16th Aurealis Awards

The following Flash animations were created as part of the 16th Aurealis Awards ceremony — Australia’s premiere awards for speculative fiction. The gala event took place on 21 May 2011 at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney, Australia. The 2011 Award Ceremony was organised by SpecFaction NSW, with sponsorship from HarperVoyager. MC for the evening was bestselling author, Garth Nix.

These animations — one for each category of the Awards — were created by Robert Hood and featured in a backdrop projection along with listings of shortlisted works and winners (as reproduced below).

Cover Montage: click on image to enlarge

Children’s Fiction (told primarily through words) — click here to view

• Grimsdon, Deborah Abela, Random House
• Ranger’s Apprentice #9: Halt’s Peril, John Flanagan, Random House
• The Vulture of Sommerset, Stephen M. Giles, Pan Macmillan
• The Keepers, Lian Tanner, Allen & Unwin
• Haggis MacGregor and the Night of the Skull, Jen Storer and Gus Gordon, Aussie Nibbles (Penguin)

And the winner is: The Keepers, Lian Tanner, Allen & Unwin

Children’s Fiction (told primarily through pictures) — click here to view

• Night School, Isobelle Carmody (writer) and Anne Spudvilas (illustrator), Penguin Viking
• Magpie, Luke Davies (writer) and Inari Kiuru (illustrator), ABC Books (HarperCollins)
• The Boy and the Toy, Sonya Hartnett (writer) and Lucia Masciullo (illustrator), Penguin Viking
• Precious Little, Julie Hunt and Sue Moss (writers) and Gaye Chapman (illustrator), Allen & Unwin
• The Cloudchasers, David Richardson (writer) and Steven Hunt (illustrator), ABC Books (HarperCollins)

And the winner is: The Boy and the Toy, Sonya Hartnett (writer) and Lucia Masciullo (illustrator), Penguin Viking

Young Adult Short Story — click here to view

• “Inksucker”, Aidan Doyle, Worlds Next Door, Fablecroft Publishing
• “One Story, No Refunds”, Dirk Flinthart, Shiny #6, Twelfth Planet Press
• “A Thousand Flowers”, Margo Lanagan, Zombies vs Unicorns, Allen & Unwin
• “Nine Times”, Kaia Landelius and Tansy Rayner Roberts, Worlds Next Door, Fablecroft Publishing
• “An Ordinary Boy”, Jen White, The Tangled Bank, Tangled Bank Press

And the winner is: “A Thousand Flowers”, Margo Lanagan, Zombies vs Unicorns, Allen & Unwin

Young Adult Novel — click here to view

• Merrow, Ananda Braxton-Smith, black dog books
• Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey, Allen & Unwin
• The Midnight Zoo, Sonya Hartnett, Penguin
• The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher, Doug MacLeod, Penguin
• Behemoth (Leviathan Trilogy Book Two), Scott Westerfeld, Penguin

And the winner is: Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey, Allen & Unwin

Best Illustrated Book/Graphic Novel — click here to view

• Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nicki Greenberg, Allen & Unwin
• EEEK!: Weird Australian Tales of Suspense, Jason Paulos et al., Black House Comics
• Changing Ways Book 1, Justin Randall, Gestalt Publishing
• Five Wounds: An Illuminated Novel, Jonathan Walker and Dan Hallett, Allen & Unwin
• Horrors: Great Stories of Fear and Their Creators, Rocky Wood and Glenn Chadbourne, McFarlane & Co.

And the winner is: Changing Ways Book 1, Justin Randall, Gestalt Publishing

Best Collection — click here to view

• The Library of Forgotten Books, Rjurik Davidson, PS Publishing
• Under Stones, Bob Franklin, Affirm Press
• Sourdough and Other Stories, Angela Slatter, Tartarus Press
• The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter, Ticonderoga Publications
• Dead Sea Fruit, Kaaron Warren, Ticonderoga Publications

And the winner is: The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter, Ticonderoga Publications

Best Anthology — click here to view

• Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis and Dr Marty Young, Brimstone Press
• Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Twelfth Planet Press
• Scenes from the Second Storey, edited by Amanda Pillar and Pete Kempshall, Morrigan Books
• Godlike Machines, edited by Jonathan Strahan, SF Book Club
• Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon, Night Shade Books

And the winner is: Wings of Fire, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon, Night Shade Books

Best Horror Short Story — click here to view

• “Take the Free Tour”, Bob Franklin, Under Stones, Affirm Press
• “Her Gallant Needs”, Paul Haines, Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Twelfth Planet Press
• “The Fear”, Richard Harland, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis and Dr Marty Young, Brimstone Press
• “Wasting Matilda”, Robert Hood, Zombie Apocalypse!, created by Stephen Jones, Constable & Robinson Ltd
• “Lollo”, Martin Livings, Close Encounters of the Urban Kind, edited by Jennifer Brozek, Apex Publishing

And the winner is: “The Fear”, Richard Harland, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis and Dr Marty Young, Brimstone Press

Best Horror Novel: click here to view

• After the World: Gravesend, Jason Fischer, Black House Comics
• Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson, Orbit (Hachette)
• Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott, Pan Macmillan

And the winner is: Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott, Pan Macmillan

Best Fantasy Short Story — click here to view

• “The Duke of Vertumn’s Fingerling”, Elizabeth Carroll, Strange Horizons
• “Yowie”, Thoraiya Dyer, Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Twelfth Planet Press
• “The February Dragon”, L.L. Hannett and Angela Slatter, Scary Kisses, edited by Liz Grzyb, Ticonderoga Publications
• “All the Clowns in Clowntown”, Andrew McKiernan, Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis and Dr Marty Young, Brimstone Press
• “Sister, Sister,” Angela Slatter, Strange Tales III, edited by Rosalie Parker, Tartarus Press

And the winner is: [TIE] “Yowie”, Thoraiya Dyer, Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Twelfth Planet Press, and “The February Dragon”, L.L. Hannett and Angela Slatter, Scary Kisses, edited by Liz Grzyb, Ticonderoga Publications

Best Fantasy Novel — click here to view

• The Silence of Medair, Andrea K. Höst, self-published
• Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson, Orbit (Hachette)
• Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)
• Heart’s Blood, Juliet Marillier, Pan Macmillan
• Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)

And the winner is: Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins)

Best Science Fiction Short Story — click here to view

• “The Heart of a Mouse”, K.J. Bishop, Subterranean Online (Winter 2010)
• “The Angaelian Apocalypse”, Matthew Chrulew, The Company Articles Of Edward Teach/The Angaelian Apocalypse, Twelfth Planet Press
• “Border Crossing”, Penelope Love, Belong, edited by Russell B. Farr, Ticonderoga Publications
• “Interloper”, Ian McHugh, Asimovs (Jan 2011)
• “Relentless Adaptations”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein, Twelfth Planet Press

And the winner is: “The Heart of a Mouse”, K.J. Bishop, Subterranean Online (Winter 2010)

Best Science Fiction Novel — click here to view

• Song of Scarabaeus, Sara Creasy, EOS Books
• Mirror Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)
• Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)

And the winner is: Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres, Orbit (Hachette)

And finally…

Credits: Click here to play Exit Music