The 2014 Aurealis Awards shortlist has been announced.

Judging coordinator Tehani Wessely said there were over 750 entries, slightly down from last year’s record of over 800 entries across the twelve categories.

The winners as well as the recipient of the Convenors’ Award for Excellence will be announced at a ceremony in Canberra on April 11.

2014 Aurealis Awards – Finalists

BEST FANTASY NOVEL

• Fireborn, Keri Arthur (Hachette Australia)
• This Shattered World, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)
• The Lascar’s Dagger, Glenda Larke (Hachette Australia)
• Dreamer’s Pool, Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Afterworlds, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin Books Australia)
• Daughters of the Storm, Kim Wilkins (Harlequin Enterprises Australia)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

• “The Oud”, Thoraiya Dyer (Long Hidden, Crossed Genres Publications)
• “Teratogen”, Deborah Kalin (Cemetery Dance, #71, May 2014)
• “The Ghost of Hephaestus”, Charlotte Nash (Phantazein, FableCroft Publications)
• “St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls”, Angela Slatter (The Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 9, Issue 3)
• “The Badger Bride”, Angela Slatter (Strange Tales IV, Tartarus Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

• Aurora: Meridian, Amanda Bridgeman (Momentum)
• Nil By Mouth, LynC (Satalyte)
• The White List, Nina D’Aleo (Momentum)
• Peacemaker, Marianne de Pierres (Angry Robot)
• This Shattered World, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Allen & Unwin)
• Foresight, Graham Storrs (Momentum)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

• “The Executioner Goes Home”, Deborah Biancotti (Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 11 Issue 6)
• “Wine, Women and Stars”, Thoraiya Dyer (Analog Vol CXXXIV nos 1&2 Jan/Feb)
• “The Glorious Aerybeth”, Jason Fischer (OnSpec, 11 Sep 2014)
• “Dellinger”, Charlotte Nash (Use Only As Directed, Peggy Bright Books)
• “Happy Go Lucky”, Garth Nix (Kaleidoscope, Twelfth Planet Press)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

• Book of the Dead, Greig Beck (Momentum)
• Razorhurst, Justine Larbalestier (Allen & Unwin)
• Obsidian, Alan Baxter (HarperVoyager)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

• “The Executioner Goes Home”, Deborah Biancotti (Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 11 Issue 6)
• “Skinsuit”, James Bradley (Island Magazine 137)
• “By the Moon’s Good Grace”, Kirstyn McDermott (Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 12, Issue 3)
• “Shay Corsham Worsted”, Garth Nix (Fearful Symmetries, Chizine)
• “Home and Hearth”, Angela Slatter (Spectral Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

• The Astrologer’s Daughter, Rebecca Lim (Text Publishing)
• Afterworld, Lynnette Lounsbury (Allen & Unwin)
• The Cracks in the Kingdom, Jaclyn Moriarty (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Clariel, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
• The Haunting of Lily Frost, Nova Weetman (UQP)
• Afterworlds, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin Books Australia)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

• “In Hades”, Goldie Alexander (Celapene Press)
• “Falling Leaves”, Liz Argall (Apex Magazine)
• “The Fuller and the Bogle”, David Cornish (Tales from the Half-Continent, Omnibus Books)
• “Vanilla”, Dirk Flinthart (Kaleidoscope, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Signature”, Faith Mudge (Kaleidoscope, Twelfth Planet Press)

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

• Slaves of Socorro: Brotherband #4, John Flanagan (Random House Australia)
• Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy, Karen Foxlee (Hot Key Books)
• The Last Viking Returns, Norman Jorgensen and James Foley (ILL.) (Fremantle Press)
• Withering-by-Sea, Judith Rossell (ABC Books)
• Sunker’s Deep: The Hidden #2, Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin)
• Shadow Sister: Dragon Keeper #5, Carole Wilkinson (Black Dog Books)

BEST COLLECTION

• The Female Factory, Lisa L Hannett and Angela Slatter (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Secret Lives, Rosaleen Love (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Angel Dust, Ian McHugh (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Difficult Second Album: more stories of Xenobiology, Space Elevators, and Bats Out Of Hell, Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
• The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, Angela Slatter (Tartarus Press)
• Black-Winged Angels, Angela Slatter (Ticonderoga Publications)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

• Kisses by Clockwork, Liz Grzyb (Ed) (Ticonderoga Publications)
• Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios (Eds), (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction, Dominica Malcolm (Ed) (Solarwyrm Press)
• Reach for Infinity, Jonathan Strahan (Ed) (Solaris Books)
• Fearsome Magics, Jonathan Strahan (Ed) (Solaris Books)
• Phantazein, Tehani Wessely (Ed) (FableCroft Publishing)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL/ILLUSTRATED WORK

• Left Hand Path #1, Jason Franks & Paul Abstruse (Winter City Productions)
• Awkwood, Jase Harper (Milk Shadow Books)
• “A Small Wild Magic”, Kathleen Jennings (Monstrous Affections, Candlewick Press)
• Mr Unpronounceable and the Sect of the Bleeding Eye, Tim Molloy (Milk Shadow Books)
• The Game, Shane W Smith (Deeper Meanings Publishing)

The nominees for the Convenors’ Award were announced in January:

The Convenors’ Award for Excellence

• “It Grows!”, a film by Ryan Cauchi and Nick Stathopoulos
• “Night Terrace”, a serial podcast story, produced by John Richards, Ben McKenzie, David Ashton, Petra Elliott and Lee Zachariah
• “The Australian Women Writers Challenge”, an online reviewing initiative
• “Useless Questions”, a radio play by Laura Goodin, performed by fans at Conflux.

This award is given at the discretion of the convenors “for a particular achievement in speculative fiction or related areas in the year that cannot otherwise be judged for the Aurealis Awards.”

It can be for a work of non-fiction, artwork, film, television, electronic or multimedia work, or that which brings credit or attention to the speculative fiction genres.

The award has resumed its original title this year – for over a decade it bore the late Peter McNamara’s name as a memorial, but this now has been dropped to avoid confusion with the Peter McNamara Achievement Award presented annually at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention.