{"id":4210,"date":"2012-05-13T15:39:34","date_gmt":"2012-05-13T05:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zenashapter.com\/blog\/?p=4210"},"modified":"2021-08-30T16:36:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T06:36:37","slug":"a-good-good-night-at-the-17th-annual-aurealis-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/a-good-good-night-at-the-17th-annual-aurealis-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"A good, good night at the 17th annual #Aurealis Awards!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I gotta feeling… that tomorrow night’s gonna be a good night \u2013 a good, good night: #AurealisAwards<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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A good, good night!<\/p><\/div>\n

Such was my tweet on Friday \u2013 and my prediction was spot on. Saturday night at the 17th Annual Aurealis Awards was<\/em> a good night \u2013 a good, good night!<\/p>\n

Kicking off with pre-drink drinks, in pre-frock frocks (yes, I mean you Cat Sparks!), we all gathered at The Rydges Hotel\u2019s Mundo Tapas Bar<\/em> to wish the shortlisted stars of the Australian speculative fiction scene the very best of luck.<\/p>\n

Above us, stars then followed the stars, as we switched venues to enjoy our Voyager<\/a> goodie-bags, complimentary drinks and canap\u00e9s in the lobby of the North Sydney Independent Theatre. With a film crew recording our every move, and a room pack full of talent so breathtaking it was hard to know whom to chat with first, it felt like a luxurious red carpet experience.<\/p>\n

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North Sydney Independent Theatre \u2013 lobby drinks & canap\u00e9s. Yum!<\/p><\/div>\n

After chinking countless glasses and enjoying the mounting excitement \u2013 it was soon time for finalists, supporters, editors and fans to find their seats in the theatre, await the results and cheer as one favourite after another received their coveted Aurealis Awards.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kate Forsyth, Susan Wardle & Chris Barnes<\/p><\/div>\n

Opening Star Wars style graphics set the mood and Kate Forsyth<\/a>, our Master of Ceremonies, talked about the first Aurealis Awards she attended years ago, when she was both enormously pregnant and enormously impressed with the wealth of speculative fiction talent in Australia.<\/p>\n

Since then our community has only grown from strength to strength, she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Good luck in Tassie, Stephanie Smith!<\/p><\/div>\n

One after another, Susan Wardle, Chris Barnes, Sophie Masson, Margo Lanagan, Scott Westerfeld, Cat Sparks, Kirstyn McDermott, Stephanie Smith, Sean Williams, Tehani Wessely, Rosanna Arciuli and Damon Cavalchini then took to the stage to congratulate this year’s winners.<\/p>\n

The onscreen graphics were particularly impressive this year, and Stephanie Smith’s farewell speech particularly touching.<\/p>\n

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Alan Baxter \u2013 catching me, catching him deep in the Twittersphere!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For live event coverage, just follow the #<\/s>aurealis<\/strong><\/a> hashtag on Twitter \u2013 because of course Alan Baxter<\/a> live-tweeted the whole thing \u2013 and there’s a great virtual summary by Sean the Blogonaut here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So… the winners are:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CHILDREN\u2019S FICTION (told primarily through words):<\/strong> City of Lies<\/em> by Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin)<\/p>\n

CHILDREN\u2019S FICTION (told primarily through pictures):<\/strong><\/em> Sounds Spooky<\/em> by Christopher Cheng (author) and Sarah Davis (illustrator) (Random House Australia)<\/p>\n

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Kate Forsyth (Master of Ceremonies) & Gillian Polack (Aurealis Judge)<\/p><\/div>\n

YOUNG ADULT short story:<\/strong> Nation of the Night<\/em> by Sue Isle (Nightsiders<\/em>, Twelfth Planet Press)<\/p>\n

YOUNG ADULT novel<\/strong>:<\/strong> Only Ever Always<\/em> by Penni Russon (Allen & Unwin)<\/p>\n

ILLUSTRATED BOOK \/ GRAPHIC NOVEL: JOINT WINNERS \u2013 <\/strong>Hidden<\/em> by Mirranda Burton (author & illustrator) (Black Pepper) AND The Deep: Here be Dragons<\/em> by Tom Taylor (author) and James Brouwer (illustrator) (Gestault Publishing)<\/p>\n

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Alan Baxter, Gillian Polack (Aurealis Judge) & Russel Farr (Ticonderoga Publications)<\/p><\/div>\n

COLLECTION:<\/strong> Bluegrass Symphony<\/em> by Lisa Hannett (Ticonderoga Publications)<\/p>\n

ANTHOLOGY:<\/strong> Ghosts by Gaslight<\/em> edited by Jack Dann and Nick Gevers (HarperVoyager)<\/strong><\/p>\n

HORROR short story<\/strong>: JOINT WINNERS \u2013 <\/strong>The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt<\/em> by\u00a0Paul Haines\u00a0(The Last Days of Kali Yuga<\/em>,\u00a0Brimstone Press<\/em>) AND The Short Go: a Future in Eight Seconds<\/em> by\u00a0Lisa L. Hannett\u00a0(Bluegrass Symphony<\/em>, Ticonderoga Publications)<\/p>\n

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Pamela Freeman, winner of Best Fantasy Novel “Ember and Ash”.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

HORROR novel<\/strong>: <\/strong>NO SHORTLIST OR WINNING NOVEL \u2013 TWO HONORABLE MENTIONS AWARDED TO:<\/em><\/strong> The Broken Ones<\/em>\u00a0by Stephen M. Irwin (Hachette) AND The Business of Death<\/em>\u00a0by Trent Jamieson (Hachette)<\/p>\n

FANTASY short story<\/strong>:<\/strong> Fruit of the Pipal Tree<\/em> by Thoraiya Dyer (After the Rain<\/em>, FableCroft Publishing)<\/p>\n

FANTASY novel:<\/strong> Ember and Ash <\/em>by Pamela Freeman (Hachette)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kim Westwood, winner Best Science Fiction Novel “The Courier\u2019s New Bicycle”.<\/p><\/div>\n

SCIENCE <\/strong>FICTION short story<\/strong>:<\/strong> Rains of la Strange by Robert N Stephenson (Anywhere but Earth<\/em>, Couer de Lion)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

SCIENCE <\/strong>FICTION novel<\/strong>:<\/strong> The Courier\u2019s New Bicycle\u00a0<\/em>by Kim Westwood (HarperVoyager)<\/p>\n

The Peter McNamara Convenor\u2019s Awards went to Galactic Suburbia.<\/p>\n

The Kris Hembury Encouragement Award went to Emily Craven.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, if you were wondering what to read next \u2013 there\u2019s a list I made for you earlier!<\/p>\n

After a few celebratory drinks in the lobby, there was a writers\u2019 retreat of the liquid variety back at The Rydges Hotel\u2019s Mundo Tapas Bar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Richard Harland<\/p><\/div>\n

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My hubby & Trudi Canavan (Photo by Cat Sparks)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nicky Strickland, Jo Anderton & Jason Nahrung<\/p><\/div>\n

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Alan Baxter & Abigail Nathan (Bothersome Words)<\/p><\/div>\n

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My hubby & Patty Jansen (Photo by Cat Sparks)<\/p><\/div>\n

All up, it was a wonderful night, and I was sad to leave (but had to get back for my babysitter!) \u2013 so thank you SpecFaction NSW<\/a>, HarperVoyager<\/a>, Cosmos Magazine<\/a>, Galaxy Bookshop<\/a> and Judging Coordinator Tehani Wessely. It was a good night \u2013 a good, good night!<\/p>\n

Want more photos? There’s more from the night here<\/a> (by Cat Sparks), here<\/a> (by Tehani Wessely) and here<\/a> (by Richard Harland).<\/p>\n

Oh, and while we\u2019re on the subject of awards \u2013 thank you so much Sydney Aaliyah<\/a> for my blogging award. I love that you love this blog enough to give it an award. Lucky me, for having received this award before, you can read the seven secret things that not very many people know about me here<\/a> \u2013 but, shhh, don’t go telling too many people about them, or they won’t be so secret anymore!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I gotta feeling… that tomorrow night’s gonna be a good night \u2013 a good, good night: #AurealisAwards Such was my tweet on Friday \u2013 and my prediction was spot on. Saturday night at the 17th Annual Aurealis Awards was a good night \u2013 a good, good night! Kicking off with\u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5,7],"tags":[29,56,105,117,137,146,232,264,336,356,400,536,555,556,557,586,587,596,613,627,685],"class_list":["post-4210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australian-authors","category-bookish-inspection","category-writer-advice","tag-alan-baxter","tag-aurealis-awards","tag-cat-sparks","tag-chris-barnes","tag-cosmos-magazine","tag-damon-cavalchini","tag-galaxy-bookshop","tag-harpervoyager","tag-kate-forsyth","tag-kirstyn-mcdermott","tag-margo-lanagan","tag-rosanna-arciuli","tag-scott-westerfeld","tag-sean-the-blogonaut","tag-sean-williams","tag-sophie-masson","tag-specfaction-nsw","tag-stephanie-smith","tag-susan-wardle","tag-tehani-wessely","tag-voyager"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14249,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210\/revisions\/14249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}