# Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novella

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction. The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has identified the award as an honour to be taken seriously.
The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists. Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner. The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best science fiction novella category. Stephanie Gunn, Garth Nix, and T. R. Napper are tied in the record for most wins (one) and nominations (three).

## Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the story's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.
* Winners and joint winners  * Nominees on the shortlist
| Year | Author(s) | Novella | Publisher or publication |
| 2015 | Garth Nix* | "By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers" | Random House (Old Venus) |
| 2015 | Jack Bridges | "Blood and Ink" | Prizm Books |
| 2015 | Sean Monaghan | "The Molenstraat Music Festival" | Asimovs' Science Fiction |
| 2016 | Nick T. Chan* | "Salto Mortal" | Lightspeed (#73) |
| 2016 | Deborah Biancotti | Waking in Winter | PS Publishing |
| 2016 | Thoraiya Dyer | "Going Viral" | Dimension6 (#8) |
| 2016 | Rose Mulready | The Bonobo's Dream | Seizure Press |
| 2016 | Simon Petrie | "All the Colours of the Tomato" | Dimension6 (#9) |
| 2016 | Tansy Rayner Roberts | "Did We Break the End of the World?" | Twelfth Planet Press (Defying Doomsday) |
| 2017 | Tansy Rayner Roberts* | Girl Reporter | (self-published) |
| 2017 | Stephanie Gunn | "This Silent Sea" | Review of Australian Fiction (Vol 24 No 6) |
| 2017 | Will Kostakis | "I Can See the Ending" | HarperCollins Australia (Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology) |
| 2017 | D. K. Mok | "The Wandering Library" | Ticonderoga Publications (Ecopunk!) |
| 2017 | Shauna O'Meara | "Island Green" | Ticonderoga Publications (Ecopunk!) |
| 2017 | Simon Petrie | Matters Arising from the Identification of the Body | Peggy Bright Books |
| 2018 | Stephanie Gunn* | "Pinion" | Ticonderoga Publications (Aurum) |
| 2018 | Joanne Anderton | "I Almost Went to the Library Last Night" | Ticonderoga Publications (Aurum) |
| 2018 | Jodi Cleghorn | The Starling Requiem | eMergent Publishing |
| 2018 | Stephanie Gunn | Icefall | Twelfth Planet Press |
| 2018 | Samantha Murray | "Singles' Day" | Interzone (#277) |
| 2018 | Corey J. White | Static Ruin | Tor.com |
| 2019 | Shauna O'Meara* | "'Scapes Made Diamond" | Interzone (#280) |
| 2019 | Sean Monaghan | "Ventiforms" | Asimov's Science Fiction |
| 2019 | Cat Sparks | "You Will Remember Who You Were" | Dimension6 (#16) |
| 2019 | Marlee Jane Ward | Prisoncorp | Seizure, an imprint of Brio Books |
| 2020 | T. R. Napper* | "The Weight of the Air, The Weight of the World" | Grimdark Magazine (Neon Leviathan) |
| 2020 | Grace Chan | "Jigsaw Children" | Clarkesworld (#161) |
| 2020 | Thoraiya Dyer | "Generation Gap" | Clarkesworld (#161) |
| 2020 | Nikky Lee | "Dingo & Sister" | Andromeda Spaceways Magazine (#78) |
| 2021 | Samantha Murray | "Preserved in Amber" | Clarkesworld (#178) |
| 2021 | Baden Chant | "Access Denied" | Aurealis (#142) |
| 2021 | Craig Cormick | The Cruise to the End of the World | Merino |
| 2021 | D. K. Mok | "The Birdsong Fossil" | World Weaver Press (Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures) |
| 2021 | Sean Monaghan | "Problem Landing" | Analog (March/April 2021) |
| 2021 | T. R. Napper | "A Vast Silence" | F&SF (Nov/Dec 2021) |
| 2022 | Amanda Cool | Resembling Lepus | Grey Matter Press |
| 2022 | T. R. Napper | “The Goruden-Mairu Job” | Night, Rain, and Neon, NewCon Press |
| 2022 | Garth Nix | “The Sisters of Saint Nicola of The Almost Perpetual Motion vs the Lurch” | Tor.com |
| 2022 | Matthew Reilly | Cobalt Blue | Pan Macmillan |
| 2023 | Thoraiya Dyer | “Eight or die” | Clarkesworld #206/207 |
| 2023 | Tim Hawken | Killware | Seahawk Press |
| 2023 | Nikky Lee | Once we flew | self-published |
| 2023 | A D Lyall | The last to go | Shawline Publishing Group |
| 2023 | Garth Nix | “Showdown on planetoid Pencrux” | Asimov’s Science Fiction, July/August 2023 |
| 2023 | Kaaron Warren | Bitters | Cemetery Dance |