Ditmar Award


The Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom. The award is similar to the Hugo Award but on a national rather than international scale.
They are named for Martin James Ditmar "Dick" Jenssen, an Australian fan and artist, who financially supported the awards at their inception.
The current rules for the award were developed in 2000 and 2001 as a result of controversy resulting from the withdrawal of the works of several prominent writers from eligibility, and the rules are subject to revision by the "Business Meeting" of the Natcon.

Process

Award-eligible works and persons are first nominated by "natural persons active in fandom, or from full or supporting members of the national convention of the year of the award". Nominations are compiled into a ballot which is distributed to members of the convention, and the previous year's convention, for voting, which may continue into the period of the convention at the discretion of the committee.
In 2000 the awards were cancelled and re-run, resulting in.
The second set of nominations for 2000 included Greg Egan's Teranesia as a finalist for the Ditmar Award for Best Novel despite Egan having attempted to decline nomination of his work. It was determined that an author could refuse an award, but not a nomination. Accordingly, Egan's novel remained on the ballot, and was permitted to win the award, which he then declined. Egan had earlier attempted to withdraw all his works "into the indefinite future" from consideration for the Ditmar Awards in order to give himself greater freedom to state his views on the awards process.
Finalists are given an A4 certificate honouring their achievement and winners are presented with a standard trophy.
In 1991 trophies were presented twice, the original trophies being in the form of stuffed cane toads.

Categories

Categories were traditionally the prerogative of the convention committee and regularly included "international" categories. This situation was changed by the formalisation of the categories as part of the rules.

Current awards

The current rules permit merger of the Best Novella or Novelette and Best Short Story categories into a single category for Best Short Fiction.

History of Categories

When the Awards were first presented in 1969, there were four categories:
There continued to be at least one "International" category and multiple "Australian" categories until 1986, except that in 1974 there were no Ditmar Awards, and that in 1982 "Australasian" replaced "Australian" in category names.
International Categories
A category for Best International Fiction survived until 1986, and there was also an award in that category in 1989. An award for Best Contemporary Author that did not require nominees to be Australian was presented in 1969. An award for Best International Publication was presented in 1970. The William Atheling Jr Award when it was introduced in 1976, did not require nominees to be Australian, whereas it now does.
Australian Fiction
Apart from there being an award for Best Professional Magazine in 1970, there was a single category for Best Australian Fiction until 1977, in which year there was also a special award for a specific short story. For most years from 1978 to 1998, there were two categories for Australian fiction, one for Best Australian Short Fiction and one either for Best Australian Long Fiction or, more specifically, for Best Australian Novel. From 1999 to 2003, there were awards in three categories, that for Best Long Fiction having been split into one for Novels and one for Collected Works. From 2004, the Best Short Fiction category has been split into one for Best Novella or Novelette and one for Best Short Story.
Australian Fan Publications
There has continued to be an award category in which fanzines are eligible, for many years termed Best Australian Fanzine. From 2002 to 2004 and 2006 to 2008, there were two categories for fan publications, one for fanzines and one not. In 1993, the category in which fanzines were eligible was one for Best Periodical; in 1996, it was a category for Best Publication/Fanzine/Periodical; in 2001, it was a category for Best Australian Fan Production. Nowadays, there is a category for Best Australian Fan Publication in any Medium.
William Atheling Jr Award
The William Atheling Jr Award, for reviews or criticism, has been presented in most years since 1976.
Fan Writer
There has been an award category for Best Australian Fan Writer in most years since 1979.
Artist
There was an award category for Best Australian Science Fiction or Fantasy Artist from 1980 to 1987. In 1983 and 1984, there was also an award category for Best Australian Science Fiction or Fantasy Cartoonist. In 1998, there was an award for Best Artwork/Artist.
Artwork
There was an award category for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1973, 1985 and 1998. There has been an award either for Best Artwork or Best Professional Artwork since 1993.
Editor
From 1983 to 1985, there was an award category for Best Australian Science Fiction or Fantasy Editor.
Outstanding Contribution
In 1987 only, a Ditmar Award was presented for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Fandom.
Fan Artist
There has been an award category for Best Fan Artist in most years since 1988. In 2005 and 2008, awards were announced for Best Fan Art instead of Best Fan Artist.
Fannish Cat
In 1991 only there was a Ditmar Award for Best Fannish Cat. In 2010, there was an award for Best Fannish Cat, but it was not a Ditmar Award that year.
New Talent
There has been an award category for Best New Talent since 2001.
Achievements
In most of the years from 2001 to 2008, there were awards for Best Professional Achievement and for Best Fan Achievement. These two categories were merged into a single category for Best Achievement in the years 2009 to 2011. These categories have been discontinued.
There were special awards in 1971, 1977, 1983, 1992, and 1995.