On May 18th I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the 2013 Aurealis Awards. The AA’s annually recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, horror and fantasy writers and this year a number of writers I know were nominated. The best part of such events (aside from the free alcohol and goodie bags) is the chance to catch up with friends and to pick the industries brains about writing. With my brother, a journalist friend and a fellow writer in tow; ‘the posse’ and I enjoyed schmoozing our way from the pre pre drinks at Rydges, to the pre drinks inside The Independant Theatre, to the after party back at Rydges (oh and there were awards in there somewhere too).

Scott Westerfeld did a great job as Master of Ceremonies sporting a pretty nifty white tie while Margo Lanagan surprised no one much when she took out four Aurealis between two books (Sea Hearts and Cracklescape). I cheered like a maniac when the ever interesting Kirstyn McDermott won the Aurealis for Best Horror Novel and grinned like the chesshire cat for Laura Goodin who won the Kris Hembury Encouragement Award making a truly heartfelt speech. Cat Sparks took a number of wonderful photos as per usual and the twittersphere also did its best to document the evening. It was a night of celebration and of support for fellow writers. All of the nominees and winners are to be congratulated for their high quality work and contribution to the Australian speculative fiction scene.

Margo grins madly with her awards. I hold Margo’s Aurealis for good luck!

The talented Cat and I

Jason and I

Kirstyn and I (Photo copyright Cat Sparks)

Aurealis Winners:

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION (TOLD PRIMARILY THROUGH WORDS)
Brotherband: The Hunters by John Flanagan (Random House Australia)
BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION (TOLD PRIMARILY THROUGH PICTURES)
Little Elephants by Graeme Base (Viking Penguin)
BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY
The Wisdom of the Ants by Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
(Joint winners)
Dead, Actually by Kaz Delaney (Allen & Unwin)
Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK / GRAPHIC NOVEL
Blue by Pat Grant (Top Shelf Comix)
BEST COLLECTION
That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote by K. J. Bishop (self-published)
BEST ANTHOLOGY
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six
edited by Jonathan Strahan (Night Shade Books)
BEST HORROR SHORT STORY
Sky by Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls, Twelfth Planet Press)
BEST HORROR NOVEL
Perfections by Kirstyn McDermott (Xoum)
BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY
Bajazzle by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)
BEST FANTASY NOVEL
Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY
Significant Dust by Margo Lanagan (Cracklescape, Twelfth Planet Press)
BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (Harper Collins)
PETER MCNAMARA CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
Kate Eltham
KRIS HEMBURY ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
Laura Goodin

The 18th Aurealis Awards were run by SpecFaction and sponsored by the Cultural Copyright Fund. Next year the Aurealis move to Canberra and will be run by Conflux Inc. A big thankyou to the SpecFaction team who all worked hard to make sure everything ran smoothly and that everyone had a good night.