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". 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; 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.
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. 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. Independently of Chimaera, the publishing industry announces results and winners especially when a publisher's author has won an award, genre databases list the award and its winners and libraries and review sites recommend books on the basis they have won the award.
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. Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner. The judges may declare a "no award" if there is unanimous agreement that none of the nominees are worthy. The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best fantasy 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. Thoraiya Dyer holds the record for most wins, having won three times. Angela Slatter holds the record for most nominations, having been nominated seven times. Adam Browne, Kaaron Warren, and Suzanne J. Willis share the record for most nominations without winning, each having been losing finalists three 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
YearAuthor(s)Short storyPublisher or publication. * Eidolon Sybylla (She's Fantastical) Aurealis Aurealis Eidolon * Penguin (Dream Weavers) Viking (Green Monkey Dreams) UQP (Original Sin) Eidolon Allen & Unwin (Letters to Francesca) * Roc (The Horns of Elfland) Penguin (Twins) Anchor (Influence: Australian Voices) Eidolon HarperCollins (Enter: HQ/Flamingo Short Story Collection) * Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) Voyager (Dreaming Down-Under) Moonstone (Fantastic Worlds) * Aurealis HQ Magazine HQ Magazine F&SF HQ Magazine * Aurealis Voyager (Mystery, Magic, Voodoo & The Holy Grail) Altair Allen & Unwin (White Time) Orb * Orb Voyager (Jubilee) Sci Fiction CSFG Publishing (Nor of Human...) Orb * Sandglass Enterprises (Southern Blood: New Australian Tales of the Supernatural) Fables and Reflections Dreamhaven Books (Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores) Penguin Books (Firebirds) * Aurealis * Agog! (Agog! Smashing Stories) Orb Elastic Press (The Alsisio Project) Aurealis * Agog! (Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales) * Aqueduct Press (The Traveling Tide); Agog! (Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales) Lenox Avenue Ezine Neverary Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine * Eidolon Books (Eidolon I) Prime Books (Through Soft Air) Fantasy Magazine Eidolon Books (Eidolon I) Agog! (Agog! Ripping Reads) * Jim Baen's Universe Strange Horizons Orb Shimmer Orb * Senses Five Press (Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy) Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Shimmer HarperVoyager (Dreaming Again) * Beneath Ceaseless Skies * Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Twelfth Planet Press (Roadkill/Siren Beat) Aurealis * (tie) Twelfth Planet Press (Sprawl) and Angela Slatter* (tie) Ticonderoga Publications (Scary Kisses) Strange Horizons Brimstone Press (Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears) Tartarus Press (Strange Tales III) * FableCroft Publishing (After the Rain) HarperVoyager (Ghosts by Gaslight) Allen & Unwin (Yellowcake) Overland Ticonderoga Publications (More Scary Kisses) * Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) Ticonderoga Publications (Bloodstones) Random House (Under My Hat) Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 55 Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) * Thomas Dunne Books Dagan Books (Fish) "Cold, Cold War" Scott H. Andrews (Beneath Ceaseless Skies) "Short Circuit" Oomph (Oomph: a little super goes a long way) Ticonderoga Publications (The Year of Ancient Ghosts) * "St Dymphna's School for Poison Girls" Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 9, Issue 3 Crossed Genres Publications (Long Hidden) "Teratogen" Cemetery Dance 71 FableCroft Publishing (Cranky Ladies of History) Tartarus Press (Strange Tales IV) * Newcon Press (Legends 2) Review of Australian Fiction, Vol. 13, Issue 6 TDM Press (The Dark) "Almost Days" FableCroft Publishing (Insert Title Here) "Blueblood" Ticonderoga Publications (Hear Me Roar) "Husk and Sheaf" SQ Mag #22 * "Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest" FableCroft Publishing (In Your Face) "Watercress Soup" Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #65 "Dune Time" Tor.com "Penny for a Match, Mister?" Saga Press (The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales) "" Aurealis #89 "" Mythic Delirium #3.1 * "" self-published (Please Look After This Angel & Other Winged Stories) "Hamelin's Graves" Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #69 "" Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 22, Issue 1 "Duplicity" coeur de lion (Dimension6 #11) "The Rainmaker Goddess, Hallowed Shaz" Feminartsy "Oona Underground" HarperCollins Publishers (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology) * "" Bourbon Penn #15 "Crying Demon" Grey Matter Press (Suspended in Dusk 2) "Army Men" Lancelot Schaubert (Of Gods and Globes) "Child of the Emptyness" Grimdark Magazine #17 "" CSFG Publishing (A Hand of Knaves) "Heartwood, Sapwood, Spring" Ate Bit Bear (Sword and Sonnet) * "Dragon by Subscription" (self-published on Patreon) "Loose Stones" Brio Books (Infinite Threads) "1078 Reasons" Translunar Travelers Lounge "Pigshit and Gold" Dimension6 #18 "CurioQueens" Constellary Tales Magazine #4 "Good Dog, Alice" Titan Books (Wonderland) *"Truth Be Told"Unnatural Order"The Dead May Dance"Midnight Echo 15"The Case of the Somewhat Mythic Sword"Tor.com"Terracotta Daughter"Coppice & Brake"A Solace of Shadows"Three Crows Magazine #72021*"So-called Bin Chicken"Curiouser Magazine #2"Who Wants to Be a Reaper"The Centropic Oracle"All my Tuesdays"Cicerone Journal Issue 5: Curious Worlds"Old Souls"Relics, Wrecks & Ruin, CAT Press"The Woods Echo Back"Beneath Ceaseless Skies #331"Frabjous"Cicerone Journal Issue 5: Curious Worlds2022*"The Icecutter's DaughterThe Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing"Ashes"Aurealis #151"Tastes like Home"Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #86"Salon Faerie"(self-published)"Beautiful Horizon"The Purpose of Reality: Solar, Meerkat Press"The Past Laid Out on the Table"Cast of Wonders #5062023*"12 Days of Witchmas"Patreon, self-published"Sea Mist, Shore Witch"Where the Weird Things Are Vol 2, Deadset Press"What Bones These Tides Bring"Remains to Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, Clan Destine Press"These Reeds Remember"The Other Side of Never, Titan Books"The Dark Man, by Referral"This Fresh Hell, Clan Destine Press"The Unexpected Excursion of the Murder Mystery Writing Witches"The Book of Witches, HarperVoyager2024*"Market of Loss"Aurealis #176"The Beautiful Thing You Once Were"Bourbon Penn #33"Lacebound"Aurealis #170"Remembering the Hungry Ghosts"Best Australian Yarn 2024, The West Australian"Bonnets at Dawn"self-published"Before the Forest"Reactor Magazine2025"Dying Mountain"Aurealis #177"Dragon Drops"Deadly Flames, Bayonet Books"The Hidden"The Leper's Garden and Other Contagions, Third Eye Press"What We Sew"Memento Mori, Jacaranda"Sparrow & Butler"Fractured Reveries: A Storied Imaginarium Salon, Storied Imaginarium Books"Jericho and the Cursed Forest"Drowning in the Dark and Other Stories, IFWG
Honourable mentions and high commendations The honourable mentions and high commendations are announced alongside the list of finalists for their respected year of eligibility. 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
YearAuthorShort storyPublisher or publicationRef2003 Agog! (Agog! Terrific Tales) Agog! (Agog! Terrific Tales) 2004 * Wakefield Press (Forever Shores) 2006 Borderlands Eidolon Books (Eidolon I)
See also Ditmar Award, an Australian science fiction award established in 1969
References
External links Aurealis Awards official site