Tag: Ditmars

Awards and things!

~ Tehani

So, I think I kind of got busy the past few months and completely forgot that the blog was a thing! News is regularly shared on Facebook and Twitter (RIP…) but I have definitely neglected this space.

What’s been happening? Well, first of all The Art of Being Human Kickstarter funded, reaching 275% of the initial target! Waaaay back in August 2022. Good grief, that’s nearly a YEAR ago! We very quickly progressed to fulfilment, with all ebook and physical rewards despatched by the end of October 2022.

We were stoked to see some love at Awards time, with Helen Viviene Fletcher’s story being shortlisted for New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards, and we saw FIVE nominations for the Aurealis Awards – Best Anthology, Best Fantasy Novella and Best Horror Novella for “Among the Faded Woods” by Faith Mudge, Best Fantasy Novella for “The Ocean, the Lighthouse Keeper, and the Sunset” by Lee Cope, and with “The Icecutter’s Daughter” by Aiki Flinthart in Best Fantasy Short Story. It was a bittersweet pleasure when Aiki won the gong on the night, but we’re so proud to have been able to publish one of her last works.

That brings us up to the now, and the final round of Awards for the year are open with the Ditmars, to be presented at Conflux at the end of September, and which recognise excellence in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by Australians. These ones are peer-nominated and voted, so if you have read and loved THE ART OF BEING HUMAN and are an eligbile person who nominates (anyone “active in fandom” can nominate, though voting is restricted to members of the Natcon past and present), we would be delighted and grateful to see our contributors recognised.

Eligible works are:

BEST NOVELLA/NOVELETTE
“The ocean, the lighthouse keeper and the sunset” by Lee Cope
“Among the faded woods” by Faith Mudge

BEST SHORT STORY
“Seeding trouble” by Kirstyn McDermott
“Greatheart” by Juliet Marillier
“The icecutter’s daughter” by Aiki Flinthart
“All dressed up for the death trade” by Tansy Rayner Roberts
“Neuro” by Ephiny Gale
“She is not in heaven” by Rivqa Rafael
“Birdsong” by Joanne Anderton
“Exposure” by Jason Nahrung
“The poet’s tale” by Suzanne J Willis
“Everything so slow and quiet” by Kaaron Warren

BEST COLLECTED WORK
The Art of Being Human, edited by Tehani Croft & Stephanie Lai

BEST ARTWORK
Cover for The Art of Being Human – Amanda Rainey

Of course, TAOBH was just one of hundreds of amazing Aussie publications in 2022 and you should nominate anything you loved! If you have trouble remembering what came out last year, check out the entry list for the 2022 Aurealis Awards as a guide.

Nominations close on Tuesday, 14th of August, 2023 and can be made

  1. online, via this form: https://ditmars.sf.org.au/nominations/nominations.html
  2. via email to nominations@ditmars.sf.org.au

Congratulations to all the Awards winners!

~ Tehani ~ Leave a comment

We were delighted to see that Cranky Ladies of History took home the Ditmar Award for Best Collected Work last night at Contact 2016, and that Kathleen Jennings also got the gong for her beautiful artwork for the book! There was strong competition in every category, so this is a real pleasure.

We didn’t have as much success in the Aurealis Awards on Friday night, but wanted to congratulate both the winners and all the finalists in every category – it was a fabulous event.

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Huge congratulations to all the Aurealis and Ditmar Awards finalists!

~ Tehani ~ Leave a comment

AA logoWe’re ecstatic to see several FableCroft mentions on the 2015 Aurealis Awards and 2016 Ditmar Awards (covering the same year of work…) shortlists.

In the Aurealis Awards, special mention to Dirk Flinthart, finalist for Best Collection for Striking Fire AND for Best Horror Novella with “Night Shift” from the collection,  Joanne Anderton, shortlisted for Best Science Fiction Short Story with “2B”, and DK Mok, shortlisted for Best Fantasy Short Story with “Almost Days” (both stories being from Insert Title Here). It’s also super exciting to see Focus 2014: highlights of Australian short fiction on the Best Anthology list.

The complete shortlists are available on the Aurealis Awards website, and showcase some of the absolute best of Australian writing produced in 2015 – such an honour to be part of it!

For the Ditmars, it’s fantastic to see Joanne Anderton double up with “2B” on the Best Short Story ballot, alongside Deborah Biancotti’s creepy Cranky Ladies of History story “Look How Cold My Hands Are”. The Cranky Ladies anthology also made the Best Collected Work ballot, and Kathleen Jennings’ gorgeous cover and internals for the book are shortlisted for Best Artwork. Editor Tehani Wessely is also on the ballot for the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review for both the team efforts of “Squeeing Over Supergirl” (with David McDonald) and “Reviewing New Who” (with David McDonald and Tansy Rayner Roberts). If you were a member of Swancon last year, or of Contact 2016 this year, you are eligible to vote, so please do (for ANY of the fabulous work shortlisted!).

Congratulations to everyone appearing on these shortlists – it really shows the strength of Australian speculative fiction.

2015 Awards Eligible Work from FableCroft

~ Tehani ~ Leave a comment

With the Ditmars now open for entry, I was reminded that it’s useful to post an eligible work post here for reference. If you are eligible to nominate work for the Ditmars, Hugos, Bram Stoker and all of those things, I encourage you to do so. The more people who nominate work they thought was award-worthy, the more diverse and interesting the final ballots are. If you loved something from FableCroft, we’d love you to nominate it, but please, just nominate anything you really enjoyed and be part of the process!

There is a great (if not entirely complete) list of work that is eligible for the Ditmars here – it’s well worth taking a look to remind yourself of other excellent Australian work produced in 2015.

FABLECROFT 2015 WORK

ARTWORK

Kathleen Jennings is eligible for any professional artist award for her cover of Cranky Ladies of History and its internal illustrations.

Amanda Rainey designed the covers for Insert Title Here and Striking Fire.

COLLECTIONS

Striking Fire by Dirk Flinthart

ANTHOLOGIES

Insert Title Here edited by Tehani Wessely

Focus 2014: highlights of Australian short fiction edited by Tehani Wessely

Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

STORIES (with word count and author nationality)

Author Story Title Publication Word Count Nationality
Joyce Chng Charmed Life Cranky Ladies of History 2161 Singapore
Liz Barr Queenside Cranky Ladies of History 2408 Australia
Dirk Flinthart No Hard Feelings Striking Fire 2499 Australia
Tamlyn Dreaver Reflections Insert Title Here 2860 Australia
Sara Larner Living in the Light Insert Title Here 3187 US
Tom Dullemond The Final Voyage of Saint Brendan Insert Title Here 3300 Australia
Sandra McDonald Cora Crane and The Trouble with Me Cranky Ladies of History 3394 US
LM Myles Little Battles Cranky Ladies of History 3487 UK
Caitlene Cooke Circa Insert Title Here 3500 Australia
David McDonald Her face like lightning Insert Title Here 3540 Australia
Stephanie Lai The dragon, the terror, the sea Cranky Ladies of History 3653 Australia
Kaaron Warren Another week in the future Cranky Ladies of History 3662 Australia
Alexis A. Hunter Always Another Point Insert Title Here 3680 US
Joanne Anderton 2B Insert Title Here 3950 Australia
Dirk Flinthart Tough Striking Fire 4060 Australia
Dan Simpson The Winter Stream Insert Title Here 4358 Australia
Laura Lam The Lioness Cranky Ladies of History 4609 UK
Marissa Lingen & Alec Austin Empty Monuments Insert Title Here 4950 US
Dirk Flinthart Faith Striking Fire 4989 Australia
Dirk Flinthart The First Martian Striking Fire 5000 Australia
Amanda Pillar Neter Nefer Cranky Ladies of History 5335 Australia
Barbara Robson Theodora Cranky Ladies of History 5426 Australia
Juliet Marillier Hallowed Ground Cranky Ladies of History 5562 Australia
Nisi Shawl A Beautiful Stream Cranky Ladies of History 5658 US
Dirk Flinthart A Friend in the Trade Striking Fire 5700 Australia
Darren Goossens One Who Knows Insert Title Here 5800 Australia
Deborah Biancotti Look How Cold My Hands Are Cranky Ladies of History 5855 Australia
DK Mok Almost Days Insert Title Here 5885 Australia
Thoraiya Dyer The Falcon Races Insert Title Here 5963 Australia
Thoraiya Dyer Vintana Cranky Ladies of History 5992 Australia
Dirk Flinthart Collateral Damage Insert Title Here 6000 Australia
Garth Nix The Company of Women Cranky Ladies of History 6021 Australia
Marianne de Pierres Salvatrix Insert Title Here 6215 Australia
Havva Murat The Pasha, the girl and the dagger Cranky Ladies of History 6242 Australia
Dirk Flinthart Granuaile Cranky Ladies of History 6287 Australia
Alan Baxter Beyond the Borders of All He Had Been Taught Insert Title Here 6359 Australia
Foz Meadows Bright Moon Cranky Ladies of History 6501 Australia
Robert Hood Footprints in Venom Insert Title Here 7040 Australia
Sylvia Kelso Due care and attention Cranky Ladies of History 7044 Australia
Dan Rabarts Oil and bone Insert Title Here 7900 New Zealand
Kirstyn McDermott Mary, Mary Cranky Ladies of History 7925 Australia
Lisa Hannett For So Great a Misdeed Cranky Ladies of History 8008 Australia
Kathleen Jennings The Last Case of Detective Charlemagne Insert Title Here 8200 Australia
Matthew Morrison Sins of meals past Insert Title Here 8800 Australia
Ian Creasey Ministry of Karma Insert Title Here 10100 UK
Faith Mudge Glorious Cranky Ladies of History 10312 Australia
Stephanie Burgis Samphire The art of deception Insert Title Here 12400 UK
Dirk Flinthart Night Shift Striking Fire 31970 Australia

In addition, there are a couple of works Tehani has been involved in that are eligible for non-fiction categories.

Related Work 

Letter to Tiptree edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Alex Pierce (Twelfth Planet Press)

Companion Piece: Women Celebrate the Humans, Aliens and Tin Dogs of Doctor Who edited by LM Myles and Liz Barr (Mad Norwegian Press)

“Collaboration is the Human Superpower” by Tehani Wessely,  in Magpies vol. 30, no. 4

“Mouth on Legs” by Tehani Wessely, in Companion Piece, Mad Norwegian Press

Reviewing New Who series by David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

Squeeing over Supergirl series by David McDonald and Tehani Wessely

Marisol Dunham and Tehani Wessely, for Revisiting Pern: the great McCaffrey Reread series

Congratulations Australian Awards Winners!

~ Tehani ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a really busy week in Australian speculative fiction, with THREE sets of Awards presented over the past week. We were delighted to be shortlisted for several of them, and even more delighted to take home gongs for some of them! Well done to all the finalists and congratulations to all the winners!

Tin Duck Awards (Western Australia)

Tehani and Katharine were part of a 15-strong interviewing team (including several West Aussies) for the 2014 Snapshot, which won the Tin Duck for Best Fan Written Work.

Ditmar Awards

Cat Sparks with her Ditmar
Cat Sparks with her Ditmar

We were up for quite a few and were stoked to see Kathleen Jennings win Best Artwork for her cover of Phantazein and Cat Sparks pick up Best Short Story for “The Seventh Relic” from the book as well!

Aurealis Awards

Tehani at the Aurealis Awards – photo by Cat Sparks
Tehani at the Aurealis Awards – photo by Cat Sparks

Phantazein was again represented among the finalists, with “The Ghost of Hephaestus” by Charlotte Nash shortlisted in Best Fantasy Short Story and the book shortlisted in Best Anthology. We didn’t succeed in taking home a pretty trophy this year, but we’re always chuffed to be on the Aurealis Awards list!

It’s always a pleasure to attend the Awards ceremonies and get to see the looks of pure disbelief on some recipients’ faces, and the excitement and palpable joy that fills the room as Awards are announced. Following along on social media is also lots of fun, but I’m really glad I got to be at both ceremonies this year, and enjoy the vibe in person. If you weren’t so lucky, here’s a Storify of the Tin Ducks/Ditmars, and another of the Aurealis Awards. On top of that, Cat Sparks has done an amazing job capturing the evenings here and here (the Swancon set).

If you are looking for a good place to start reading Australian writers, the shortlists are certainly an excellent place to begin (the full Aurealis Awards shortlist and winners is here). Again, congratulations to everyone – look forward to another great year of Australian speculative fiction!

 

Ditmar shortlists are out!

~ Tehani ~ Leave a comment

And we’re so excited to be on them! It’s a fantastic list again this year, and I’m very proud to have been involved with so many great projects that have been recognised. Congratulations to all the shortlistees – a privilege to have FableCroft noted alongside you.

Screen Shot 2014-09-13 at 9.55.45 amIf you would like to read our shortlisted stories as a sample of Phantazein, we’ve made it easy for you! Download a free chapbook of the three shortlisted pieces right here! We’ve also discounted the full anthology at Smashwords (epub/mobi/PDF etc) – use the coupon XY47E to buy the whole book for just $3.99 – valid until April 1, 2015.

Best Novel

  • The Lascar’s Dagger, Glenda Larke (Hachette)
  • Bound (Alex Caine 1), Alan Baxter (Voyager)
  • Clariel, Garth Nix (HarperCollins)
  • Thief’s Magic (Millennium’s Rule 1), Trudi Canavan (Hachette Australia)
  • The Godless (Children 1), Ben Peek (Tor UK)

Best Novella or Novelette

  • “The Ghost of Hephaestus”, Charlotte Nash, in Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • “The Legend Trap”, Sean Williams, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “The Darkness in Clara”, Alan Baxter, in SQ Mag 14 (IFWG Publishing Australia)
  • “St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”, Angela Slatter, in Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 9, Issue 3 (Review of Australian Fiction)
  • “The Female Factory”, Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter, in The Female Factory (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “Escapement”, Stephanie Gunn, in Kisses by Clockwork (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Short Story

  • “Bahamut”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • “Vanilla”, Dirk Flinthart, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “Cookie Cutter Superhero”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “The Seventh Relic”, Cat Sparks, in Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • “Signature”, Faith Mudge, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Collected Work

  • Kaleidoscope, Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2013, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Phantazein, Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)

Best Artwork

  • Illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, in Black-Winged Angels (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Cover art, Kathleen Jennings, of Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • Illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, in The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (Tartarus Press)

Best Fan Writer

  • Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work
  • Tsana Dolichva, for body of work
  • Bruce Gillespie, for body of work
  • Katharine Stubbs, for body of work
  • Alexandra Pierce for body of work
  • Grant Watson, for body of work
  • Sean Wright, for body of work

Best Fan Artist

  • Nalini Haynes, for body of work, including “Interstellar Park Ranger Bond, Jaime Bond”, “Gabba and Slave Lay-off: Star Wars explains Australian politics”, “The Driver”, and “Unmasked” in Dark Matter Zine
  • Kathleen Jennings, for body of work, including Fakecon art and Illustration Friday series
  • Nick Stathopoulos, for movie poster of It Grows!

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

  • Snapshot 2014, Tsana Dolichva, Nick Evans, Stephanie Gunn, Kathryn Linge, Elanor Matton-Johnson, David McDonald, Helen Merrick, Jason Nahrung, Ben Payne, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Helen Stubbs, Katharine Stubbs, Tehani Wessely, and Sean Wright
  • It Grows!, Nick Stathopoulos
  • Galactic Suburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
  • The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
  • Galactic Chat, Sean Wright, Helen Stubbs, David McDonald, Alexandra Pierce, Sarah Parker, and Mark Webb

Best New Talent

  • Helen Stubbs
  • Shauna O’Meara
  • Michelle Goldsmith

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

  • Reviews in The Angriest, Grant Watson
  • The Eddings Reread series, Tehani Wessely, Jo Anderton, and Alexandra Pierce, in A Conversational Life
  • Reviews in Adventures of a Bookonaut, Sean Wright
  • “Does Sex Make Science Fiction Soft?”, in Uncanny Magazine 1, Tansy Rayner Robert
  • Reviews in FictionMachine, Grant Watson
  • The Reviewing New Who series, David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Tehani Wessely

More Ditmar shortlist special offers!

~ Tehani

InkBlackMagicsmI think we’re having way too much fun with this. Not only have we offered a bunch of free fiction to celebrate our Ditmar shortlistings, but now we’re discounting books!

For the month of May, the ebooks of Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts and The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton are HALF PRICE – that’s less than three dollars each! This special is currently live on Smashwords and Kobo, and Amazon will no doubt follow real soon.

Enjoy!

Ditmar shortlistings!

~ Tehani

The annual Ditmar Awards shortlists were announced a few days ago, and we’re absolutely over the moon to have several works feature in various categories, alongside lots of other excellent Australian stuff! To celebrate, we’re offering up some free fiction, including our two shortlisted short stories, samples of Faith Mudge’s wonderful work, and an extract from Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Ink Black Magic. We’ve also linked to Kathleen Jennings’ Illustration Friday posts, as one of her pieces was on the cover of Focus 2012 (and we think she’s awesome…). Click on the highlighted links below to download the samples!

InkBlackMagicsmBest Novel

  • Ink Black Magic, Tansy Rayner Roberts (FableCroft Publishing)
  • Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead, Robert Hood (Wildside Press)
  • The Beckoning, Paul Collins (Damnation Books)
  • Trucksong, Andrew Macrae (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • The Only Game in the Galaxy (The Maximus Black Files 3), Paul Collins (Ford Street Publishing)

Best Novella or Novelette

  • “Prickle Moon”, Juliet Marillier, in Prickle Moon (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “The Year of Ancient Ghosts”, Kim Wilkins, in The Year of Ancient Ghosts (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “By Bone-Light”, Juliet Marillier, in Prickle Moon (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “The Home for Broken Dolls”, Kirstyn McDermott, in Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “What Amanda Wants”, Kirstyn McDermott, in Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)

OneSmallStepCoverdraftBest Short Story

  • “Mah-Song“, Joanne Anderton, in The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories (FableCroft Publishing)
  • “Air, Water and the Grove”, Kaaron Warren, in The Lowest Heaven (Jurassic London)
  • “Seven Days in Paris”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Asymmetry (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “Scarp”, Cat Sparks, in The Bride Price (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • “Not the Worst of Sins”, Alan Baxter, in Beneath Ceaseless Skies 133 (Firkin Press)
  • “Cold White Daughter”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in One Small Step (FableCroft Publishing)

BoneChimeCoverDraftBest Collected Work

  • The Back of the Back of Beyond, Edwina Harvey, edited by Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
  • Asymmetry, Thoraiya Dyer, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • Caution: Contains Small Parts, Kirstyn McDermott, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, Joanne Anderton, edited by Tehani Wesseley (FableCroft Publishing)
  • The Bride Price, Cat Sparks, edited by Russell B. Farr (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Artwork

  • Cover art, Eleanor Clarke, for The Back of the Back of Beyond by Edwina Harvey (Peggy Bright Books)
  • Illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, for Eclipse Online (Nightshade Books)
  • Cover art, Shauna O’Meara, for Next edited by Simon Petrie and Rob Porteous (CSFG Publishing)
  • Cover art, Cat Sparks, for The Bride Price by Cat Sparks (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Rules of Summer, Shaun Tan (Hachette Australia)
  • Cover art, Pia Ravenari, for Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier (Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Fan Writer

  • Tsana Dolichva, for body of work, including reviews and interviews in Tsana’s Reads and Reviews
  • Sean Wright, for body of work, including reviews in Adventures of a Bookonaut
  • Grant Watson, for body of work, including reviews in The Angriest
  • Foz Meadows, for body of work, including reviews in Shattersnipe: Malcontent & Rainbows
  • Alexandra Pierce, for body of work, including reviews in Randomly Yours, Alex
  • Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work, including essays and reviews at http://www.tansyrr.com

Best Fan Artist

  • Nalini Haynes, for body of work, including “Defender of the Faith”, “The Suck Fairy”, “Doctor Who vampire” and “The Last Cyberman” in Dark Matter
  • Kathleen Jennings, for body of work, including “Illustration Friday”
  • Dick Jenssen, for body of work, including cover art for Interstellar Ramjet Scoop and SF Commentary

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

  • Dark Matter Zine, Nalini Haynes
  • SF Commentary, Bruce Gillespie
  • The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
  • Galactic Chat Podcast, Sean Wright, Alex Pierce, Helen Stubbs, David McDonald, and Mark Webb
  • The Coode Street Podcast, Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan
  • Galactic Suburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Best New Talent

  • Michelle Goldsmith
  • Zena Shapter
  • Faith Mudge
  • Jo Spurrier
  • Stacey Larner

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

  • Reviews in Randomly Yours, Alex, Alexandra Pierce
  • “Things Invisible: Human and Ab-Human in Two of Hodgson’s Carnacki stories”, Leigh Blackmore, in Sargasso: The Journal of William Hope Hodgson Studies #1 edited by Sam Gafford (Ulthar Press)
  • Galactic Suburbia Episode 87: Saga Spoilerific Book Club, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
  • The Reviewing New Who series, David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Tehani Wessely
  • “A Puppet’s Parody of Joy: Dolls, Puppets and Mannikins as Diabolical Other”, Leigh Blackmore, in Ramsey Campbell: Critical Essays on the Master of Modern Horror edited by Gary William Crawford (Scarecrow Press)
  • “That was then, this is now: how my perceptions have changed”, George Ivanoff, in Doctor Who and Race edited by Lindy Orthia (Intellect Books)

Voting is now open for the Awards, for anyone who is a member of the 2013 Natcon (Conflux) or this year’s Natcon (Continuum X). Thank you so much to everyone who nominated our work!

Of awards and fun!

~ Tehani

It seems that I’ve managed to neglect blogging any of the recent awards announcements. This must be remedied!

1. At Swancon (wow, that was a while ago now!) the Ditmar (national) and Tin Duck (Western Australian) speculative fiction awards were announced. Congratulations to everyone who was on the shortlists and especially to the winners of each category!

FableCroft did have a few shortlistings, and although the competition was tough and we didn’t take home any Ditmars for FableCroft, it was great to be on the ballot in the following categories:

Best Collected Work – Worlds Next Door

Best Professional Artwork – cover of Australis Imaginarium by Shaun Tan

Best Fan Writer – Tehani Wessely

Best Achievement – Snapshot 2010 (which DID win! Well done to the Snapshot team, spearheaded by Kathryn Linge).

Full ballot and winners can be found here. (Photo of the Snapshot team by Sandra/Wing Chung)

The Tin Ducks were also very good to us, with the following works on the ballot:

Best WA Professional Short Written Work – “Little Arkham” by Martin Livings (from Worlds Next Door)

Best WA Professional Production – Australis Imaginarium and Worlds Next Door

Best WA Fan Written Work – Tehani Wessely (and I was so delighted – and shocked! – to win this category and take home one of the beautiful trophies).

Best WA Fan Production – Snapshop 2010

Full ballot and worthy winners found here.

That was April! In May we saw the announcement of the Aurealis Awards in Sydney. I was a judge again in 2010 and decided to do a flying visit to Sydney for the awards. I’m really glad I did and it was a wonderful night. Congratulations not only to the nominees and winners but also to SpecFaction NSW, who took on a big job and did it well!

FableCroft had two stories in the Young Adult short story shortlist, “Inksucker” by Aidan Doyle and “Nine Times” by Kaia Landelius and Tansy Rayner Roberts (from Worlds Next Door). Sadly they missed out on the gong but when the winner is Margo Lanagan, it’s a good way to lose! 🙂

Full Aurealis shortlists and judges reports here. (Photo of the Fantasy Short Story judges, Tehani, Simon Petrie and Natalie Maddalena, by Cat Sparks)

There is one more Aussie awards batch yet to come, with the Chronos Awards (the Victorian equivalent of the Tin Ducks) in Melbourne early in June. Shall look forward to more great Australian works being celebrated there!