The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual award given each year for Australian science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.
History
The Aurealis Award was created in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the company that publishes Aurealis Magazine. Unlike the Ditmar Award, which is another major Australian speculative fiction award, the Aurealis Award separates books into different types and age groups, and judges them based on these categories.
At first, the award had four categories: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Young Adult. Each of these categories had two separate awards—one for novels and one for short stories. In 2001, a fifth category for children’s books was added for fiction aimed at readers aged 8 to 12. This category had two types of awards: "Short Fiction" and "Long Fiction." In 2008, the "Short Fiction" category for children’s books became "Illustrated Work/Picture Book." In 2010, the two categories were changed to one for children’s books told mainly through pictures and another for books told mainly through words. In 2013, these two categories were combined into one for children’s books. The Young Adult and Children’s categories include books from all three speculative fiction genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
Each year, books in a category are reviewed by a panel of at least three judges. These judges choose the finalists and winners for their category. One member of each panel is also the panel leader, called the Convenor.
In 2004, two changes were made to the award structure. The awards were managed by Fantastic Queensland, a group of volunteers who support Australian speculative fiction. A new category called the Golden Aurealis was added for both short stories and books, with winners chosen from the other categories.
There is also an award called the Peter McNamara Conveners’ Award for Excellence. This award honors a special achievement in speculative fiction or related areas in a particular year, but it may also consider achievements over several years. It can be given for non-fiction works, collections, art, or a body of work that brings attention to the speculative fiction genre. The award was first named the Convenors’ Award for Excellence and was renamed in 2002 after Peter McNamara, the original award Convenor, who passed away in 2004 after being diagnosed with a serious illness. The award is given at the discretion of the Convenors.
After six years, Fantastic Queensland stopped working with Chimaera Publications. On May 18, 2010, it was announced that Chimaera had made a new agreement with SpecFaction NSW to manage the awards for 2010. Later in 2010, SpecFaction NSW announced a deal with HarperVoyager to be the exclusive sponsor for the 2010 Awards, which were held in May 2011.
After three years of managing the awards, SpecFaction NSW decided not to continue. On May 7, 2013, it was announced that Chimaera Publications had agreed with Conflux Inc to host the awards for the next two years. The awards ceremony would take place in Canberra. In May 2015, it was announced that the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation (WASFF) would manage the awards for the next three years. After WASFF’s time, the awards were hosted by the Continuum Foundation (ConFound), a group based in Melbourne, from 2018 to 2020. In 2021, the awards moved back to Canberra, where they are now managed by the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG).
In 2016, the short story categories for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror were divided into two groups: short stories and novellas.
Categories
The Kris Hembury Encouragement Award has been presented at Aurealis Awards ceremonies since the 2009 awards. However, it is not officially an Aurealis Award.
From 2001 to 2007, the category "best children’s illustrated work/picture book" was called "best children’s short fiction," and "best children's novel" was called "best children's long fiction." Between 1998 and 2000, the Peter McNamara Convenors' Award for excellence was known simply as the Convenors' Award for excellence. This name was later changed to honor Peter McNamara, the original convenor.
In earlier years, the eligibility period for awards was from 1 November to 31 October. This changed to the current period of 1 January to 31 December. The 2010 Awards marked the transition period, with eligibility from 1 November 2009 to 31 December 2010.