Aurealis Award for best young adult short story
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 young-adult short story category. Margo Lanagan has won the award three times and Isobelle Carmody has won it twice. Lanagan also holds the record for most nominations, with ten.
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 | Short story | Publisher or publication | Ref |
| * | Viking Press | |||
| Omnibus Books | ||||
| Lothian Books | ||||
| Hyland House | ||||
| Penguin Books | ||||
| * | Lothian Books | |||
| Lothian Books | ||||
| HarperCollins | ||||
| * | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Hodder Headline | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| * | Dreamwalker | Lothian Books | ||
| Simon & Schuster | ||||
| * | Allen & Unwin | |||
| CSFG Publishing | ||||
| Viking Press | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| * | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| * | Lothian Books | |||
| Eidolon Books | ||||
| Eidolon Books | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| * | Ticonderoga Publications | |||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| Eclipse | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| * | Shiny | |||
| Norilana Books | ||||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| DAW Books | ||||
| * | CSFG Publishing | |||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| Shiny | ||||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||||
| Shiny | ||||
| * | Allen & Unwin | |||
| FableCroft Publishing | ||||
| Shiny | ||||
| & Tansy Rayner Roberts | FableCroft Publishing | |||
| Tangled Bank Press | ||||
| * | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| Candlewick Press | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Allen & Unwin | ||||
| Twelfth Planet Press | ||||
| * | Clarkesworld Magazine | |||
| Ford Street Publishing | ||||
| Ford Street Publishing | ||||
| Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 56 | ||||
| BusyBird Publishing | ||||
| * | Ticonderoga Publications | |||
| FableCroft Publishing | ||||
| FableCroft Publishing | ||||
| Ticonderoga Publications | ||||
| * | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| Celapene Press | ||||
| Apex Magazine | ||||
| Omnibus Books | ||||
| Twelfth Planet Press | ||||
| * | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| "In Sheep's Clothing" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 61 | |||
| CSFG | ||||
| Sorin Suciu | ||||
| "Blueblood" | Ticonderoga Publications | |||
| Welcome to Orphancorp | Seizure | |||
| * | "Pretty Jennie Greenteeth" | Belladonna Publishing | ||
| "A Right Pretty Mate" | PS Australia | |||
| "Dune Time" | Tor.com | |||
| "No One Here is Going to Save You" | FableCroft Publishing | |||
| "Did We Break the End of the World" | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| * | Girl Reporter | Book Smugglers | ||
| "One Small Step" | HarperCollins Australia | |||
| "I Can See the Ending" | HarperCollins Australia | |||
| "Competition Entry #349" | HarperCollins Australia | |||
| "First Casualty" | HarperCollins Australia | |||
| "Oona Underground" | HarperCollins Australia | |||
| * | "" | Interzone 277 | ||
| "A Robot Like Me" | Twelfth Planet Press | |||
| "The Moon Collector" | Owl Hollow Press | |||
| "Eight Step Koan" | Ate Bit Bear | |||
| "For Weirdless Days and Weary Nights" | Breach 08 | |||
| The Jindabyne Secret | Deadset Press | |||
| Glass-Heart | SOV Media | |||
| "Dragon By Subscription" | ||||
| "Seaweed" | Breach 11 | |||
| "Each City" | Walker Books Australia | |||
| "Rats" | Walker Books Australia |