I’m happy to announce that I am judging the Aurealis Awards again this year, and moving to a different category – I’m convening the Young Adult panel. Looking forward to reading through all the entries. I seriously love awards judging – if you ever wonder about the quality of short stories and novels being published in Australia, volunteer for awards judging. Last year, the horror panel saw, overall, a tremendous quality of work being submitted, and I hope the YA panel will see the same this year.
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2013 Aurealis Awards open for entries
Conflux Inc. are delighted to announce that the 2013 Aurealis Awards are now open to entries.
The Aurealis Awards, Australia’s premier awards for Speculative Fiction, are for works of speculative fiction written by an Australian citizen, or permanent resident, and published for the first time between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013.
2013 Aurealis Awards convenor, Nicole Murphy, says, “In 2012 we received a record number of entries across thirteen categories, ranging across Illustrated Work, Children’s, Young Adult, Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction. Speculative fiction in all its incarnations is alive and well in Australia, and we look forward to even more entries this year.”
“These awards are unique, in that each category is judged by a panel of judges. Our judges are drawn from a range of literary backgrounds and experience including; editors for both small and mainstream press, librarians, critics and published authors.”
“We’re delighted to be able to bring the Awards to Canberra for the first time,” Ms Murphy added.
“In 2013, we are accepting electronic submission of entries in all categories for the first time,” said judging co-ordinator Tehani Wessely. “We are strongly encouraging publishers and authors to enter all works published in the first half of the year immediately, and all new works as soon after publication as possible. Our judging teams appreciate having time to consider each entry carefully. It’s a huge job!”
“We have slightly revised the entry period to accommodate the new ceremony date for next year,” Ms Wessely said. “If works are received in a timely manner, every entry can be given the fairest of consideration.”
Entries close on 07 December 2013, and all entries must be physically received by 31 December 2013. Finalists will be announced in March 2014 and winners announced at a special presentation evening in Canberra in April 2014. For more information on the awards or to register your entry, visit the Aurealis Awards website at www.aurealisawards.com.
For more information contact the Awards convenor, Nicole Murphy atpresident.conflux@gmail.com or judging co-ordinator Tehani Wessely ataajudges@gmail.com.
(Note: I have been somewhat cheeky and copied the announcement post directly from Tehani’s blog A Conversational Life)