Feb 16, 2015

Ditmar Shortlist Announced 2015

shot_1402450200410 Well the preliminary one anyway ( for checking by members of the community for errors etc).  I am very pleased to see a number of folks featuring. Congratulations to all the nominees.

 

Best Novel
  • The Lascar's Dagger, Glenda Larke (Hachette)
  • Bound (Alex Caine 1), Alan Baxter (Voyager)
  • Clariel, Garth Nix (HarperCollins)
  • Thief's Magic (Millennium's Rule 1), Trudi Canavan (Hachette Australia)
  • The Godless (Children 1), Ben Peek (Tor UK)

 

I have read and reviewed three of these and an argument could be made that they are all equally good at doing something different.  Such versatility.

 

Best Novella or Novelette
  • "The Ghost of Hephaestus", Charlotte Nash, in Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • "The Legend Trap", Sean Williams, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • "The Darkness in Clara", Alan Baxter, in SQ Mag 14 (IFWG Publishing Australia)
  • "St Dymphna's School for Poison Girls", Angela Slatter, in Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 9, Issue 3 (Review of Australian Fiction)
  • "The Female Factory", Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter, in The Female Factory (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • "Escapement", Stephanie Gunn, in Kisses by Clockwork (Ticonderoga Publications)

I have read all but one of these but will leave commenting until after the Aurealis Awards. Sufficed to say another strong field

 

Best Short Story
  • "Bahamut", Thoraiya Dyer, in Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • "Vanilla", Dirk Flinthart, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • "Cookie Cutter Superhero", Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • "The Seventh Relic", Cat Sparks, in Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • "Signature", Faith Mudge, in Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)

As above.

 

Best Collected Work
  • Kaleidoscope, Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios (Twelfth Planet Press)
  • The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2013, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Phantazein, Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)

A tough selection here.  My advice, buy all of them :) and decide for yourself :D

 

Best Artwork
  • Illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, in Black-Winged Angels (Ticonderoga Publications)
  • Cover art, Kathleen Jennings, of Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)
  • Illustrations, Kathleen Jennings, in The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings (Tartarus Press)

I am going out on a limb and saying Kathleen Jennings The Bitterwood Bible…

 

Best Fan Writer
  • Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work
  • Tsana Dolichva, for body of work
  • Bruce Gillespie, for body of work
  • Katharine Stubbs, for body of work
  • Alexandra Pierce for body of work
  • Grant Watson, for body of work
  • Sean Wright, for body of work

I won’t comment here for obvious reasons.  But thanks to all who nominated me.  That’s a good cross section of commentary though I would have put Ian Mond in there somewhere too perhaps. 

 

Best Fan Artist
  • Nalini Haynes, for body of work, including "Interstellar Park Ranger Bond, Jaime Bond", "Gabba and Slave Lay-off: Star Wars explains Australian politics", "The Driver", and "Unmasked" in Dark Matter Zine
  • Kathleen Jennings, for body of work, including Fakecon art and Illustration Friday series
  • Nick Stathopoulos, for movie poster of It Grows!

I will have to peruse some links for these. 

 

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium
  • Snapshot 2014, Tsana Dolichva, Nick Evans, Stephanie Gunn, Kathryn Linge, Elanor Matton-Johnson, David McDonald, Helen Merrick, Jason Nahrung, Ben Payne, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Helen Stubbs, Katharine Stubbs, Tehani Wessely, and Sean Wright
  • It Grows!, Nick Stathopoulos
  • Galactic Suburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Andrew Finch
  • The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
  • Galactic Chat, Sean Wright, Helen Stubbs, David McDonald, Alexandra Pierce, Sarah Parker, and Mark Webb

All great projects. 

 
Best New Talent
  • Helen Stubbs
  • Shauna O'Meara
  • Michelle Goldsmith

All bright and shining lights who are going to make my vote difficult.

 
William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review
  • Reviews in The Angriest, Grant Watson
  • The Eddings Reread series, Tehani Wessely, Jo Anderton, and Alexandra Pierce, in A Conversational Life
  • Reviews in Adventures of a Bookonaut, Sean Wright
  • "Does Sex Make Science Fiction Soft?", in Uncanny Magazine 1, Tansy Rayner Roberts
  • Reviews in FictionMachine, Grant Watson

My thinking on the Atheling is that it should probably go to a particular project of criticism to differentiate it from general fan writing or reviewing. So my choices will be between The Eddings Reread, Tansy’s article and FictionMachine.


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