The preliminary ballot for the Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Awards for 2023 has been made available for comment and correction before becoming final.

The nominees are award-eligible works and persons first nominated by fans and members of the Australian NatCon that have been compiled into a ballot by a sub-committee elected at the previous National SF Convention business meeting.

Some categories include more than five nominees due to tied nomination numbers. And some have less, due to insufficient valid nominations.

The Ditmars will be awarded at the 2023 Australian National SF Convention, Conflux 17 to be held September 29-October 2 in Canberra.

BEST NOVEL

• 36 Street, T.R. Napper, Titan Books.
• Sallow Bend, Alan Baxter, Cemetery Dance Publications.
• Scavengers, Robert Hood, Clan Destine Press.
• The Stone Road, Trent Jamieson, Erewhon Books.
• X-Dimensional Assassin Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, Jason Franks, IFWG Publishing.

BEST NOVELLA OR NOVELETTE

• “Bluebells”, Leanbh Pearson, in Bluebells, Black Hare Press.
• “The Dark Matter of Natasha”, Matthew R. Davis, in The Dark Matter of Natasha, Grey Matter Press.
• “Gulpepper Curios”, Alan Baxter, in The Fall, 13th Dragon Books.
• “Remnants and Bad Water”, Kaaron Warren, in Damnation Games, Clan Destine Press.
• “The Smell of Waiting”, Kaaron Warren, in Screams from the Dark, Tom Doherty Associates.

BEST SHORT STORY

• “Everything so slow and quiet”, Kaaron Warren, in The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing.
• “Greatheart”, Juliet Marillier, in The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing.
• “The Quick Study”, C.H. Pearce, in Etherea Magazine 10.
• “Songs We Sing at Sea are the Lies We Tell Ourselves”, Kaaron Warren, in Looming Low 2, Dim Shores.

BEST COLLECTED WORK

• The Art of Being Human, Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai, FableCroft Publishing.
• Cut to Care: A collection of little hurts, Aaron Dries, IFWG Publishing International.
• Damnation Games, Alan Baxter, Clan Destine Press.
• The Fall, Alan Baxter, 13th Dragon Books.
• Midnight Echo 17, Greg Chapman, Australasian Horror Writers Association.
• Phase Change, Matthew Chrulew, Twelfth Planet Press.

BEST FAN PUBLICATION IN ANY MEDIUM

• Ethel the Aardvark, LynC, Melbourne Science Fiction Club.
• Pratchat Podcast, Ben McKenzie, Elizabeth Flux.

BEST FAN WRITER

• Bruce Gillespie
• David Grigg
• Kat Clay
• Perry Middlemiss

BEST FAN ARTIST

• C.H. Pearce
• David L Russell
• Erin-Claire Barrow

BEST ARTWORK

[Insufficient Nominations]

BEST NEW TALENT

• Aaron Dries
• Leanbh Pearson
• C.H. Pearce
• C.Z. Tacks
• Matt Tighe
• Zachary Ashford

WILLIAM ATHELING JR AWARD FOR CRITICISM OR REVIEW

• Angharad Lodwick, Tinted Edges (book review blog)
• Eugen Bacon, for An Earnest Blackness, Anti-Oedipus Press.
• Gillian Polack, for Story Matrices: Cultural Encoding and Cultural Baggage in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Luna.
• Ian Mond, for reviews, in Locus.