The final ballot for the 2009 Ditmar Awards (for works published in 2008) has been announced. The Ditmars are the Australian equivalent of the Hugo Awards (i.e., awards for the best science fiction of the year as voted by the readers and fans). This year’s winners will be announced during Conjecture, the 48th Australian National Science Fiction Convention, which will be held 5-8 June in Adelaide, South Australia. Members of Swancon 2008 (last year’s Australian National Convention) and Conjecture are eligible to vote.
This year’s nominees are:
Best Novel:
Fivefold by Nathan Burrage (published by Random House)
Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch by Simon Haynes (Fremantle Press)
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbaliester (Allen & Unwin)
The Daughters of Moab by Kim Westwood (HarperVoyager)
Earth AscendantAstropolis, book 2) by Sean Wiliams (Orbit)
Best Novella:
“Soft Viscosity” by David Conyers (published in 2012, Twelfth Planet Press)
“Night Heron’s Curse” by Thoraiya Dyer (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37)
“Angel Rising” by Dirk Flinthart (Twelfth Planet Press)
“Creeping in Reptile Flesh” by Robert Hood (Creeping in Reptile Flesh, Altair Australia Books)
“Painlessness” by Kirstyn McDermott (GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator #2)
Best Short Story:
“Pale Dark Soldier” by Deborah Biancotti (Midnight Echo #2)
“This Is Not My Story” by Dirk Flinthart (ASIM #37)
“The Goosle” by Margo Lanagan (The Del Rey Book of Australian Science Fiction, Del Rey)
“Her Collection of Intimacy” by Paul Haines (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
“Moments of Dying” by Rob Hood (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #1)
“Sammarynda Deep” by Cat Sparks (Paper Cities, Senses Five Press)
“Ass-Hat Magic Spider” by Scott Westerfeld (The Starry Rift, Viking Juvenile)
Best Collected Work:
Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine edited by Angela Challis (Brimstone Press)
Dreaming Again edited by Jack Dann (Harper Voyager)
Canterbury 2100: Pilgrimages in a New World edited by Dirk Flinthart (Agog! Press)
Creeping In Reptile Flesh edited by Robert Hood (Altair Australia Books)
2012 edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne (Twelfth Planet Press)
Midnight Echo edited by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond (AHWA)
The Starry Rift edited by Jonathon Strahan (Viking Juvenile)
Best Artwork:
the cover of Aurealis by Adam Duncan (Chimera Publications)
The Last Realm, Book 1: Dragonscarpe by Michal Dutkiewicz (Angel Phoenix Publishing)
Black Box (gallery) by Andrew McKiernan (Brimstone Press)
the cover of Creeping In Reptile Flesh by Cat Sparks (Altair Australia Books)
the cover of 2012 by Cat Sparks (Twelfth Planet Press)
Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)
Best Fan Writer:
Craig Bezant
Edwina Harvey
Rob Hood
Chuck McKenzie
Mark Smith-Briggs
Brenton Tomlinson
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 (Agog! Press)
Anna Tambour for “Box of Noses” and other works
Best Fan Publication:
Horrorscope edited by Shane Jiraiya Commings et al. (Brimstone Press)
Australian SF Bullsheet edited by Edwina Harvey and Ted Scribner
ASif! Australian Speculative Fiction In Focus edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Gene Melzack (Twelfth Planet Press)
Scary Food Cookbook edited by Cat Sparks (Agog! Press)
William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review:
“Dark Suspense: The End of the Line” by Shane Jiraiya Cummings (published in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #3)
“George A. Romero: Master of the Living Dead” by Robert Hood (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
“Bad Film Diaries—Sometimes the Brand Burns: Tim Burton and the Planet of the Apes” by Grant Watson (Borderlands #10)
“Popular genres and the Australian literary community: the case of fantasy fiction” by Kim Wilkins (Journal of Australian Studies, Vol 32, Issue 2)
Best Achievement:
Damien Broderick for fiction editing in Cosmos Magazine
Angela Challis for Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine and Brimstone Press
Steve Clark for Tasmaniac Productions
James Doig for preserving colonial Australian horror fiction and his anthologies Australian Gothic and Australian Nightmares
Talie Helene for her work as AHWA News Editor
“The Gunny Project: A tribute to Ian Gunn 1959-1998” by Jocko and K’Rin, presented at the Melbourne SF Club
Marty Young and the AHWA Committe for promoting horror through the Australian Horror Writers Association
Best New Talent:
Peter M. Ball
Felicity Dowker
Jason Fischer
Gary Kemble
Amanda Pillar
The Australian Science Fiction Awards, commonly referred to as the Ditmar Awards or Ditmars, recognize excellence by Australians in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. The Ditmars were first presented in 1969. They are named after Martin James Ditmar (Dick) Jenssen, a founding member of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. Martin financially supported the awards until about 1975, and is still active in fandom. Each year, the Australian National Science Fiction Convention presents the Ditmar Awards for the previous calendar year.