Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story
The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers".[2] To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year;[3] the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.[4]
| Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Excellence in science fiction short stories |
| Country | Australia |
| Presented by | Chimaera Publications, Continuum Foundation |
| First awarded | 1995 |
| Currently held by | Joanne Anderton |
| Website | Official site |
Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction.[2] The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has identified the award as an honour to be taken seriously.[5]
The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short list of finalists.[2] The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.[6]
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best science fiction short story category, as well as short stories that have received honourable mentions or have been highly commended. Since 2003, honourable mentions and high commendations have been awarded intermittently. Brendan Duffy and Sean Williams are the only people to have won the award multiple times, with two wins each. Stephen Dedman holds the record for most nominations and that for most nominations without winning, having been a losing finalist six times.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the story's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.
* Winners and joint winners
* Nominees on the shortlist
| Year | Author(s) | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Greg Egan* | "Luminous" | Asimov's | [7] |
| Stephen Dedman | "From Whom All Blessings Flow" | Asimov's | [7] | |
| Greg Egan | "Mister Volition" | Interzone (#100) | [7] | |
| Greg Egan | "Wang's Carpets" | Legend (New Legends) | [7][8] | |
| Sean Williams | "A Map of the Mines of Barnath" | Eidolon | [7] | |
| 1996 | Leanne Frahm* | "Borderline" | MirrorDanse (Borderline) | [8][9] |
| Simon Brown | "The Mark of Thetis" | Eidolon (Australian magazine) | [9] | |
| Terry Dowling | "His Own, The Star Alphecca" | Eidolon | [9] | |
| Terry Dowling | "The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse" | Interzone (#106) | [9] | |
| Geoffrey Maloney | "The Embargo Traders" | Aurealis (#16) | [9] | |
| 1997 | Janeen Webb & Jack Dann* | "Niagara Falling" | DAW (Black Mist and Other Japanese Futures) | [8][10] |
| Russell Blackford | "Lucent Carbon" | Eidolon | [10] | |
| Damien Broderick | "Schrödinger's Dog" | Eidolon | [10] | |
| Greg Egan | "Reasons to Be Cheerful" | Interzone (#118) | [10] | |
| Lucy Sussex | "Merlusine" | Roc (The Horns of Elfland) | [8][10] | |
| 1998 | David J. Lake* | "The Truth About Weena" | Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) | [8][11] |
| Stephen Dedman | "Transit" | Asimov's | [11] | |
| Greg Egan | "Oceanic" | Asimov's | [11] | |
| Rosaleen Love | "Real Men" | Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) | [8][11] | |
| Michael Pryor | "Australian Visions" | Aurealis (#20-21) | [11] | |
| 1999 | Chris Lawson* | "Written in Blood" | Asimov's | [12] |
| Terry Dowling | "The View in Nancy's Window" | Interzone (#146) | [12] | |
| Chris Lawson | "Chinese Rooms" | Eidolon | [12] | |
| Kate Orman | "The Bicycle Net" | Interzone (#146) | [12] | |
| Lucy Sussex | "The Queen of Erewhon" | F&SF | [12] | |
| 2000 | Damien Broderick* | "Infinite Monkey" | Eidolon | [13] |
| Adam Browne | "Schrödinger's Catamaran" | Orb | [13] | |
| Stephen Dedman | "The Devotee" | Eidolon | [13] | |
| Margo Lanagan | "White Time" | Allen & Unwin (White Time) | [8][13] | |
| Sean Williams | "The Land Itself" | Eidolon | [13] | |
| 2001 | Adam Browne* | "The Weatherboard Spaceship" | Aurealis (#27-28) | [14] |
| Michael Barry | "The Trojan Rocks" | CSFG Publishing (Nor of Human...) | [8][14] | |
| Jack Dann | "The Diamond Pit" | F&SF | [14] | |
| Dirk Strasser | "The Skerricks of Truth" | Aurealis (#27-28) | [14] | |
| Lucy Sussex | "Absolute Uncertainty" | F&SF | [14] | |
| 2002 | Sean McMullen* | "Walk to the Full Moon" | F&SF | [15] |
| Shane M. Brown | "Late Returns" | Redsine | [15] | |
| Shane M. Brown | "Lucy Lucy" | Aurealis (#29) | [15] | |
| Geoffrey Maloney | "The Imperfect Instantaneous People Mover" | Agog! (Agog! Fantastic Fiction) | [8][15] | |
| Chris McMahon | "Within Twilight" | Redsine | [15] | |
| 2003 | Brendan Duffy* | "Louder Echo" | Agog! (Agog! Terrific Tales) | [8][16] |
| Stephen Dedman | "Acquired Tastes" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | [16] | |
| Sue Isle | "Amy's Stars" | Orb | [16] | |
| Martin Livings | "Sigmund Freud & the Feral Freeway" | Agog! (Agog! Terrific Tales) | [8][16] | |
| Kaaron Warren | "State of Oblivion" | CSFG Publishing (Elsewhere) | [8][16] | |
| 2004 | Brendan Duffy* | "Come to Daddy" | Agog! (Agog! Smashing Stories) | [8][17] |
| Stephen Dedman | "Desiree" | Oceans of the Mind | [17] | |
| Geoffrey Maloney | "Bush of Ghosts" | Prime Books (Tales from the Crypto-System) | [8][17] | |
| Barbara Robson | "Absolution" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | [17] | |
| Cat Sparks | "Home by the Sea" | Orb | [17] | |
| 2005 | Trent Jamieson* | "Slow and Ache" | Aurealis (#36) | [18] |
| Rjurik Davidson | "The Interminable Suffering of Mysterious Mr. Wu" | Aurealis (#33-35) | [18] | |
| Leanne Frahm | "Skein Dogs" | Fables and Reflections | [18] | |
| Lyn Triffitt | "The Memory of Breathing" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | [18] | |
| Kim Westwood | "Terning tha Weel" | Aurealis (#36) | [18] | |
| 2006 | Sean Williams* | "The Seventh Letter" | Bulletin Summer Reading Edition | [19] |
| Lee Battersby | "Dark Ages" | Prime Books (Through Soft Air) | [8][19] | |
| David Conyers | "Aftermath" | Agog! (Agog! Ripping Reads) | [8][19] | |
| Stephen Dedman | "Down to the Tethys Sea" | Science Fiction Chronicle | [19] | |
| 2007 | Cat Sparks* | "Hollywood Roadkill" | On Spec (#69) | [20] |
| Simon Brown | "Lonely as Life" | Ticonderoga Publications (Fantastic Wonder Stories) | [8][20] | |
| Penelope Love | "Whitey" | Elise Bunter (Shadow Plays) | [8][20] | |
| Chris McMahon | "The Eyes of Erebus" | Agog! (Daikaiju! 2: Revenge of the Giant Monsters) | [8][20] | |
| Cat Sparks | "Arctica" | Ticonderoga Publications (Fantastic Wonder Stories) | [8][20] | |
| 2008 | Simon Brown* | "The Empire" | HarperVoyager (Dreaming Again) | [8][21] |
| Nathan Burrage | "Black and Bitter, Thanks" | Ticonderoga Publications (The Workers' Paradise) | [8][21] | |
| Trent Jamieson | "Delivery" | Cosmos | [21] | |
| Margo Lanagan | "The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross" | HarperVoyager (Dreaming Again) | [8][21] | |
| Tansy Rayner Roberts | "Fleshy" | Twelfth Planet Press (2012) | [8][21] | |
| 2009 | Peter M. Ball* | "Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens" | Apex Magazine (Descended From Darkness) | [22] |
| Peter M. Ball | "To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer's Lament" | Apex Magazine (#4) | [22] | |
| Christopher Green | "A Hundredth Name" | Abyss & Apex (Q3 2009) | [22] | |
| Greg Mellor | "Defence of the Realm" | Cosmos | [22] | |
| Mike Resnick & Lezli Robyn | "Soulmates" | Asimov's | [22] | |
| 2010 | K. J. Bishop* | "The Heart of a Mouse" | Subterranean Online | [23] |
| Matthew Chrulew | "The Angaelian Apocalypse" | Twelfth Planet Press (The Company Articles of Edward Teach/The Angaelian Apocalypse) | [24] | |
| Penelope Love | "Border Crossing" | Ticonderoga Publications (Belong) | [24] | |
| Ian McHugh | "Interloper" | Asimov's | [24] | |
| Tansy Rayner Roberts | "Relentless Adaptations" | Twelfth Planet Press (Sprawl) | [24] | |
| 2011 | Robert N. Stephenson* | "Rains of la Strange" | Coeur de Lion Publishing (Anywhere but Earth) | [25] |
| Joanne Anderton | "Flowers in the Shadow of the Garden" | Kayelle Press (Hope) | [26] | |
| Rob Hood | "Desert Madonna" | Coeur de Lion Publishing (Anywhere but Earth) | [26] | |
| Penelope Love | "SIBO" | Coeur de Lion Publishing (Anywhere but Earth) | [26] | |
| Cat Sparks | "Dead Low" | Midnight Echo | [26] | |
| 2012 | Margo Lanagan* | "Significant Dust" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) | [27] |
| James Bradley | "Visitors" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 2, No 3) | [28] | |
| Greg Mellor | "Beyond Winter's Shadow" | Ticonderoga Publications (Wild Chrome) | [28] | |
| Greg Mellor | "The Trouble With Memes" | Ticonderoga Publications (Wild Chrome) | [28] | |
| Kaaron Warren | "The Lighthouse Keepers' Club" | PS Publishing (Exotic Gothic 4) | [28] | |
| 2013 | Kaaron Warren* | "Air, Water, and the Grove" | Pandemonimum Press (The Lowest Heaven) | [29][30] |
| Joanne Anderton | "The Last Tiger" | Daily Science Fiction | [29] | |
| Joanne Anderton | "Mah Song" | FableCroft Publishing (The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories) | [29] | |
| Thoraiya Dyer | "Seven Days in Paris" | Twelfth Planet Press (Asymmetry) | [29] | |
| Lucy Stone | "Version 4.3.0.1" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#57) | [29] | |
| 2014 | Thoraiya Dyer* | "Wine, Women, and Stars" | Analog | [31] |
| Deborah Biancotti | "The Executioner Goes Home" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 11, No 6) | [32] | |
| Jason Fischer | "The Glorious Aerybeth" | On Spec (#97) | [32] | |
| Charlotte Nash | "Dellinger" | Peggy Bright Books (Use Only As Directed) | [32] | |
| Garth Nix | "Happy Go Lucky" | Twelfth Planet Press (Kaleidocscope) | [32] | |
| 2015 | Sean Williams* | "All the Wrong Places" | Solaris (Meeting Infinity) | [33] |
| Joanne Anderton | "2B" | FableCroft Publishing (Insert Title Here) | [34] | |
| Claire McKenna | "The Marriage of the Corn King" | Cosmos | [34] | |
| Charlotte Nash | "Alchemy and Ice" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (#61) | [34] | |
| Kaaron Warren | "Witnessing" | The Canary Press Story Magazine (#6) | [34] | |
| 2016 | Samantha Murray* | "Of Sight, of Mind, of Heart" | Clarkesworld (#122) | [35] |
| Jack Dann | "Trainspotting in Winesburg" | PS Publishing (Concentration) | [36] | |
| Ian McHugh | "The Baby Eaters" | Asimov's Science Fiction (Vol. 40 No. 1) | [36] | |
| Claire McKenna | "The Autumn Dog Cannot Live to Spring" | FableCroft Publishing (In Your Face) | [36] | |
| Kaaron Warren | "68 Days" | Broken Eye Books (Tomorrow's Cthulhu) | [36] | |
| Jen White | "The Least of Things" | Aurealis (#94) | [36] | |
| 2017 | Garth Nix* | "Conversations with an Armoury" | Solaris (Infinity Wars) | [37][38] |
| Lyn Battersby | "The Missing Years" | Andromeda Spaceways Magazine (#66) | [37] | |
| Aiki Flinthart | "A Little Faith" | Mirren Hogan (Like A Woman) | [37] | |
| Pamela Jeffs | "Cards and Steel Hearts" | Falstaff Books (Lawless Lands: Tales from the Weird Frontier) | [37] | |
| Amie Kaufman | "One Small Step" | HarperCollins Publishers (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology) | [37] | |
| Arthur Robinson | "Hurk + Dav" | Breach Issue #01 | [37] | |
| 2018 | Jen White* | "The Astronaut" | Aurealis (#108) | [39][40] |
| E. J. Delaney | "The Sixes, The Wisdom and the Wasp" | Escape Pod (#612) | [39] | |
| Pamela Jeffs | "The Fallen" | Four Ink Press (Red Hour) | [39] | |
| Simon Petrie & Edwina Harvey | "On the Consequences of Clinically-Inhibited Maturation in the Common Sydney Octopus" | CSFG Publishing (A Hand of Knaves) | [39] | |
| Robert Porteous | "A Fair Wind off Baracoa" | CSFG Publishing (A Hand of Knaves) | [39] | |
| 2019 | Joanne Anderton* | "Wreck Diving" | Aurealis (#123) | [41][42] |
| Mike Adamson | "Sky Tears" | Alien Dimensions (#17) | [41] | |
| Jason Fischer | "Riding the Snails" | Clan Destine Press (War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia) | [41] | |
| R. P. L. Johnson | "Canute" | Cohesion Press (SNAFU: Last Stand) | [41] | |
| Freya Marske | "What We Named the Needle" | Analog (Jul/Aug 2019) | [41] | |
| Angela Meyer | "Micro" | Kill Your Darlings Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Showcase 2019 | [41] | |
| 2020 | Fiona Bell* | "Mary, Mary" | Aurealis (#135) | [43][44] |
| Elaine Cuyegkeng | "The Genetic Alchemist's Daughter" | Omnium Gatherum (Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women) | [43] | |
| Jack Heath | "Pork Belly" | Aurealis (#129) | [43] | |
| T. R. Napper | "Jack's Fine Dining" | Grimdark Magazine (Neon Leviathan) | [43] | |
| Ben Peek | "Andrei Tarkovsky" | Dimension6 (#20) | [43] | |
| Deborah Sheldon | "All the Stars in Her Eyes" | Andromeda Spaceways Magazine (#80) | [43] |
Honourable mentions and high commendations
The honourable mentions and high commendations are announced alongside the list of finalists for their respected year of eligibility.[45] In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a grey background have been noted as highly commended; those with a white background have received honourable mentions. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.
* Highly commended
* Honourable mentions
| Year | Author | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Shane Brown | "The Earth Equation" | Vision Writers Group (Glimpses) | [8] |
| Grace Dugan | "The Wall" | Vision Writers Group (Glimpses) | [8] | |
| Trent Jamieson | "Clockwork" | Vision Writers Group (Glimpses) | [8] | |
| Cat Sparks | "Cross the Nullabor to the Sea" | Vision Writers Group (Glimpses) | [8] | |
| 2005 | Tess Williams* | "How Green Was Their Love" | Borderlands | [8] |
| 2007 | Dirk Flinthart | "Truckers" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | [8] |
See also
- Ditmar Award, an Australian science fiction award established in 1969