I’m beyond thrilled to share the news that ‘The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror Vol. 6’ has been nominated for an Aurealis Award in the category of Best Anthology, and to share this honour with my co-editor Liz Grzyb, and publisher Ticonderoga Publications.  As ever it is a tremendous honour to be nominated in a shortlist of such fabulous books from talented authors, creative editors, and dedicated publishers. Congratulations on all the shortlisted nominees – the vibrancy and depth of this list is truly epic.

2017 Aurealis Awards finalists announced

The Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation (WASFF), organisers of the 2017 Aurealis Awards, are delighted to announce the finalists for the Awards.

Judging coordinator Tehani Croft noted that entry numbers continue to be strong, with over 800 submissions in 2017. “We continue to be impressed by the breadth of entries, with publishers from all over the world ensuring the work of their creators is considered. This year the judges read more than 800 entries across the fifteen categories. It’s very pleasing to see publishers of all types featured among the finalists this year, with small publishers and self-published work finding a place alongside the majors.”

Winners of the 2017 Aurealis Awards and the Convenors’ Award for Excellence will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony during the Easter long weekend as part of the Swancon convention at the Pan Pacific hotel, Perth.

2017 Aurealis Awards – Finalists

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

  • How to Bee, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)
  • The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, Jaclyn Moriarty (Allen & Unwin)
  • The Shop at Hoopers Bend, Emily Rodda (HarperCollins Australia)
  • The Exile, Jo Sandhu (Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Accidental Heroes, Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin)
  • Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend (Hachette Australia)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

  • Action Tank, Mike Barry (Mike Barry Was Here)
  • Changing Ways book 3, Justin Randall (Gestalt)
  • Dungzilla, James Foley (Fremantle Press)
  • Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts, Craig Phillips (Allen & Unwin)
  • Home Time, Campbell Whyte (Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Tintinnabula, Margo Lanagan & Rovina Cai (ill.) (Little Hare)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

  • “One Small Step”, Amie Kaufman (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)
  • “I Can See the Ending”, Will Kostakis (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)
  • “Competition Entry #349”, Jaclyn Moriarty (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)
  • “First Casualty” Michael Pryor (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)
  • Girl Reporter, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Book Smugglers)
  • “Oona Underground”, Lili Wilkinson (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

  • “Reef”, Kat Clay (SQ Mag 31, IFWG Publishing Australia)
  • “Outside, a Drifter”, Lisa L Hannett (Looming Low, Dim Shores)
  • “Angel Hair”, Deborah Sheldon (Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories, IFWG Publishing Australia)
  • “The Endless Below”, Alfie Simpson (Breach Issue #02)
  • “Old Growth”, J Ashley Smith (SQ Mag 31, IFWG Publishing Australia)
  • “On the Line”, J Ashley Smith (Midnight Echo 12, Australasian Horror Writers Association)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

  • The Mailman, Jeremy Bates (Ghillinnein Books)
  • Hope and Walker, Andrew Cull (Vermillion Press)
  • “Grind”, Michael Grey (Pacific Monsters, Fox Spirit Books)
  • “The Stairwell”, Chris Mason (Below The Stairs – Tales from the Cellar, Things In The Well)
  • “No Good Deed”, Angela Slatter (New Fears 1, Titan Books)
  • “Furtherest”, Kaaron Warren (Dark Screams Volume 7, Cemetery Dance)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

  • “Hamelin’s Graves”, Freya Marske (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #69)
  • “The Curse is Come Upon Me, Cried”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Please Look After This Angel & Other Winged Stories, self-published)
  • “The Little Mermaid, in Passing”, Angela Slatter (Review of Australian Fiction Vol 22 Issue 1)
  • “Duplicity”, J Ashley Smith (Dimension6 #11)
  • “The Rainmaker Goddess, Hallowed Shaz”, Marlee Jane Ward (Feminartsy)
  • “Oona Underground”, Lili Wilkinson (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia).

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

  • The Book Club, Alan Baxter (PS Publishing)
  • “Remnants”, Nathan Burrage (Dimension6 #11, Coer de Lion)
  • “The Cunning Woman’s Daughter”, Kate Forsyth & Kim Wilkins (The Silver Well, Ticonderoga Publications)
  • In Shadows We Fall, Devin Madson (self-published)
  • “Braid”, Kirstyn McDermott (Review of Australian Fiction Vol 24 Issue 1)
  • Humanity for Beginners, Faith Mudge (Less Than Three Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

  • “The Missing Years”, Lyn Battersby (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #66)
  • “A Little Faith”, Aiki Flinthart (Like a Woman, Mirren Hogan)
  • “Cards and Steel Hearts”, Pamela Jeffs (Lawless Lands: Tales from the Weird Frontier, Falstaff Books)
  • “One Small Step”, Amie Kaufman (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)
  • “Conversations with an Armoury” Garth Nix (Infinity Wars, Solaris)
  • “Hurk + Dav”, Arthur Robinson (Breach Issue #01)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

  • “This Silent Sea”, Stephanie Gunn (Review of Australian Fiction Vol 24 Issue 6)
  • “I Can See the Ending”, Will Kostakis (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, HarperCollins Australia)
  • “The Wandering Library”, DK Mok (Ecopunk!, Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “Island Green”, Shauna O’Meara (Ecopunk!, Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Matters Arising from the Identification of the Body, Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
  • Girl Reporter, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Book Smugglers)

BEST COLLECTION

  • The Birdcage Heart & Other Strange Tales, Peter M Ball (Brain Jar Press)
  • The Silver Well, Kate Forsyth & Kim Wilkins (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Beneath the Floating City, Donna Maree Hanson (self-published)
  • Singing My Sister Down and Other Stories, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
  • Please Look After This Angel & Other Winged Stories, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)
  • Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories, Deborah Sheldon (IFWG Publishing Australia)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

  • Midnight Echo #12, Shane Jiraiya Cummings & Anthony Ferguson (eds.) (Australasian Horror Writers Association)
  • The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2015, Liz Grzyb & Talie Helene (eds.) (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Dimension6: Annual Collection 2017, Keith Stevenson (ed.) (coeur de lion publishing)
  • Infinity Wars, Jonathan Strahan (ed.) (Rebellion/Solaris)
  • The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 11, Jonathan Strahan (ed.) (Rebellion/Solaris)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

  • In The Dark Spaces, Cally Black (Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • Ida, Alison Evans (Echo, Bonnier Publishing Australia)
  • Frogkisser!, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
  • This Mortal Coil, Emily Suvada (Puffin UK)
  • Psynode, Marlee Jane Ward (Seizure)
  • The Undercurrent, Paula Weston (Text Publishing)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

  • Aletheia, J S Breukelaar (Crystal Lake Publishing)
  • Who’s Afraid Too?, Maria Lewis (Hachette Australia)
  • Soon, Lois Murphy (Transit Lounge)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

  • Crossroads of Canopy, Thoraiya Dyer (Tor Books)
  • Gwen, Goldie Goldbloom (Fremantle Press)
  • Cassandra, Kathryn Gossow (Odyssey Books)
  • Godsgrave, Jay Kristoff (HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Gap Year In Ghost Town, Michael Pryor (Allen & Unwin)
  • Wellside, Robin Shortt (Candlemark & Gleam)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

  • Closing Down, Sally Abbott (Hachette Australia)
  • Terra Nullius, Claire G Coleman (Hachette Australia)
  • Year of the Orphan, Daniel Findlay (Penguin Random House Australia)
  • An Uncertain Grace, Krissy Kneen (Text Publishing)
  • From the Wreck, Jane Rawson (Transit Lounge)
  • Lotus Blue, Cat Sparks (Skyhorse)

Source: Aurealis Awards