Aurealis Awards 2017 finalists announced

The finalists for the 2017 Aurealis Awards, presented for science-fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced.

Judging coordinator Tehani Croft said she was ‘impressed by the breadth of entries, with publishers from all over the world ensuring the work of their creators is considered’. ‘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,’ said Croft.

The finalists are:

Best science-fiction novel

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

Best fantasy novel

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

Best horror novel

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

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, A&U)
• Home Time (Campbell Whyte, IDW Publishing)
• Tintinnabula (Margo Lanagan, illus by Rovina Cai, Little Hare)

Best children’s fiction

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

Best young adult novel

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

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

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)
• ‘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 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)
• ‘Conversations with an Armoury’ (Garth Nix, Infinity Wars, Solaris)
• ‘Hurk + Dav’ (Alfie Simpson, Breach Issue #01)

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 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)

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 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 young adult short story

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

The finalists were selected from over 800 entries across 15 categories.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony held during the Easter long weekend as part of the Swancon convention in Perth.

To see the winners of last year’s Aurealis Awards, click here.

Tags: Aurealis Awardsfantasyhorrorscience-fiction

Category: Awards Local news