2024 Ditmar Awards Preliminary Ballot

The preliminary ballot for the 2024 Ditmar Awards for Australian SF has been announced.

Best Novel

• Polyphemus, Zachary Ashford (DarkLit)
• The Tangled Lands, Glenda Larke (Wizard’s Tower)
• The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin)
• Dream Weaver, Steven Paulsen (IFWG)
• When Dark Roots Hunt, Zena Shapter (MidnightSun)
• Traitor’s Run, Keith Stevenson (coeur de lion)

Best Novella or Novelette

• “The Measure of Sorrow”, J. Ashley-Smith (The Measure of Sorrow: Stories)
• “The Leaves Forget”, Alan Baxter (The Leaves Forget)
• “Quicksilver”, J.S. Breukelaar (Vandal: Stories of Damage)
• “Eight or Die”, Thoraiya Dyer (Clarkesworld 11/23 – 12/23)
• “A Marked Man”, T.R. Napper (Grimdark 10/23)
• “Bitters”, Kaaron Warren (Bitters)
• “The Deathplace Set”, Kaaron Warren (Vandal: Stories of Damage)

Best Short Story

• “Highway Requiem”, T.R. Napper (F&SF 5-6/23)
• “Jimmy Flip Brings His Little One to Work, and It Comes My Turn to Hold It”, C.H. Pearce (Body of Work)
• “Antarctica Starts Here”, Lucy Sussex (Overland Autumn ’23)
• “There Are Things on Me”, Matt Tighe (Killer Creatures Down Under)
• “Trial by Fire”, Matt Tighe (Etherea Magazine Winter ’23)

Best Collected Work

• The Measure of Sorrow: Stories, J. Ashley-Smith (Meerkat)
• This Fresh Hell, Katya de Becerra & Narrelle M. Harris, eds. (Clan Destine)
• Body of Work, C.Z. Tacks, ed. (CSFG)
• Vandal: Stories of Damage, Kaaron Warren, Aaron Dries, J.S. Breukelaar (Crystal Lake)

Best Artwork

• Cover art, Greg Chapman for Polyphemus (DarkLit Press)
• Illustrations and cover art, Marc McBride for Glow (Allen & Unwin)
• Illustrations, Steve Simpson for Texture of Silence (Independent Legions Publishing)
• Cover art, Meg Wright (Red Wallflower) for Midnight Echo 18

Best Fan Writer

• Leigh Edmonds
• Bruce Gillespie
• Jan MacNally
• Perry Middlemiss

Best Fan Artist

• Stella Marie
• C.H. Pearce
• David L. Russell
• Lyss Wickramasinghe

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

• Ethel the Aardvark
• Let the Cat In 
• SF Commentary
• Terry Talks Movies
• The Writer and the Critic

Best New Talent

• C.H. Pearce
• Leanbh Pearson
• C.Z. Tacks

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

• Claire Fitzpatrick, ed., A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft (IFWG Publishing)
• Claire Fitzpatrick, “The Continuing Longevity of Speculative Fiction Spin-offs” (Aurealis 4/23)
• Ian Mond, for reviews in Locus
• Gillian Polack, “An Introduction to Dr Nikola, Guy Boothby’s Infamous Invention” (Aurealis 9/23)

Some categories have more than five nominees due to ties, and some have fewer due to insufficient nominations. Winners will be announced at the 2024 Ditmar Awards ceremony, hosted during Conflux 18, to be held October 4-7, 2024 in Canberra, Australia.

---

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.

©Locus Magazine. Copyrighted material may not be republished without permission of LSFF.