards over the last 30 years, digging into the background and work that goes into running such a beast.

We’re anticipating a new episode each week, so be sure to subscribe 🙂

In episode 1, Alex speaks with founding father Dirk Strasser, and it’s an absolute delight!

You can check out the podcast on Podbean, or find us on Apple Podcasts (we’re submitting to Player FM and Podchaser too – stay tuned!).

https://aurealisawards.podbean.com/

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2024 Deadline Approaching

Posted on December 7, 2024 by aaconvenor

Only one week left to get your entries in for the 2024 Aurealis Awards!

Check out the current list of entries and make sure your Australian-created work is in the mix!
https://aurealisawards.org/entries/

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One month left to get your Aurealis Awards entries in!

Posted on November 17, 2024 by aaconvenor

Entries for the 2024 Aurealis Awards close on Sunday 15 December, 2024.

Don’t miss your opportunity to enter eligible Australian speculative fiction work!

A few reminders:

The 2024 Aurealis Awards are for works of original speculative fiction by authors, editors and illustrators, who are Australian citizens or permanent residents, first published in English between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024.

“First published” includes publication globally, via traditional publishing, self-publishing, digital publishing, web publishing, and publishing through methods such as Patreon subscription or other similar mode. If the work is available to an audience either for purchase or freely accessible, it is considered published.

Works must be published and available to the general public to be eligible. This includes self-published works. Unpublished manuscripts are not eligible for Aurealis Awards.

Check to see if your work has been entered in our updated list here and get your entries submitted via the online form here!

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2024 Aurealis Awards are open for entry

Posted on August 6, 2024 by aaconvenor

We are delighted to announce that the 2024 Aurealis Awards, our 30th year of celebrating Australia’s best speculative fiction, are now open for immediate entry.

The 2024 Aurealis Awards, Australia’s premier awards for speculative fiction, are for works created by an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and published for the first time between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024.

We strongly encourage publishers and authors to enter all works published already this year by September 30, 2024, then subsequent publications as they are released; our judges appreciate having time to consider each entry carefully.

Entries for the Aurealis Awards main categories close on December 15, 2024.

Full guidelines and FAQ can be found on the Aurealis Awards website:

Rules

FAQ

The Aurealis Awards judges welcome electronic entries in all categories, including novels, short stories, novellas, illustrated work / graphic novels, collections, anthologies, children’s and young adult fiction. The Aurealis Awards management team recognises the financial burden of entering multiple works in multiple categories to some authors, editors and publishers at independent small presses. We accept epub files, although PDF may be provided if no other format is available (particularly for graphic works). Print may also be supplied.

Finalists of all Award categories will be announced early in 2025 and winners announced at a ceremony to take place in the first half of the year. For more information on the Awards or for the entry forms, visit the Aurealis Awards website at https://aurealisawards.org/.

For more information contact the judging coordinator Tehani Croft at aajudges@gmail.com.

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Aurealis Awards 2024 – Call for Judges

Posted on June 4, 2024 by aaconvenor

Please read the following information carefully before submitting your application as we cannot make exceptions to the requirements.

We are seeking expressions of interest from Australian residents who would like to judge for the 2024 Aurealis Awards. Judges are volunteers and are drawn from the Australian speculative fiction community, from diverse professions and backgrounds, including academics, booksellers, librarians, published authors, publishing industry professionals, reviewers and enthusiasts. The only qualification necessary is a demonstrated knowledge of and interest in their chosen category.

It is vital that judges be able to work as part of a team and meet stringent deadlines, including timely recording of scores and comments for each entry (in a confidential shared file), and responding to panel messages and discussions. Most of the panel discussions are conducted via email, with some panels choosing to have a synchronous online meeting to make final decisions.

All judges must be willing and able to read entries in digital format (usually epub but occasionally PDF), which we accept in all categories. Print is still sometimes sent by entrants but we do not require it.

Panel sizes may vary among categories – and from year to year – depending on the perceived workload required and the availability of judges for a particular category. However, each panel will consist of at least three judges, one of which will be the panel convenor.

Being an Aurealis Awards judge involves reading entries for one panel (which may comprise more than one category). This may consist of several dozen novels and/or more than a hundred short stories / novellas in the process of evaluating the year’s entries. The reading load can become quite heavy at the end of the judging period although we endeavour to obtain works as soon as they are published. Judges may keep their reading copies of entries. Convenors of each panel are also required to participate in the judging of the Convenors’ Award for Excellence, which involves additional consumption of material.

Categories are: 

  • Science Fiction Novel
  • Science Fiction Short Story / Novella (two categories sometimes judged by one panel)
  • Fantasy Novel
  • Fantasy Short Story / Novella (two categories sometimes judged by one panel)
  • Horror Novel / Novella / Horror Short Story (three categories judged by one or two panels, depending on availability of judges)
  • Young Adult Novel / Young Adult Short Story (two categories sometimes judged by one panel)
  • Children’s Fiction
  • Collection / Anthology (two categories judged by one panel)
  • Illustrated Book / Graphic Novel

Entries to the awards close in early December, with all work published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 eligible for entry. Shortlists from each panel will be required by March 2025 (firm dates will be advised), and prospective judges should be aware that this may be an intensive process.

Dates for Judging (to be confirmed):

  • June 23, 2024 – judging applications close
  • June 2024 – entries open
  • September 30, 2024 – entries close for the Sara Douglass Book Series Award
  • December 14 2024 – entries close for the regular Aurealis Awards categories
  • December 31 2024 – final entries must be received by judges; Convenors’ Award for Excellence entries close
  • March 2025 – shortlists and finalists must be decided by panels
  • April 2025 – Convenors’ Award for Excellence decided by convenors.
  • May 2025 – Awards ceremony (details to be advised)

All discussions are confidential between the judges in each panel and the judging coordinator and/or the Aurealis Awards management team, as required. The Aurealis Awards judging coordinator will have no input into these decisions except to mediate panel issues.

Judges from previous Aurealis Awards processes are welcome – indeed encouraged – to re-apply. But, in the interests of transparency and impartiality, no one may judge the same category for more than two consecutive years, and a break of two consecutive years is required before a judge can reapply to be a judge in that particular category again.

Please complete the form below by Sunday 23 June, 2024. 

https://forms.gle/rk7vurZd434aGFM89

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Sara Douglass Book Series Award is open to entries

Posted on May 20, 2024 by aaconvenor

The judging panel welcomes entries for the 2024 Sara Douglass Book Series Award.

The 2024 Award covers all series ending between January 2021 and December 2023. Entries for this special award close September 30, 2024. Please see more information below and on the Sara page.

As with the regular Aurealis Awards categories, this special award is for Australian creators only.

ABOUT THE AWARD

  • This year, the Sara covers series ending (in original publication anywhere in the world) between January 2021 and December 2023.
  • The current judging year is deliberately excluded. This permits an earlier submissions deadline to allow adequate time for the judges to consider all works entered.
  • The Sara Douglass Book Series Award is not an Aurealis Award as such, but a separate, special award conferred during the ceremony (like the Convenors’ Award for Excellence).

GENERAL ELIGIBILITY

  • For the purpose of the Sara Douglass Book Series Award, a “series” is defined as a continuing ongoing story told through two or more books, which must be considered as ending in one of the years covered by the judging period.
  • This award is to recognise that there are book series that are greater as a whole than the sum of their parts – that is, the judges are looking for a series that tells a story across the series, not one that just uses the same characters/setting across loosely connected books. It is anticipated that shortlisted works will be best enjoyed read in succession, with an arc that begins in the first book and is completed in the last.
  • The series may be in any speculative genre within the extended bounds of science fiction, fantasy or horror (that is, if a book would be considered on an individual basis for one of the novel, or possibly novella, categories in the Aurealis Awards, the series may be considered here).
  • The Sara Douglass Book Series Award does not replace or depose individual books being entered in the usual categories – it is a supplementary Award.
  • As is also the case with the rules for Illustrated Work/Graphic Novel and serialised novels, if a series is considered finished and entered at the conclusion of (for example) book three, but then is continued in future works, the future works *may* be entered as a series at a later point, but the first trilogy (for example), if previously entered in the Series award, may not be considered again.
    As an example – if the first three books of Sara Douglass’s Wayfarer Redemption series (Battleaxe / Enchanter / Starman) had been entered in the Sara Douglass Book Series Award in the year following the publication of the final book, the subsequent trilogy continuing the story (Sinner / Pilgrim / Crusader) could have been entered in a later year, but the first three could not be considered again as a series of six. However, if the first three books had never been considered for the Sara Douglass Book Series Award, all six could have been entered at the conclusion. Essentially, parts of an extended series may only be considered once for this Award (although as noted, individual books are still eligible for regular Aurealis Awards categories in their year of publication).
  • There is no entry fee for this special Award category, but all books must be supplied to the judging panel by the entrant (publisher or author). The judges prefer digital copies although print may be supplied.

ENTER HERE!

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2023 Aurealis Awards Winners

Posted on May 18, 2024 by aaconvenor

Silver medallion with Chimaera logo and text reading Aurealis Awards Winner

The Aurealis Awards management team, on behalf of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s Awards. We also take this opportunity to once again thank the judging panels for all their hard work making the difficult decisions of shortlists and the winning works, Continuum for generously hosting the ceremony, the CSFG committee for organising the ceremony, and all the creators and publishers who continue to make the Aurealis Awards Australia’s premier speculative fiction award each year.

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

Spellhound, Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin) 

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures, Jason Pamment (Allen & Unwin)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“Follow The Water”, J Palmer (Where the weird things are Vol 2, Deadset Press) 

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Death interrupted”, Pamela Jeffs (Body of work, Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“Quicksilver”, J S Breukelaar (Vandal: Stories of damage, Crystal Lake Entertainment)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“12 days of Witchmas”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Patreon, self-published)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

Gate sinister, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY  (TIE)

“Hollywood animals”, Corey J White (Interzone #295)

“Customer service”, Emily Wyeth (Mother’s milk, Sempiternal House)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

Once we flew, Nikky Lee (self-published)

BEST COLLECTION

Firelight, John Morrissey (Text Publishing)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

The book of witches, Jonathan Strahan (Ed.) (HarperVoyager)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

When ghosts call us home, Katya de Becerra (Macmillan)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Bunny, S E Tolsen (Pan Macmillan Australia)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL 

The will of the many, James Islington (Text Publishing)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Time of the cat, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE 

“Science fiction for hire? Notes towards an emerging practice of creative futurism” by Helen Marshall, Kathleen Jennings & Joanne Anderton (Text Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, 27(2))

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