2014 Prix Aurora Awards

Aurora Awards GroupPhoto2014

Top row (L-R): Karl Johanson, Danielle Stephens, Al Harlow, Jenni Merrifield, Tarol Hunt, ?, ?. Front row: Randy McCharles, Rick LeBlanc, ?, Dr. Robert Runte, Frank Johanson, Eileen Kernaghan, Spider Robinson and William Gibson. Photo by Kirk Lee of Kirk Lee Photography.

The winners of the 2014 Prix Aurora Awards were announced at Canvention 34/VCON 39 on October 4 in Vancouver. A total of 172 ballots were cast and the voting and nomination statistics are available here.

Best English Novel (155 ballots)
A Turn of Light by Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books

Best English YA Novel (118 ballots)
The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, Doubleday Canada

Best English Short Fiction (123 ballots)
“Ghost in the Machine” by Ryan McFadden, The Puzzle Box, EDGE

Best English Poem/Song (82 ballots)
“Night Journey: West Coast” by Eileen Kernaghan , Tesseracts Seventeen: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast to Coast, EDGE

Best English Graphic Novel (75 ballots)
Rock, Paper, Cynic by Peter Chiykowski, webcomic

Best English Related Work (130 ballots)
On Spec published by the Copper Pig Writers’ Society

Best Artist (119 ballots)
Erik Mohr, cover art for ChiZine Publications

Best Fan Music (104 ballots)
Chris Hadfield for his performance of Space Oddity

Best Fan Organizational (117 ballots)
Randy McCharles, Chair and Programming, When Words Collide, Calgary

Best Fan Related Work (72 ballots)
Robert Runté, “Why I Read Canadian Speculative Fiction: The Social Dimension of Reading”, Scholar Keynote Address at ACCSFF ’13, Toronto

A special recognition award also was given to Frank Johnson for producing the Aurora awards for the past 23 years. Frank created the design in 1991. A new design will be unveiled in 2015.

In the Aurora balloting the  biggest runaway was astronaut Chris Hadfield’s musical performance, which won the Best Fan Music category by 51 votes.

There were close finishes in several categories. The margin in three categories was 3 votes or less – Best English Poem/Song (2 votes), Best English Short Fiction (3 votes), Best English Graphic Novel (3 votes).

Unfortunately, the Best Fan Publication category was a nonstarter because voters failed to provide a minimum of 3 nominees with 5 or more nominating votes.

The official press release follows the jump.

Press Release for the 2014 Aurora awards

For Immediate Release

This year’s Aurora award for Best English Novel went to A Turn of Light by Julie E. Czerneda published by DAW books. Along with the trophy, Ms. Czerneda will be receiving a $500 cheque, donated to the winner by Morva Bowman and Alan Pollard.

The Best English Young Adult Novel award was given out to Kelley Armstrong for her novel, The Rising, the final volume of the Darkness Rising trilogy, published by Doubleday Canada.

The newly renamed Best Fan Music award went to Chris Hadfield for his performance of Space Oddity while he was the commander of the International Space Station.

A special recognition award was also given out to Frank Johnson for his 23 years of producing the Aurora awards. Frank first created the design in 1991. A new design will be unveiled in 2015.

For over 30 years the Aurora awards have been given out for Canadian literary and fan works that members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) feel are exceptional. This year the awards ceremony was held in Surrey, BC on October 4th in conjunction with VCON 39. A total of ten awards were given out.

For a more details about the CSFFA, the Auroras or this years nominees please go to our website at: www.prixaurorawards.ca. CSFFA is open to all Canadians citizens and permanent residents.

The following is the complete list of winners:

Best English Novel: A Turn of Light by Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books

Best English YA Novel: The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, Doubleday Canada

Best English Short Fiction: “Ghost in the Machine” by Ryan McFadden, The Puzzle Box, EDGE

Best English Poem/Song: “Night Journey: West Coast” by Eileen Kernaghan , Tesseracts Seventeen: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast to Coast, EDGE

Best English Graphic Novel: Rock, Paper, Cynic by Peter Chiykowski, webcomic

Best English Related Work: On Spec published by the Copper Pig Writers’ Society

Best Artist: Erik Mohr, cover art for ChiZine Publications

Best Fan Music: Chris Hadfield for his performance of Space Oddity

Best Fan Organizational: Randy McCharles, Chair and Programming, When Words Collide, Calgary

Best Fan Related Work: Robert Runté, “Why I Read Canadian Speculative Fiction: The Social Dimension of Reading”, Scholar Keynote Address at ACCSFF ’13, Toronto 

Photo credit: Kirk Lee of Kirk Photography

Photo starting from top row, left to right:

Karl Johanson, Danielle Stephens, Al Harlow, Jenni Merrifield, Tarol Hunt, ?, ?.

Front row, left to right: Randy McCharles, Rick LeBlanc, ?, Dr. Robert Runte, Frank Johanson, Eileen Kernaghan, Spider Robinson and William Gibson.

3 thoughts on “2014 Prix Aurora Awards

  1. Fanzines in Canadian fandom? Who are you kidding? We all know there is no such thing.

  2. As the Faned Award results show, people DO read Canadian fanzines. However they tend to be Americans (who cannot vote in the Aurora Awards).

    But seriously,I know plenty of people (fellow Canadians) who read Canadian zines. Trouble is, we are a laid-back people, so fannish apathy is even stronger in our country. (Heck, some of the NOMINEES didn’t even bother voting in the Faned Awards!)

    The solution is relentless promotion. Get fen into the habit of — not only reading zines — but VOTING for them. Can’t hurt to try.

  3. Have not read Czerneda’s A TURN OF LIGHT yet myself, but my wife Hilde thought it was one of the best books she read (and she reads a -lot-) in the last year. Enough so as to buy all of Czerneda’s other books as well.

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