Announcing the 2020 Aurealis Awards judging panels

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Tehani

We are very pleased to welcome our 2020 Aurealis Awards judging panels. All our judges are volunteers and we are extremely grateful for their hard work and professionalism throughout the process. The Awards would not exist without them!

ANTHOLOGIES / COLLECTIONS PANEL
Andrew Finegan
David Versace
Jemimah Brewster
Rob Porteous (Convenor)
Tehani Croft

CHILDREN’S PANEL
Caylee Tierney
Eugen Bacon (Convenor)
Kate Lomas Glendenning
Mia Macrossan
Nicole Gosling

FANTASY NOVEL PANEL
Beth Mason
Linda Sengsourinho (Convenor)
Lorraine Cormack
Nathan Phillips
Paula Boer

FANTASY SHORT STORY PANEL
Annette McQuarrie
David Reiter
Heidi Kneale (Convenor)
Melody Beier
Rick Keuning

FANTASY NOVELLA PANEL
Alexa Shaw
Amy Laurens
Brie Hawthorne
Mark Fazackerley (Convenor)
Shannon Kelly

HORROR PANEL
Dianne De Bellis (Convenor)
Hillary Albertson
Jan-Andrew Henderson
Karen Seeneevassen
Sofia Casanova

ILLUSTRATED WORK / GRAPHIC NOVEL PANEL
Benjamin Corby
Iurgi Urrutia
Joanna Kasper (Convenor)
Kaaron Warren
Rachel Cramp

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL PANEL
Emma Jane Phillips
Jess Gately
Natalie Haigh
Stephanie Gunn (Convenor)
Tansy Roberts

SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY PANEL
Christine Yunn-Yu Sun
Elizabeth Luchjenbroers
Mark Lingane
Tamantha Smith
Thomas Wilson (Convenor)

SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA PANEL
Cathie Tasker (Convenor)
Darren Nash
Lynda Young
Mark Phillips
Sarah Cabot

YA NOVEL PANEL
Bron Swasbrick
Justine Barker
Maureen Flynn
Miffy Farquharson (Convenor)
Sue Wright

YA SHORT STORY PANEL
Bianca Maybe
Christine Armstrong
Deb Gates
Ellie Macavei
Rachel Aitken (Convenor)

 

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2019 Awards Ceremony Recording

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Tehani

Thanks so much to the ConFound team who made this happen! If you missed the ceremony last week, you can now view it in all its glory 🙂

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Aurealis Awards 2020 – Call for Judges

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Tehani

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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 2020 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 (good time management skills and an ability to work in a team in an online environment are also essential).

All judges must be willing and able to read digital entries in either mobi or epub format, which we accept in all categories. Graphic Novel entries may also be submitted in PDF. 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 panel, 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

The Aurealis Awards accepts digital entries in all categories. Judges must be willing to accept and read entries in this format. Willingness and ability to read digitally is an essential aspect of the judging role.

It is vital that judges be able to work as part of a team and meet stringent deadlines. Most of the judges’ discussions are conducted via a private online forum or email.

Entries to the awards close in early December, with all work published between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 eligible for entry. Shortlists from each panel will be required by February 2021 (firm dates will be advised), and prospective judges should be aware that this may be an intensive process.

Dates for Judging (to be confirmed):

  • August 16 2020 – judging applications close
  • August 2020 – entries open
  • Mid December 2020 – entries close
  • December 31 2020– final entries must be received by judges
  • February 2021 – shortlists and finalists must be decided by panels
  • March 2021 – Convenors’ Award for Excellence decided by convenors.
  • 2021 – 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 16 August, 2020. 

The judging positions are open to Australian residents only.

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2019 Aurealis Awards Winners

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Tehani

The Aurealis Awards management team, on behalf of the Continuum Foundation, would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s Awards. We also take this opportunity to thank the judging panels for all their hard work making the difficult decisions of shortlists and the winning works, ConFound liaisons for organising the first ever online ceremony,  and all the creators and publishers who continue to make the Aurealis Awards Australia’s premier speculative fiction award each year.

The winners of the 2019 Aurealis Awards are:

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

The Dog Runner, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

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

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

The Jindabyne Secret, Jo Hart (Deadset Press)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

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

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

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

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

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

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

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

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

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

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

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

BEST COLLECTION

Collision: Stories, J S Breukelaar (Meerkat Press)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

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

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

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

BEST HORROR NOVEL

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

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

Angel Mage, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

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

CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Watermarks: Science Fiction, Mitigation and the Mosaic Novel Structure in Australian Climate Fiction, Jason Nahrung (PhD thesis, University of Queensland)

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Aurealis Awards Ceremony information

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Tehani

This year the Awards ceremony will be held online via Zoom, and will take place THIS SATURDAY! There are limited places available to join live, so if you would like to attend, please make sure you register. The event is hosted by Kat Clay and Eugen Bacon.

Time: 7.00 pm

Date: Saturday 25 July, 2020

Online @ https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEucuGoqToqE9ebQsuFPnb3pa8XrDW5m3eG

We encourage you to “frock up” – pyjamas and sequins sound appropriate! – and bring your party cocktails! We can’t be together in person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.

If you have queries relating to the event, please contact aajudges@gmail.com

 

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Aurealis Awards ceremony date claimer!

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Tehani

Save the date for the online Aurealis Awards ceremony, which will take place at 7pm AEST on Saturday July 25, 2020.

Details of how to join the party to follow soon!

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2019 Convenors’ Award for Excellence nominations

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Tehani

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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 entries;
  • 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 entries are:

Eugen Bacon, Writing Speculative Fiction, Red Globe Press (Macmillan International)

This approachable book is about vibrant storytelling of speculative fiction that crosses genre. Unlike a typical genre studies work, this is a cross-disciplinary book that scrutinises the characteristics of science fiction, fantasy and horror, and considers the potential of literary speculative fiction.

Jacob Edwards, The Romans (The Black Archive #32)

The Romans is a 30,000 word monograph investigating the 1965 Doctor Who story of that name. It is #32 in Obverse Book’s Black Archive range, a series predominantly entrusted to British writers. (A notable exception being John Toon, who won a Sir Julius Vogel Award for #15.) The Black Archive has generally met with acclaim, and The Romans in particular has been positively reviewed. It is a serious but accessible piece of scholarship that both adds to the canon of Doctor Who non-fiction and furthers Australia’s credentials as a respected source for academic studies in speculative fiction.

Jason Nahrung, Watermarks: Science Fiction, Mitigation and the Mosaic Novel Structure in Australian Climate Fiction (PhD exegesis)

Watermarks is a PhD (creative writing) thesis awarded by the University of Queensland in 2019. It examines the benefits of the application of science fiction approaches and tropes to climate fiction with the aim of breaking down barriers to understanding climate change and adopting mitigation measures. In particular, it looks at mosaic fiction, and examines three Australian texts – Things We Didn’t See Coming (Amsterdam), Clade (Bradley) and Nightsiders (Isle) – as case studies that draw on the mosaic form and SF to create affective and effective climate fiction. The thesis advances the study of the writing of and the role of science fiction and climate fiction, as well as adding to the profiles of the three case studies through rigorous examination.

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2019 Aurealis Awards shortlist announcement

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Tehani

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!

Aurealis Awards - Finalist - high res

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)

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Aurealis Awards close in one month!

Posted on November 14, 2019 by Tehani

Entries for the 2019 Aurealis Awards close on December 14!

It’s essential that ALL work published between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 is entered by this deadline.

Checkout the list of current entries here, and enter your Australian speculative fiction work in the Aurealis Awards here.

If you have a publication due out in late December, please enter it NOW. If publication is delayed into 2020 we can remove it from consideration in this year’s Awards, but we are NOT able to enter carry over work published late in the year into the following year.

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100 entries and counting…

Posted on July 30, 2019 by Tehani

In the past few days we ticked over our first 100 entries for 2019. Our judges are excited to get started on the reading load for the year, but we know there are lots more to come!

Historically we have received 800+ entries each year, and the earlier we get them in, the more time the judges have to give each the consideration they deserve, so please enter as soon as you can!

You can view the current entry list (as at midday 29-7-19) on the Entries page.

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