The Ditmar subcommittee has announced the finalists for the 2024 Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Award. Eligible voters have until September 30 to cast their ballot. The award winners will be revealed at Conflux 18, to be held in Canberra from October 4-7.

BEST NOVEL

• Dream Weaver, Steven Paulsen.
• Polyphemus, Zachary Ashford, DarkLit Press.
• The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix, Allen & Unwin.
• The Tangled Lands, Glenda Larke, Wizard’s Tower Press.
• Traitor’s Run (The Lenticular 1), Keith Stevenson, coeur de lion publishing.
• When Dark Roots Hunt, Zena Shapter, MidnightSun.

BEST NOVELLA OR NOVELETTE

• “Bitters”, Kaaron Warren, in Bitters, Cemetery Dance Publications.
• “The Deathplace Set”, Kaaron Warren, in Vandal: Stories of Damage (Dark Tide 6), Crystal Lake Publishing.
• “Eight or Die”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Clarkesworld 206 and 207.
• “The Leaves Forget”, Alan Baxter, in The Leaves Forget, PS Publishing.
• “A Marked Man”, T. R. Napper, in Grimdark Magazine, 36.
• “The Measure of Sorrow”, J. Ashley-Smith, in The Measure of Sorrow: stories.
• “Quicksilver”, J.S. Breukelaar, in Vandal: Stories of Damage, Crystal Lake Publishing.

BEST SHORT STORY

• “Antarctica Starts Here”, Lucy Sussex, in Overland, Issue 250 Autumn 2023.
• “Highway Requiem”, T. R. Napper, in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May/June 2023.
• “Jimmy Flip Brings His Little One to Work, and It Comes My Turn to Hold It”, C.H. Pearce, in Body of Work, Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild.
• “There are Things on Me”, Matt Tighe, in Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite, IFWG Publishing International.
• “Trial by Fire”, Matt Tighe, Etherea Magazine #18, Sunburnt Fox Press

BEST COLLECTED WORK

• Body of Work, ed. C.Z. Tacks, CSFG Publishing.
• The Measure of Sorrow: stories, J. Ashley-Smith, Meerkat Press.
• This Fresh Hell, ed. Katya de Becerra and Narrelle M. Harris, Clan Destine Press.
• Vandal: Stories of Damage, Kaaron Warren, Aaron Dries, JS Breukelaar, Crystal Lake Publishing.

BEST ARTWORK

• Cover art, Meg Wright (Red Wallflower), for Midnight Echo 18.
• Cover art, Greg Chapman, for Polyphemus, DarkLit Press.
• Illustrations, Steve Simpson, Texture of Silence, Independent Legions Publishing.
• Illustrations and cover, Marc McBride, Glow, Allen & Unwin

BEST FAN WRITER

• Leigh Edmonds
• Bruce Gillespie
• Jan MacNally
• Perry Middlemiss

BEST FAN ARTIST

• Stella Marie, for body of work in Ethel the Aardvark #223 inc back page, and back page in Ethel the Aardvark #219.
• C.H. Pearce, for fanart including Log Lady (Twin Peaks) and Ellie and Riley (The Last of Us) on Instagram @c.h.pearce.
• David L. Russell, for body of work in Ethel the Aardvark #219 to #223.
• Lyss Wickramasinghe, for fanart including Baldur’s Gate 3 on Facebook.

BEST FAN PUBLICATION IN ANY MEDIUM

• Ethel the Aardvark, LynC, Melbourne Science Fiction Club.
• Let the Cat In Podcast, Aaron Dries, Kaaron Warren, J Ashley Smith.
• SF Commentary, Bruce Gillespie.
• Terry Talks Movies, Terry Frost, Youtube.
• The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond

BEST NEW TALENT

• C H Pearce
• Leanbh Pearson
• C Z Tacks

WILLIAM ATHELING JR AWARD FOR CRITICISM OR REVIEW

• Claire Fitzpatrick, “The Continuing Longevity of Speculative Fiction Spin-offs”, in Aurealis 159.
• Claire Fitzpatrick (editor), A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft, IFWG Publishing.
• Ian Mond for reviews in Locus.
• Gillian Polack, “An Introduction to Dr Nikola, Guy Boothby’s Infamous Invention” in Aurealis 164.

[Thanks to Roger Silverstein for the story.]