The 2016 Sir Julius Vogel Awards shortlist has been announced. These awards recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy and horror by New Zealanders.

The winners will be decided by a vote of the members of SFFANZ, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand Inc., and of the national convention, AuContraire 2016.

Professional Award Nominees

Best Novel

• Ardus by Jean Gilbert (Rogue House Publishing)
• Mariah’s Dream by Grace Bridges (Splashdown Books)
• Vestiges of Flames by Lyn McConchie (Lethe Press USA)
• Currents of Change by Darian Smith (Wooden Tiger Press)
• Shards of Ice by Catherine Mede (Flying Kiwi Press)
• Sun Touched by J.C. Hart (Etherhart Press)

Best Youth Novel

• The Caretaker of Imagination by Z. R. Southcombe (Self Published)
• Dragons Realm (You Say Which Way) by Eileen Mueller (Fairytale Factory)
• Brave’s Journey by Jan Goldie (IFWG Publishing Australia )
• Lucy’s Story: The End of the World by Z. R. Southcombe (Self Published)
• Deadline Delivery by Peter Friend (Fairytale Factory)

Best Novella / Novelette

• Pocket Wife by I. K. Paterson-Harkness (in Shortcuts – Track 1, Paper Road Press)
• The Way the Sky Curves by J. C. Hart (Etherhart Press)
• The Molenstraat Music Festival by Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s, September 2015 issue)
• The Last by Grant Stone (in Shortcuts – Track 1, Paper Road Press)
• The Ghost of Matter by Octavia Cade (in Shortcuts – Track 1, Paper Road Press)
• Burn (Maiden, Mother, Crone, bk 1) by J. C. Hart (Etherhart Press)
• Bree’s Dinosaur by A. C. Buchanan (in Shortcuts – Track 1, Paper Road Press)

Best Short Story

• “The Thief’s Tale” by Lee Murray (Volume 1 of The Refuge Collection, Steve Dillon, ed.)
• “Pride” by Jean Gilbert (In Contact Light, Timothy Zahn (ed.), Silence in the Library LLC)
• “Floodgate” by Dan Rabarts (In Mammoth book of Dieselpunk, Burning Press)
• “The Shelver” by Piper Mejia (In SpecFicNZ Shorts)
• “The Harpsicord Elf” by Sean Monoghan (In Capricious Issue 2)
• “Drag Marks” by Darian Smith (In Shifting Worlds, Wooden Tiger Press)

Best Collected Work

• Shifting Worlds: a collection of short stories by Darian Smith (Wooden Tiger Press)
• Shortcuts: Track 1, edited by Marie Hodgkinson (Paper Road Press)
• The Survivors: Heroic Edition by V. L. Dreyer (Cheeky Kea Creations)
• Write Off Line 2015: The Earth We Knew, Jean Gilbert (author)/Chad Dick (ed) (Rogue House Publishing)
• SpecFicNZ Shorts (SpecFicNZ)
• Beyond the Veil: A collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Lauren Haddock/Jessica Harvey

Best Professional Artwork

• Cover of The Earth We Knew: A Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Kodi Murray
• Cover for Shortcuts – Track 1 by K.C. Bailey
• Cover for Pisces of Fate by Henry Christian-Sloane
• Cover for Miss Lionheart and the Laboratory of Death by Imojen Faith Hancock

Best Professional Production/Publication

• “Ahead of her time and lost in time: on feminism, gender, and bisexuality” by AJ Fitzwater (In Letters to Tiptree, Twelfth Planet Press)
• The Face of Oblivion, A LARP written by Catherine Pegg
• White Cloud Worlds Anthology 3, Paul Tobin (ed), published by Weta Workshop

Fan Award Nominees

Best Fan Production/ Publication

• Phoenixine, John & Lynelle Howell

Best Fan Writing

• John Toon (Available in Phoenixine)
• June Young (Available in Phoenixine)
• Terri Doyle (Available in Novazine)

Special Award Nominees

Best New Talent

• Jean Gilbert
• Octavia Cade
• Y. K. Willemse
• Eileen Mueller

Services To Science Fiction, Fantasy And Horror

• Marie Hodgkinson

While a student at the University of Otago Marie set up Semaphore Publications and for three years produced a quarterly magazine of genre short fiction and an annual year’s best compilation. These magazines were an interesting and exciting source of previously unknown genre authors living within New Zealand, some of which are now well established in the local consciousness.

Since graduating, Marie has established Paper Road Press and continued to publish and promote NZ speculative fiction. In its turn Paper Road Press has promoted new, unknown authorial talent with collections of shorter length fiction as well as novels.

Through these publishing efforts Marie has expanded the breadth and depth of New Zealand’s science fiction and fantasy landscape and for that that Marie should be honoured.

[Thanks to JJ for the story.]