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.
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. 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 science fiction novel category, as well as novels that have received honourable mentions. Since 2003, honourable mentions have been awarded intermittently. Damien Broderick and Jay Kristoff have won the award three times, while five have won it twice – K. A. Bedford, Greg Egan, Amie Kaufman, Sean McMullen, and Sean Williams. Williams holds the record for most nominations with 14. Rory Barnes, James Bradley, Simon Brown, Sara Creasy, Nina D'Aleo, Joel Shepherd, Meagan Spooner, Graham Storrs, and Tess Williams share the record for most nominations without winning, each having been nominated twice.
Winners and nominees 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 blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list.
Winners and joint winners Nominees on the shortlist
YearAuthor(s)NovelPublisherRef * Distress Millennium Mirrorsun Rising Aphelion Publications Set Piece Virgin Books & Shane Dix Aphelion Publications * Metal Fatigue HarperCollins Privateer HarperCollins Map of Power Arrow Books * Avon Eos & Rory Barnes Zones Moonstone Winter HarperCollins Diaspora Millennium Pan Macmillan * Tor Books Singing the Dogstar Blues HarperCollins Pan Macmillan Virgin Books Voyager Books * Teranesia Gollancz & Kate Orman Doctor Who: Unnatural History BBC Books & Rory Barnes HarperCollins Picador Spare Parts Penguin Books * Tor Books Sceptre & Shane Dix Voyager Books Sea as Mirror Voyager Books & Shane Dix* Voyager Books Cosmonaut Penguin Books Eyes of the Calculor Tor Books Crossover Voyager Books * Transcension Tor Books Blue Silence Bantam Books & Shane Dix Echoes of Earth Voyager Books & Kate Orman* Fallen Gods Telos Publishing Wyrmhole Roc Books Terminator Gene Simon & Schuster Blue Box BBC Worldwide & Shane Dix Orphans of Earth Voyager Books * Less Than Human Warner Aspect Orbital Burn Edge Publishing Flamingo Nylon Angel Orbit Books & Shane Dix Heirs of Earth Voyager Books * Eclipse Edge Publishing Designated Targets Pan Macmillan Crash Deluxe Orbit Books & Shane Dix Ascent Voyager Books * K-Machines Avalon Publishing Group Hydrogen Steel Edge Publishing Underground Allen & Unwin & Shane Dix Descent Voyager Books * Pan Macmillan Dark Space Orbit Books Remote Control Pan Macmillan Saturn Returns Orbit Books * Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait Edge Publishing Chaos Space Orbit Books Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch Fremantle Press HarperVoyager Earth Ascendant Orbit Books * Wonders of a Godless World Allen & Unwin Orbit Books * Transformation Space Orbit Books Song of Scarabaeus EOS Books Mirror Space Orbit Books * HarperVoyager Machine Man Scribe Publications Children of Scarabaeus HarperVoyager Fremantle Press Black Glass Scribe Publications * HarperCollins Suited Angry Robot Books Momentum And All the Stars Andrea K. Hosth Walker Books Allen & Unwin * Lexicon Hachette Trucksong Twelfth Planet Press Transit Lounge True Path Momentum Rupetta Tartarus Press * Peacemaker Angry Robot Aurora: Meridian Momentum LynC Nil By Mouth Satalyte Publishing Momentum & Meagan Spooner Their Shattered World Allen & Unwin Foresight Momentum and Jay Kristoff* Illuminae Allen & Unwin Crossed (self-published) Clade Penguin and Meagan Spooner Their Fractured Light Allen & Unwin Renegade Kindle Direct Twinmaker: Fall Allen & Unwin and Jay Kristoff* Gemima: The Illuminae Files 2 Allen & Unwin Watershed Penguin Random House Confluence Ace Books Squid's Grief (self-published) Stiletto HarperCollins Publishers Threader Harlequin Australia * From the Wreck Transit Lounge Closing Down Hachette Australia Terra Nullius Hachette Australia Year of the Orphan Penguin Random House Australia Text Publishing Lotus Blue Skyhorse * Lifel1k3 Allen & Unwin Scales of Empire HarperCollins Publishers & Jay Kristoff Obsidio Allen & Unwin Ventura Press Dyschronia Picador Australia Penguin Random House Australia * & Jay Kristoff* Aurora Rising Allen & Unwin The Subjects Text Publishing The Trespassers University of Queensland Press The Year of the Fruit Cake IFWG The Glad Shout Affirm Daughter of Bad Times Allen & Unwin*The Animals in That CountryScribe*Repo VirtualTor.com PublishingGhost SpeciesPenguin/Hamish Hamilton and Jay KristoffAurora BurningAllen & UnwinFaunaAllen & UnwinThe Mother FaultSimon & Schuster*Waking RomeoAllen & UnwinThe 22 Murders of Madison MayHachette AustraliaStealing TimeStory Addict PublishingPapa Lucy & The BonemanOutland Entertainment and Jay KristoffAurora’s EndAllen & UnwinDeepwater KingHarperCollins Publishers*36 StreetsTitanHoveringHachetteThe StrangerAllen & UnwinHere Goes NothingHamish HamiltonBootstrapText2023Tansy Rayner Roberts*Time of the CatSelf-publishedKylie ChanMinds of Sand and LightHarperCollins PublishersRoanna McClellandWakefield PressAliens: BishopTitanMarko NewmanDronikusAndAlso BooksKeith StevensonTraitor's Runcoeur de leon publishing2024Temporal BoomSelf-publishedTransportedNew Found BooksInheritancePanteraThe TempSelf-PublishedJuiceHamish HamiltonJordan ProsserBig TimeUQP2025WastelandsArianhrod PressLetters to Our Robot SonUltimoArborescenceHachetteVolatile MemoryTorDark SandsSelf-publishedAll We HaveMillswood
Honourable mentions 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.
YearAuthorNovelPublisherRef 2003 Tor Books 2007 Transit Lounge
See also Ditmar Award, an Australian science fiction award established in 1969
References
External links Aurealis Awards official site