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History

Historically, the section was divided into two awards: Best Novel and Best Short Story. In 2016, convenors announced a splitting of the short-fiction award, making three individual awards: Best Short Story, Best Novella, and Best Novel.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2023

joint winner (Short Story) Hollywood Animals Corey J. White , 2023 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Interzone , no. 295 2023;
joint winner (Short Story) Customer Service Emily Wyeth , 2023 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Mother's Milk 2023;
winner (Novella) y separately published work icon Once We Flew Nikky Lee , Australia : Nikky Lee , 2023 27749049 2023 single work novella science fiction
winner (Novel) y separately published work icon Time of the Cat Tansy Rayner Roberts , Australia : Tansy Rayner Roberts , 2023 27749247 2023 single work novel science fiction

Year: 2022

winner (Short Story) As Though I Were a Little Sun Grace Chan , 2022 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Fireside Magazine , Spring no. 102 2022;
winner (Novella) y separately published work icon Resembling Lepus Amanda Kool , Evanston : Grey Matter Press , 2022 25913675 2022 single work novella science fiction

'Earth’s sixth mass extinction has ended, and in its wake a post-dystopian civilization has struggled to rebuild after a global cataclysm shattered its ecosystems and propelled all life to the brink of eradication.

'In a world where the air is unhealthy, food is strictly rationed, and the energy consumption that triggered the destruction is highly regimented, scientists experiment with artificial biospheres to secure survival and techno-mimicry to breathe life into long-dead species. It’s an unavoidable surveillance state where every living thing is tracked, numbered, and categorized.

'In this fledgling society born out of catastrophic loss and now challenged with a new reverence for all life, a lone detective is haunted by a series of murders traumatizing the populace. Assisted by a medical colleague, she finds herself entangled in a crisis with far-reaching consequences and dangerous repercussions that threaten the fragile balance of all existence.

'What is the impact on humanity when mankind is required to play god to the creatures they have all but destroyed?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

winner (Novel) y separately published work icon 36 Streets T. R. Napper , London : Titan , 2022 23614344 2022 single work novel science fiction

'Lin 'The Silent One' Vu is a gangster and sometime private investigator living in Chinese-occupied Hanoi, in the steaming, paranoid alleyways of the 36 Streets. Born in Vietnam, raised in Australia, everywhere she is an outsider.

'Through grit and courage Lin has carved a place for herself in the Vietnamese underworld where Hanoi's crime boss, Bao Nguyen, is training her to fight and lead. Bao drives her hard; on the streets there are no second chances. Meanwhile the people of Hanoi are succumbing to Fat Victory — a dangerously addictive immersive simulation of the US-Vietnam war.

'When an Englishman comes to Hanoi on the trail of his friend's murderer, Lin's life is turned upside down. She is drawn into the grand conspiracies of the neon gods - of regimes and mega-corporations — as they unleash dangerous new technologies.

'Lin must confront the immutable moral calculus of unjust wars. She must choose: family, country, or gang. Blood, truth, or redemption. No choice is easy on the 36 Streets.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2021

Also finalist (novella): Aoeteroa writer Sean Monaghan.
winner (Short Story) Relict (noun): A Widow; A Thing Remaining from the Past Alison Goodman , 2021 single work short story
— Appears in: Relics, Wrecks and Ruins 2021; (p. 393-418)
winner (Novella) Preserved in Amber Samantha Murray , 2021 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Clarkesworld , July no. 178 2021;
winner (Novel) y separately published work icon Waking Romeo Kathryn Barker , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 20849737 2021 single work novel fantasy science fiction

'What if Juliet Capulet met someone who made her doubt true love? What if Wuthering Heights was a message to a time traveller? A cosmic reimagining of Romeo and Juliet and homage to two literary classics in a compelling novel about fate, love and time travel from an award-winning author.

'YEAR: 2083. LOCATION: LONDON. MISSION: WAKE ROMEO.

'It's the end of the world. Literally. Time travel is possible, but only forwards. And only a handful of families choose to remain in the 'now', living off the scraps that were left behind. Among these are eighteen-year-old Juliet and the love of her life, Romeo. But things are far from rosy for Jules. Romeo is in a coma and she's estranged from her friends and family, dealing with the very real fallout of their wild romance. Then a handsome time traveller, Ellis, arrives with an important mission that makes Jules question everything she knows about life and love. Can Jules wake Romeo and rewrite her future?

'A highly original mashup that delights as it disorients ... and asks what would have happened if two great literary love stories were somehow intertwined.' (Publication summary)

Year: 2020

winner (Short Story) Mary, Mary Fiona Bell , 2020 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Aurealis , no. 135 2020;
winner (Novella) The Weight of the Air, the Weight of the World T. R. Napper , 2020 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Neon Leviathan 2020;
joint winner (Novel) y separately published work icon The Animals in that Country Laura Jean McKay , Melbourne : Scribe , 2020 18465113 2020 single work novel fantasy

'Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. She’s never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her beloved granddaughter, Kimberly. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park. And although Jean talks to all her charges, she has a particular soft spot for a young dingo called Sue.

'Then one day, disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country. This is no ordinary flu: its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals — first mammals, then birds and insects, too. But as the flu progresses, the unstoppable voices become overwhelming, and many people begin to lose their minds.

'When Jean’s infected son, Lee, takes off with Kimberly, heading south, Jean feels the pull to follow her kin. Setting off on their trail, with Sue the dingo riding shotgun, they find themselves in a stark, strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species.

'Bold, exhilarating, and wholly original, The Animals in That Country asks what it means to be human — and what would happen, for better or worse, if we finally understood what animals were saying.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

joint winner (Novel) y separately published work icon Repo Virtual Corey J. White , New York (City) : Tor , 2020 18593155 2020 single work novel science fiction

'The city of Neo Songdo is a Russian doll of realities — augmented and virtual spaces anchored in the weight of the real. The smart city is designed to be read by machine vision while people see only the augmented facade of the corporate ideal. At night the stars are obscured by an intergalactic virtual war being waged by millions of players, while on the streets below people are forced to beg, steal, and hustle to survive.

'Enter Julius Dax, online repoman and real-life thief. He's been hired for a special job: stealing an unknown object from a reclusive tech billionaire. But when he finds out he's stolen the first sentient AI, his payday gets a lot more complicated.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2019

winner (Novel) y separately published work icon Aurora Rising Jay Kristoff , Amie Kaufman , Sydney : Random House Australia , 2019 14936140 2019 single work novel young adult science fiction

'The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch . . .

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates 
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem–that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

NOBODY PANIC.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

winner (Short Story) Wreck Diving Joanne Anderton , 2019 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Aurealis , no. 123 2019;
winner (Novella) 'Scapes Made Diamond Shauna O'Meara , 2019 single work short story science fiction
— Appears in: Interzone , no. 280 2019; (p. 56-75)

'Twenty-seven years after his failure to save the telepathic Tulina, Graeyan returns to witness the death of the herd leader and try to reconcile with the man he once loved.'

Source: Rocket Stack Rank (http://www.rocketstackrank.com/2019/03/Scapes-Made-Diamond-Shauna-OMeara.html). (Sighted: 2/4/2020)

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