The Aurealis Awards were established in 1995 to "recognize the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers." According to the awards' descrpition, "it is the intention of the Aurealis Awards to complement the Ditmars and the Australian Children's Book Council Awards. Neither of these awards distinguishes between the different categories of speculative fiction. It is our hope that the Aurealis Awards finalists and winners will increase the profile of Australian science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and will provide an essential reading list for anyone with an interest in these genres."
The winners of the 2007 Aurealis Awards were announced at a ceremony at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane on Saturday 26 January 2008. The winners are:
Best Science Fiction Novel: The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski (published by Pan Macmillan)
Best Fantasy Novel: Heaven's Net is Wide: Tales of the Otori, The First Book by Lian Hearn (Hachette Livre)
Best Horror Novel: Blood of Dreams by Susan Parisi (Penguin Group Australia)
Best Young Adult Novel: Skyfall by Anthony Eaton (UQP)
Best Children's (8-12 years) Long Fiction: this award went to Kate Forsyth's "The Chain of Charms" series (volumes 2-6) published by Pan Macmillan: The Silver Horse, The Herb of Grace, The Cat's Eye Shell, The Lightning Bolt, and The Butterfly in Amber.
Best Science Fiction Short Story: "Hollywood Roadkill" by Cat Sparks (On Spec #69)
Best Fantasy Short Story: "Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz go to War Again" by Garth Nix (Jim Baen's Universe, April 2007)
Best Horror Short Story: "The Jeweller of Second-Hand Roe" by Anna Tambour (Subterranean #7)
Best Young Adult Short Story: "A Scar for Leida" by Deborah Biancotti (Fantastic Wonder Stories, Ticonderoga Publications)
Best Children's (8-12 years) Short Fiction (tie): "World of Monsters" by Marc McBride (Scholastic Australia) and "Kumiko and the Dragon" by Brioney Stewart (UQP)
Other awards given out at the ceremony include:
Peter McNamara Covenors' Award for Excellence: Rynemonn by Terry Dowling (Coeur de Lion Publications)
Golden Aurealis Award for Novel: The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski (Pan Macmillan)
Golden Aurealis Award for Short Story: "Hollywood Roadkill" by Cat Sparks (On Spec #69)
We listed all the nominees in this article. The list of winners on the Aurealis web site (this page) also includes links to the judges' reports, discussing the relative merits of the nominees and why they made their choices.
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