The Ditmar Awards are Australia’s fan-voted awards of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and the more people who get involved, the better!
The nomination process is simple, nominations are open to anyone active in fandom (ie anyone who reads fantasy, sci-fi or horror, or are part of community celebrating one or all genres), or any member of Conflux 16, the 2021 Australian National SF Convention (https://conflux.org.au/). Chances are that if you’re reading this, you are eligible!
You can read through the massive list of eligible pieces here, and you can nominate your favourite stories/books/collections through this form: https://ditmars.sf.org.au/2021/nominations.html.
I’m sharing this for two reasons.
First, I’m all about supporting fellow Australian authors, and recognising and celebrating amazing work (which you probably all know about already). Having more people get involved and nominating pieces they loved will allow more authors to be recognised and have their work celebrated!
The second reason is that I have two main dreams as a writer; to see one of my books on the shelf in a bookstore, and to be nominated or shortlisted for an Aurealis or a Ditmar award.
As it happens, I do have some eligible pieces:
Best Short Story
- “A Song for Ganymede”, Austin P. Sheehan in Planet Scumm #9.
- “The Arietis Showdown”, Austin P. Sheehan in Aries: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac, Deadset Press.
- “The Betrayal of Ikhthus”, Austin P. Sheehan in Pisces: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac, Deadset Press.
- “The Escape”, Austin P. Sheehan in Virgo: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac, Deadset Press.
- “The Taurean”, Austin P. Sheehan in Taurus: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac, Deadset Press.
Out of these, my personal favourites are ‘A Song for Ganymede,’ ‘The Betrayal of Ikhthus,‘ and ‘The Taurean.’ If you haven’t had a chance to read them yet, click on the links to find out where you can get them!
Best Collected Work
- Aquarius: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan, Mikhaeyla Kopievsky, and Alanah Andrews, Deadset Press.
- Aries: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan, Mikhaeyla Kopievsky, and Nikky Lee, Deadset Press.
- Cancer: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan and Helena McAuley, Deadset Press.
- Gemini: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan, Nikky Lee, and Matthew Copping, Deadset Press.
- Leo: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan, Deadset Press.
- Libra: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan and Helena McAuley, Deadset Press.
- Pisces: A Zodiac Anthology, Nikky Lee and Austin P. Sheehan, Deadset Press.
- Taurus: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan, Helena McAuley and Mikhaeyla Kopievsky, Deadset Press.
- Virgo: A Zodiac Anthology, Austin P. Sheehan and Mikhaeyla Kopievsky, Deadset Press.
These, of course, are the Zodiac anthologies that I’ve helped collate, edit and publish throughout 2020. It’s been a busy year!
Anyway, make sure you get involved and nominate your favourite stories, it’s an easy way to support and show appreciation to your favourite Australian authors!
Austin P. Sheehan 