Congratulations to the winners and shortlisted finalists of the 2026 Aurealis Awards. The panel judged awards were presented at Genrecon in Brisbane.
The ceremony was emceed by Melbourne based science fiction writer Eugen Bacon, who graced the stage with fabulous fun energy.
Winners included Coey Jae White and Maddison Stoff for Best Science fiction Short Story with ‘Do Motorcycle Centaurs Dream of Five Stars and a Tip?’ and T.R. Napper for Best Science Fiction Novella with ‘The Hidden God’.
The Aurealis awards are entering a new era with the Queensland Writers Centre (QCW) – the team behind Genrecon – officially taking over the administration of the awards. At the end of the ceremony QCW CEO Lori-Jay Ellis gave a speech thanking Tehani Croft, lead judge of the awards, for her years of incredible stewardship and stressed that the QWC would not be trying to fill the shoes of Tehani, but would continue to build on what she had achieved.
The Swancon committee are hoping that while taking on the Aurealis Awards the QWC may also be able to reinstate the Norma K. Hemming Award for SF writing that engages with themes of race, gender and/or queer identities.
The full list of winners and finalists can be found at https://aurealisawards.org/
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