I can’t believe it’s more than a year since I wrote this post as a resource for the Australian Women Writers Challenge – award-winning books by Australian Women writers, editors etc. for people looking to diversify their reading. Awards are only one way to find a great book, but you know that at least a few people have considered them the best of the year, which is a good start!
The list is a bit clunky and not nearly as comprehensive as I originally planned it to be – it was written in a haze of wild-eyed internet searches. I will update the list with 2012 winners shortly.
So what happened award-wise for Australian women writers of speculative fiction in 2012? It’s certainly looking pretty healthy right now!
AUREALIS AWARDS
Of twelve fiction awards presented (best horror novel was not given out), there were fifteen writers/editors honoured, of which nine were women.
City of Lies by Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin) – BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION (told primarily through words):
Only Ever Always by Penni Russon (Allen & Unwin) – BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Hidden by Mirranda Burton (author and illustrator) (Black Pepper) – BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
Bluegrass Symphony by Lisa L. Hannett (Ticonderoga Publications) – BEST COLLECTION
Ember and Ash by Pamela Freeman (Hachette) – BEST FANTASY NOVEL
The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood (HarperCollins) – BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
DITMARS
Four fiction awards were presented, with a 50-50 gender balance.
The Courier’s New Bicycle, Kim Westwood (HarperCollins) – BEST NOVEL
NORMA K HEMMING AWARD (Marks excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability)
Anita Bell writing as A.A. Bell for her novel Hindsight
Sara Warneke writing as Sara Douglass for her novel The Diamond Diadem
TIN DUCKS: (West Australian Fan Awards)
Nightsiders by Sue Isle won both Best WA Professional Long Written Work and Best WA Professional Production.
BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS
This is a short fiction one so I wouldn’t normally include it (otherwise my list is going to be insanely long – I never did manage to put the short fiction version together) but worth announcing because in 2012 Angela Slatter became the first Australian EVER to win one of these!
Short Fiction Winner: The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter; Angela Slatter (A Book of Horrors, Jo Fletcher Books)
So, before I update the resource list of award-winning Australian SF & Fantasy books by women writers, what have I missed? Any other awards out there from 2012?