Announcing the 2015 Aurealis Awards Winners!

The winners of Australia’s 2015 Aurealis Awards—which recognize the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror, young adult, and children’s fiction writers—were announced on March 25 during the Australian National Speculative Fiction Convention (or NatCon) in Brisbane. Also announced was the 2015 recipient of The Convenors’ Award for Excellence, which recognizes a particular achievement in speculative fiction or related areas that is not otherwise eligible for an Aurealis Award.

The full list of winners is below. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

The Convenors’ Award for Excellence

• Winner: Letters to Tiptree, Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy, Black Lab Games (Slitherine Ltd.)
• Airlock, Enzo Tedeschi & Julian Harvey
• Attack of the Clockwork Army, Felicity Banks (Choice of Games)
• Companion Piece: Women Celebrate the Humans, Aliens and Tin Dogs of Doctor Who, L. M. Myles and Liz Barr (eds) (Mad Norwegian Press)
• The Cabinet of Oddities, Laura E. Goodin and Houston Dunleavy (producers) (Moonburn Productions)
• Different Masks: A Decade In The Dark, Matthew Tait (HodgePodge Press)
• The Deep – The Animated Series, Tom Taylor, James Brouwer (DHX Media, Technicolor, A Stark Production)
• Other Spacetimes: Interviews with Speculative Fiction Writers, Van Ikin (Wildside)

Here are the 2015 Aurealis Awards winners:

Best Fantasy Novel

• Winner: Day Boy, Trent Jamieson (Text Publishing)
• In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)
• Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman (HarperCollins)
• The Dagger’s Path, Glenda Larke (Hachette Australia)
• Tower Of Thorns, Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Skin, Ilka Tampke (Text Publishing)

Best Fantasy Novella

• Winner: “Defy the Grey Kings,” Jason Fischer (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Firkin Press)
• “Lodloc and The Bear,” Steve Cameron (Dimension6, coeur de lion)
• “Broken Glass,” Stephanie Gunn (Hear Me Roar, Ticonderoga Publications)
• “The Flowers that Bloom Where Blood Touches the Earth,” Stephanie Gunn (Bloodlines, Ticonderoga Publications)
• “Haunting Matilda,” Dmetri Kakmi (Cthulhu: Deep Down Under, Horror Australis)
• “Of Sorrow and Such,” Angela Slatter (Tor.com)

Best Fantasy Short Story

• Winner: “The Giant’s Lady,” Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2, Newcon Press)
• “The Jellyfish Collector,” Michelle Goldsmith (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13 Issue 6)
• “A Shot of Salt Water,” Lisa L Hannett (The Dark, TDM Press)
• “Almost Days,” DK Mok (Insert Title Here, FableCroft Publishing)
• “Blueblood,” Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar, Ticonderoga Publications)
• “Husk and Sheaf,” Suzanne Willis (SQ Mag 22, IFWG Publishing Australia)

Best Science Fiction Novel

• Winner: Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)
• Crossed, Evelyn Blackwell (self-published)
• Clade, James Bradley (Penguin)
• Their Fractured Light, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)
• Renegade, Joel Shepherd (Kindle Direct)
• Twinmaker: Fall, Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin)

Best Science Fiction Novella

• Winner: “By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers,” Garth Nix (Old Venus, Random House)
• “Blood and Ink,” Jack Bridges, Prizm Books
• “The Molenstraat Music Festival,” Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

Best Science Fiction Short Story

• Winner: “All the Wrong Places,” Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity, Solaris)
• “2B,” Joanne Anderton (Insert Title Here, Fablecroft)
• “The Marriage of the Corn King,” Claire McKenna (Cosmos)
• “Alchemy and Ice,” Charlotte Nash (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
• “Witnessing,” Kaaron Warren (The Canary Press Story Magazine #6)

Best Horror Novel

• No shortlist released.

Best Horror Novella

• Winner: “The Miseducation of Mara Lys,” Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Night Shift,” Dirk Flinthart (Striking Fire, FableCroft Publishing)
• “The Cherry Crow Children of Haverny Wood,” Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Wages of Honey,” Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Sleepless,” Jay Kristoff (Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, Penguin)
• “Ripper,” Angela Slatter (Horrorology, Jo Fletcher Books)

Best Horror Short Story

• Winner: “Bullets,” Joanne Anderton (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep, AHWA)
• “Consorting with Filth,” Lisa L Hannett (Blurring the Line, Cohesion Press)
• “Heirloom Pieces,” Lisa L Hannett (Apex Magazine, Apex Publications)
• “The Briskwater Mare,” Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Breaking Windows,” Tracie McBride (Aurealis #84)
• “Self, Contained,” Kirstyn McDermott (The Dark, TDM Press)

Best Young Adult Novel

• Winner: In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)
• Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman (HarperCollins)
• The Fire Sermon, Francesca Haig (HarperVoyager)
• Day Boy, Trent Jamieson (Text Publishing)
• Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)
• The Hush, Skye Melki-Wagner (Penguin Random House Australia)

Best Young Adult Short Story

• Winner: “The Miseducation of Mara Lys,” Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “In Sheep’s Clothing,” Kimberly Gaal (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
• “The Nexus Tree,” Kimberly Gaal (The Never Never Land, CSFG)
• “The Heart of the Labyrinth,” DK Mok (In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett, Sorin Suciu)
• “Blueblood,” Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar, Ticonderoga Publications)
• Welcome to Orphancorp, Marlee Jane Ward (Seizure)

Best Children’s Fiction

• Winner: A Single Stone, Meg McKinlay (Walker Books Australia)
• A Week Without Tuesday, Angelica Banks (Allen & Unwin)
• The Cut-Out, Jack Heath (Allen & Unwin)
• Bella and the Wandering House, Meg McKinlay (Fremantle Press)
• The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk, A.L. Tait (Hachette Australia)

Best Collection

• To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
• The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (Brimstone Press)
• Striking Fire, Dirk Flinthart (FableCroft Publishing)
• Cherry Crow Children, Deborah Kalin (Twelfth Planet Press)
• The Fading, Carole Nomarhas (self-published)
• The Finest Ass in the Universe, Anna Tambour (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Anthology

• Winner: Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar (ed.) (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Hear Me Roar, Liz Grzyb (ed.) (Ticonderoga Publications)
• The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds.) (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Meeting Infinity, Jonathan Strahan (ed.), (Solaris)
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 9, Jonathan Strahan (ed.) (Solaris)
• Focus 2014: Highlights of Australian Short Fiction, Tehani Wessely (ed.) (FableCroft Publishing)

Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated Work

• Winner: The Singing Bones, Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)
• The Undertaker Morton Stone Vol.1, Gary Chaloner, Ben Templesmith, and Ashley Wood (Gestalt)
• The Diemenois, Jamie Clennett (Hunter Publishers)
• Unmasked Vol.1: Going Straight is No Way to Die, Christian Read (Gestalt)
• Fly the Colour Fantastica, various authors (Veriko Operative)

Sara Douglass Book Series Award

• Winner: The Watergivers [The Last Stormlord (2009), Stormlord Rising (2010), Stormlord’s Exile (2011)], Glenda Larke (HarperVoyager)
• The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin [The King’s Bastard (2010), The Uncrowned King (2010), The Usurper (2010), The King’s Man (2012), King Breaker (2013)], Rowena Cory Daniells (Solaris Press)
• The Lumatere Chronicles [Finnikin of the Rock (2008), Froi of the Exiles (2011), Quintana of Charyn (2012)], Melina Marchetta (Penguin Random House)
• Sevenwaters [Daughter of the Forest (2000), Son of the Shadows (2001), Child of the Prophecy (2002), Heir to Sevenwaters (2009), Seer of Sevenwaters (2011), Flame of Sevenwaters (2013)], Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• The Laws of Magic [Blaze Of Glory (2007), Heart Of Gold (2007), Word of Honour (2008), Time Of Trial (2009), Moment Of Truth (2010), Hour Of Need (2011)], Michael Pryor (Random House Australia)
• Creature Court [Power and Majesty (2010), Shattered City (2011), Reign of Beasts (2012)], Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperVoyager)