Awardwatch : Australian Shadows 2018

The Australian Shadows awards are horror awards for Australasian writers. That means Kiwis are eligible. The 2018 awards were made over the weekend. Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts represented this side of the Tasman to both win awards (Edited Work and Short Fiction respectively).

Yet another shout out to Kaaron Warren, Geysercon Guest of Honour, for picking up another prize for Tide of Stones as well as being the subject for another award.

While we are talking about Kaaron, she also picked up the Peter McNamara Achievement Award for Lifetime Achievement and Contribution towards Australian Speculative Fiction at the Ditmar awards also held over the weekend. No Kiwis featuring in the Ditmars however this year.

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Awardwatch : Locus Awards

Yes, it’s Kaaron Warren getting nominated again. This time it is her novel Tide of Stone being on the shortlist for a Locus award. The Locus awards are a big deal – ranking right up there as one of the major international awards, so huge congratulations to Kaaron.

It hardly bears repeating but we will anyway – Kaaron is an International Guest of Honour at Geysercon, the NZ Natcon over QB weekend (31 May – 2 Jun) in Rotorua.

SJV Nominations Close in One Week

The nomination period for the 2019 Sir Julius Vogel Awards will close at 8.00 pm on 30 March 2019. That is just one week away, so please get your nominations in now.

The awards recognise excellence and achievement in science fiction, fantasy, or horror works created by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents, and first published or released in the 2018 calendar year. Full information about the awards, including links to the rules and other guidelines for the Sir Julius Vogel Award, can be found here.

The awards use a web-based nomination system. You can find the web form here. Anyone can make a nomination and it is free!

The awards will be presented at Geysercon – the 2019 National SF&F Convention.

Awardwatch : Bram Stoker Awards

Another kiwi in a major awards shortlist. This time it is the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards and the author in question is Lee Murray. And not just one shortlisting, but two! Lee has made the finals in the short fiction and the anthology categories.

Congratulations to Lee and all the Bram Stoker finalists.

Awardwatch : The Nebulas

Here at SFFANZ News, we like to keep an eye out for locals who make the finals for major awards, and there aren’t many more major than the Nebulas. If you look down the finalist list for the just announced 2018 awards, you will see the name M. Darusha Wehm in the Game Writing category. Darusha is originally from Canada but now lives in Wellington and takes part in local writing and fan activities – so properly local then!

Congratulations to Darusha and all the Nebula finalists.

Sir Julius Vogel Awards nominations for 2019 are now open

Nominations for the 2019 Sir Julius Vogel Awards are now being accepted. The nomination period will close at 8.00 pm on 30 March 2019. The awards recognise excellence and achievement in science fiction, fantasy, or horror works created by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents, and first published or released in the 2018 calendar year.

We are using a web-based system for nominations. You can find the web form here.

Full information about the awards, including links to the rules and other guidelines for the Sir Julius Vogel Award, can be found here.

Anyone can make a nomination and it is free! Get busy reading NZ authors and watching NZ movies to find work to nominate. The awards will be presented at Geysercon – the 2019 National SF&F Convention.

NZ writer makes award history

Congraulations to Bren MacDibble -a New Zealand author who has lived in Australia for two decades – for winning two categories with two different books in the same year at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

MacDibble’s How to Bee, which won the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction, describes a dystopian future without bees where children perform the essential task of pollination. Judges said it was a tale to fire young readers with awareness and courage for the future.

They also heaped praise on In the Dark Spaces, written under the pseudonym Cally Black, which saw MacDibble claim the Copyright Licensing Award for Young Adult Fiction. Judges said it was a high-concept science fiction novel and an impressive tale of world class calibre.

Story here.