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
YearAuthorShort storyPublisher or publicationRef
*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 RobynAsimov'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
YearAuthorShort storyPublisher or publicationRef
2003Vision Writers Group
2003Vision Writers Group
2003Vision Writers Group
2003Vision Writers Group
2005*Borderlands
2007Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine