Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction

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".[2] 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;[3] 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.[4]

Aurealis Award for best children's fiction
Awarded forExcellence in children's speculative fiction
CountryAustralia
Presented byChimaera Publications,
Continuum Foundation
First awarded2013 (merging two previous categories)
Currently held byKaren Foxlee
WebsiteOfficial site

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.[2] 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.[5]

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.[2] Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner.[6] The judges may declare a "no award" if there is unanimous agreement that none of the nominees are worthy.[6] The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.[7]

This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best children's fiction category which replaces the following two previous categories for children's fiction:

In 2013, this award was known as the Aurealis Award for best children's book.

Winners and nominees edit

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the work'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 work 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.

As of the 2021 awards, which were presented in May 2022, the following have received the most nominations:

  *   Winners and joint winners
  *   Nominees on the shortlist

Year Author(s) Work(s) Publisher Ref
2013 Kirsty Murray* The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie Allen & Unwin [8][9]
Isobelle Carmody Kingdom of the Lost, book 2: Cloud Road Penguin Books Australia [8]
Jackie French Refuge HarperCollins [8]
Julie Hunt Song for a scarlet runner Allen & Unwin [8]
Shaun Tan Rules of Summer Hachette Australia [8]
Lian Tanner Icebreaker: The Hidden 1 Allen & Unwin [8]
2014 Carole Wilkinson* Shadow Sister: Dragonkeeper 5 Black Dog Books [10]
John Flanagan Slaves of Socorro: Brotherband 4 Random House Australia [11]
Karen Foxlee Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy Hot Key Books [11]
Norman Jorgensen & James Foley The Last Viking Returns Fremantle Press [11]
Judith Rossell Withering-by-Sea ABC Books [11]
Lian Tanner Sunker's Deep Allen & Unwin [11]
2015 Meg McKinlay* A Single Stone Walker Books Australia [12]
Angelica Banks A Week Without Tuesday Allen & Unwin [13]
Jack Heath The Cut-Out Allen & Unwin [13]
Meg McKinlay Bella and the Wandering House Fremantle Press [13]
A. L. Tait The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk Hachette Australia [13]
2016 Kim Kane* When the Lyrebird Calls Allen & Unwin [14][15]
Angelica Banks Blueberry Pancakes Forever Allen & Unwin [14]
Lee Battersby Magrit Walker Books Australia [14]
Caleb Crisp Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket Bloomsbury [14]
Mick Elliott The Turners Hachette Australia [14]
Emily Rodda The Hungry Isle Omnibus Books [14]
2017 Jessica Townsend* Nevermoor Hachette Australia [16][17]
Bren MacDibble How to Bee Allen & Unwin [16]
Jaclyn Moriarty The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone Allen & Unwin [16]
Emily Rodda The Shop at Hoopers Bend HarperCollins Australia [16]
Jo Sandhu The Exile Penguin Random House Australia [16]
Lian Tanner Accidental Heroes Allen & Unwin [16]
2018 Penni Russon* The Endsister Allen & Unwin [18][19]
Rebecca Lim The Relic of the Blue Dragon Allen & Unwin [18]
Jaclyn Moriarty The Slightly Alarming Tales of the Whispering Wars Allen & Unwin [18]
Lian Tanner Secret Guardians Allen & Unwin [18]
Gabrielle Wang Ting Ting the Ghosthunter Penguin Random House Australia [18]
Rhiannon Williams Ottilie Cotter and the Narroway Hunt Hardie Grant Egmont [18]
2019 Bren MacDibble* The Dog Runner Allen & Unwin [20][21]
Amie Kaufman Scorch Dragons HarperCollins [20]
Rebecca Lim Race for the Red Dragon Allen & Unwin [20]
Rebecca McRitchie (with Sharon O'Connor, illustrator) Jinxed! the Curious Curse of Cora Bell HarperCollins [20]
Emily Rodda (with Marc McBride, illustrator) The Glimme Scholastic [20]
Heather Waugh The Lost Stone of SkyCity Fremantle Press [20]
2020 Zana Fraillon* The Lost Soul Atlas Lothian [22][23]
Nicholas J. Johnson Tricky Nick Pan [22]
Bren MacDibble Across the Risen Sea Allen & Unwin [22]
Frances Watts The Chicken's Curse Allen & Unwin [22]
Lili Wilkinson (with Dustin Spence, illustrator) Hodgepodge: How to make a pet monster Allen & Unwin [22]
Sean Williams Her Perilous Mansion Allen & Unwin [22]
2021 Karen Foxlee* Dragon Skin Allen & Unwin [24][25][26]
Anna Ciddor The Boy Who Stepped Through Time Allen & Unwin [24][26]
James Foley Stellarphant Fremantle
Zana Fraillon & Phil Lesnie The Curiosities Hachette Australia
Emily Gale & Nova Weetman Elsewhere Girls Text
Nicholas Snelling Barebum Billy BAD DAD
2022 Melanie La'Brooy The Wintrish Girl UQP [27]
Victoria Carless Gus and the Starlight HarperCollins
Karen Foxlee (with Frieda Chui, illustrator) The Wrath of the Woolington Wym Allen & Unwin
Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble The Raven's Song Allen & Unwin
Emily Gale The Goodbye Year Text
H. M. Waugh Mars Awakens Allen & Unwin

References edit

  1. ^ "Eon by Alison Goodman". HarperCollins. Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Aurealis Awards – About Us". Aurealis Awards. Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Aurealis Awards – Rules and Conditions". Aurealis Awards. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  4. ^ Nahrung, Jason (2 February 2007). "Horror a hit". The Courier-Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  5. ^ Koval, Ramona (presenter) (5 February 2009). Spotlight on speculative fiction writers (mp3) (Radio broadcast). ABC Radio and Regional Content. Event occurs at 1:18–2:16.
  6. ^ a b "Guidelines for Judges". Aurealis Awards. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  7. ^ "Aurealis Awards – FAQ". Aurealis Awards. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "2013 Aurealis Awards finalists announced" (PDF). Conflux. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  9. ^ "2013 Aurealis Awards Winners". Conflux. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  10. ^ "And the winners are..." Conflux. 12 April 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e 2014 Aurealis Awards finalists announced, Conflux, retrieved 8 March 2015
  12. ^ The Winners of the 2015 Aurealis Awards, WASFF, 25 March 2016, retrieved 25 March 2016
  13. ^ a b c d ANNOUNCEMENT: 2015 Aurealis Awards Shortlists, WASFF, 17 February 2016, retrieved 14 March 2016
  14. ^ a b c d e f 2016 Aurealis Awards shortlist announcement, WASFF, 20 February 2017, retrieved 22 February 2017
  15. ^ Announcing the Winners of the 2016 Aurealis Awards!, WASFF, 14 April 2017, retrieved 22 April 2017
  16. ^ a b c d e f 2017 Aurealis Awards shortlist announcement!, WASFF, 15 February 2018, retrieved 12 March 2018
  17. ^ aurealis awards WINNER, WASFF, 31 March 2018, retrieved 1 April 2018
  18. ^ a b c d e f 2018 Aurealis Awards shortlist announcement!, Continuum Foundation, 20 February 2019, retrieved 25 April 2019
  19. ^ 2018 Aurealis Awards Winners, Continuum Foundation, 5 May 2019, retrieved 5 May 2019
  20. ^ a b c d e f "Aurealis Awards 2019 finalists announced". Books+Publishing. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Aurealis Awards 2019 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "Aurealis Awards 2020 finalists announced". Books+Publishing. 6 April 2021. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Aurealis Awards 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  24. ^ a b "sfadb: Aurealis Awards 2022". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  25. ^ aaconvenor (28 May 2022). "2021 Aurealis Awards Winners". Aurealis Awards. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  26. ^ a b locusmag (31 May 2022). "2021 Aurealis Awards Winners". Locus Online. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  27. ^ "Aurealis Awards shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.

External links edit