Ditmar Awards Nomination List

The 2009 Ditmar Awards shortlist of nominated works for fiction, non-fiction, artwork and achievements during 2008 has just been released. Undead Backbrain has fared well in the nomination stakes (see titles highlighted in red), in a field that is very daunting indeed — and very deserving. Congratulations to all concerned.

The Ditmar Nominees

Best Novel

  • Fivefold, Nathan Burrage (Random House)
  • Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch, Simon Haynes (Fremantle Press)
  • Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
  • How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbalestier (Allen & Unwin)
  • The Daughters of Moab, Kim Westwood (Harper Voyager)
  • Earth Ascendant, Sean Wiliams (Orbit)

Best Novella or Novelette

  • “Soft Viscosity”, David Conyers (2012, Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “Night Heron’s Curse”, Thoraiya Dyer (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37)
  • Angel Rising, Dirk Flinthart (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • “Creeping in Reptile Flesh”, Robert Hood (Creeping in Reptile Flesh, Altair Australia Books)
  • “Painlessness”, Kirstyn McDermott (GUD #2)

Best Short Story

  • “Pale Dark Soldier”, Deborah Biancotti (Midnight Echo #1)
  • “This Is Not My Story”, Dirk Flinthart (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37)
  • “The Goosle”, Margo Lanagan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction, ed. Ellen Datlow)
  • “Her Collection of Intimacy”, Paul Haines (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
  • “Moments of Dying”, Robert Hood (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #1)
  • “Sammarynda Deep”, Cat Sparks (Paper Cities, ed. Ekaterina Sedia)
  • “Ass-Hat Magic Spider”, Scott Westerfeld (The Starry Rift, ed. Jonathan Strahan)

Best Collected Work

  • Dreaming Again, edited by Jack Dann (Harper Voyager)
  • Canterbury 2100, edited by Dirk Flinthart (Agog! Press)
  • 2012, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • Midnight Echo, edited by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond (AHWA)
  • Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine, edited by Angela Challis (Brimstone Press)
  • Creeping In Reptile Flesh, Robert Hood (Altair Australia Books)
  • The Starry Rift, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Viking)

Best Artwork

  • Aurealis #40 cover, Adam Duncan
  • The Last Realm, Book 1 – Dragonscarpe, Michael Dutkiewics
  • Gallery in Black Box, Andrew McKiernan
  • Creeping In Reptile Flesh cover, Cat Sparks
  • Cover of 2012, Cat Sparks
  • Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan

Best Fan Writer

  • Craig Bezant for HorrorScope
  • Edwina Harvey for Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet
  • Robert Hood for Undead Backbrain
  • Chuck McKenzie for HorrorScope
  • Mark Smith-Briggs for HorrorScope
  • Brenton Tomlinson, HorrorScope

Best Fan Artist

  • Rachel Holkner, for Gumble Soft toy and other works
  • Nancy Lorenz for body of work
  • Andrew McKiernan for body of work
  • Tansy Rayner Roberts for Daleks are a girl’s best friend
  • David Schembri for body of work
  • Cat Sparks for Scary Food Cookbook
  • Anna Tambour, Box of Noses and other works

Best Fan Publication

  • HorrorScope, edited by Shane Jiraiya Cummings et al. (Brimstone Press)
  • Scary Food Cookbook, edited by Cat Sparks (Agog! Press)
  • ASif! (Australian Speculative Fiction In Focus), edited by Alisa Krasnostein & Gene Melzack (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • Australian SF Bullsheet, edited by Edwina Harvey

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

  • “Dark Suspense: The End of the Line” by Shane Jiraiya Cummings (in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #3)
  • “George A. Romero: Master of the Living Dead” by Robert Hood (in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
  • “Bad Film Diaries – Sometimes the Brand Burns: Tim Burton and the Planet of the Apes”, Grant Watson (in Borderlands #10)
  • “Popular genres and the Australian literary community: the case of fantasy fiction,” Kim Wilkins (in Journal of Australian Studies)

Best Achievement

  • Angela Challis for Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine and Brimstone Press.
  • Marty Young and the AHWA Committee for promoting horror through the Australian Horror Writers Association.
  • Talie Helene for her work as AHWA News Editor.
  • Steve Clark for Tasmaniac Publications.
  • Damien Broderick for fiction editing in Cosmos Magazine.
  • James Doig for preserving colonial Australian horror fiction and his anthologies Australian Gothic and Australian Nightmares.
  • The Gunny Project: A tribute to Ian Gunn 1959-1998, Jocko and K’Rin, presented MSFC.

Best New Talent

  • Peter M. Ball
  • Felicity Dowker
  • Jason Fischer
  • Gary Kemble
  • Amanda Pillar

What Are They?

For those readers outside Australia, the Ditmars are the Oz equivalent of the Hugo Awards — the year’s best speculative genre writing and art by Australians, nominated by fans and voted for at the National SF Convention. This year voting will take place at Conjecture — the 48th Australian National SF Convention, and is on in Adelaide, South Australia, from 5th to the  8th of June. If you possibly can, join the convention (even if as a non-attending member) and vote!

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