Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story
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 short story category, as well as short stories that have received honourable mentions or have been highly commended. Since 2003, honourable mentions and high commendations have been awarded intermittently. Brendan Duffy and Sean Williams are the only people to have won the award multiple times, with two wins each. Stephen Dedman holds the record for most nominations and that for most nominations without winning, having been a losing finalist six times.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the story'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. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.Winners and joint winners
Nominees on the shortlist
| Year | Author | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
| * | Asimov's | |||
| "" | Asimov's | |||
| "" | Interzone | |||
| "" | Legend | |||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| * | "" | MirrorDanse | ||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| "" | Interzone | |||
| "" | Aurealis | |||
| & Jack Dann* | "" | DAW | ||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| "" | Interzone | |||
| Roc | ||||
| * | "" | Voyager | ||
| "" | Asimov's | |||
| "" | Asimov's | |||
| "" | Voyager | |||
| "" | Aurealis | |||
| * | "" | Asimov's | ||
| "" | Interzone | |||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| "" | Interzone | |||
| "" | F&SF | |||
| * | "" | Eidolon | ||
| "" | Orb | |||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| "" | Allen & Unwin | |||
| "" | Eidolon | |||
| * | Aurealis | |||
| CSFG Publishing | ||||
| F&SF | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| F&SF | ||||
| * | F&SF | |||
| Redsine | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| Agog! | ||||
| Redsine | ||||
| * | Agog! | |||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| Orb | ||||
| Agog! | ||||
| CSFG Publishing | ||||
| * | Agog! | |||
| Oceans of the Mind | ||||
| Prime Books | ||||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| Orb | ||||
| * | Aurealis | |||
| Aurealis | ||||
| Fables and Reflections | ||||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| Aurealis | ||||
| * | Bulletin Summer Reading Edition | |||
| Prime Books | ||||
| Agog! | ||||
| Science Fiction Chronicle | ||||
| * | On Spec | |||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| Elise Bunter | ||||
| Agog! | ||||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| * | HarperVoyager | |||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| Cosmos | ||||
| HarperVoyager | ||||
| Twelfth Planet Press | ||||
| * | Apex Magazine | |||
| Apex Magazine | ||||
| Abyss & Apex | ||||
| Cosmos | ||||
| & Lezli Robyn | Asimov's | |||
| * | Subterranean Online | |||
| Twelfth Planet Press | ||||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| Asimov's | ||||
| Twelfth Planet Press | ||||
| * | Coeur de Lion Publishing | |||
| Kayelle Press | ||||
| Coeur de Lion Publishing | ||||
| Coeur de Lion Publishing | ||||
| Midnight Echo | ||||
| * | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| "Visitors" | Review of Australian Fiction | |||
| "Beyond Winter's Shadow" | Ticonderoga Publications | |||
| "" | Ticonderoga Publications | |||
| "" | PS Publishing | |||
| * | "Air, Water, and the Grove" | Pandemonimum Press | ||
| Daily Science Fiction | ||||
| "Mah Song" | FableCroft Publishing | |||
| "Seven Days in Paris" | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| "Version 4.3.0.1" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 57 | |||
| * | "Wine, Women, and Stars" | Analog | ||
| Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 11, Issue 6 | ||||
| "" | On Spec | |||
| "Dellinger" | Peggy Bright Books | |||
| "Happy Go Lucky" | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| * | "All the Wrong Places" | Solaris | ||
| "2B" | FableCroft Publishing | |||
| "" | Cosmos | |||
| "Alchemy and Ice" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 61 | |||
| "Witnessing" | The Canary Press Story Magazine 6 | |||
| * | "Of Sight, of Mind, of Heart" | Clarkesworld 122 | ||
| "Trainspotting in Winesburg" | PS Publishing | |||
| "" | Asimov's Science Fiction, Vol. 40 No. 1 | |||
| "" | FableCroft Publishing | |||
| "68 Days" | Broken Eye Books | |||
| "" | Aurealis 94 | |||
| * | "Conversations with an Armoury" | Solaris | ||
| "" | Andromeda Spaceways Magazine 66 | |||
| "" | Mirren Hogan | |||
| "Cards and Steel Hearts" | Falstaff Books | |||
| "One Small Step" | HarperCollins Publishers | |||
| "Hurk + Dav" | Breach Issue #01 | |||
| * | "" | Aurealis 108 | ||
| " | Escape Pod 612 | |||
| "" | Four Ink Press | |||
| & Edwina Harvey | "On the Consequences of Clinically-Inhibited Maturation in the Common Sydney Octopus" | CSFG Publishing | ||
| "" | CSFG Publishing | |||
| "Sky Tears" | Alien Dimensions 17 | |||
| "Wreck Diving" | Aurealis 123 | |||
| "Riding the Snails" | Clan Destine Press | |||
| "Canute" | Cohesion Press | |||
| "What We Named the Needle" | Analog Science Fiction and Fact Jul/Aug 2019 | |||
| "Micro" | Kill Your Darlings Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Showcase 2019 |
Honourable mentions and high commendations
The honourable mentions and high commendations are announced alongside the list of finalists for their respected year of eligibility. 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 grey background have been noted as highly commended; those with a white background have received honourable mentions. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.Highly commended
Honourable mentions
| Year | Author | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
| 2003 | Vision Writers Group | |||
| 2003 | Vision Writers Group | |||
| 2003 | Vision Writers Group | |||
| 2003 | Vision Writers Group | |||
| 2005 | * | Borderlands | ||
| 2007 | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine |