Awards at Swancon
Swancon 50 played host to the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation Fan Awards – The Tin Ducks – and the National Australian Fan Awards – The Ditmars. The award ceremony was held at the convention at the Pagoda Hotel on the evening of Sunday the 31st of May.
Below are the full list of nominees and winners
Tin Duck Awards
Congratulations to the winners and shortlisted nominees for the 2026 Tin Duck Awards. The 2026 Tin Duck Awards are a fan voted award for works of SF by Western Australian residents published in the 2025 calendar year.
Best WA Long Written Work
Winner
The Amber Owl – Juliet Marillier – New Dawn Publishers
Nominees
Paragon Of Faith – Amanda Bridgeman – Black Library/Games Workshop
The Good, The Bad, and The Sinless – Stephen Dedman – InMediaRes Productions
The Obituary – Martin Livings – independently published
Best WA Short Written Work
Winner
Whispers – Martin Livings – Samhain Screams, Black Beacon Press
Nominees
Through These Moments, Darkly – Samantha Murray – Clarkesworld
Ankles! – Matthew Churlew – Subtle Body Press
The Truth About Santa (untitled) – Rob Masters – published on aus.social
Best WA Art Work
Winner
Swancon 49 Logo Design – Bec Handcock – Swancon 49
Nominees
Dream Walker #1 – Christopher Wood – Gestalt Comics
Dragon Pottery – Lisa Rye – Swancon 49 Art Show
Night Skies, Acrylic on Wood – Emma Hawkes – Swancon 49 Art Show
After The Telescope – Alicia “Leece” Smith – Swancon 49 Art Show
Best WA Production
Winner
Lace and Steel – Pauli Kidd – YouTube
Nominees
Shakespeare’s The Tempest – Class Act Theatre
Collection of Micro Fictions – Rob Masters
Full Bleed hardcore colouring book – Kane Gallagher – Wildnorth Comics
Best WA Game
Winner
Heihō The Art of War – Pauli Kid – Hellion & Company
Nominees
Misc. A Tiny Tale – Tinyware Games – Tinyware Games
Neyyah – Defy Reality Entertainment – MicroProse Software
Windswept – WeatherFell – Top Hat Studios, Inc.
2026 Ditmars
The Ditmar awards are a fan voted award for works of SF by Australian residents. The award candidates were nominated by members of the Continuum, Conflux or Swancon conventions from 2022-2026. Congratulations to the winners and nominees.
Best New Talent
Winner
Jeff Clulow
Nominees
KA Burgess
Fionn MacPherson
Scott Steensma
Greg Foyster
Meg Wright / Red Wallflower
Emmi Khor
Adam Richard
Roanne Lau
Short Story
Winner
‘Bitter Skin’, Kaaron Warren (Night and Day, Saga)
Nominees
‘A Shortcut via the New Tunnel, M-ate’, CH Pearce, (Never Say Die, CSFG)
‘Phantom Loop’, S L Johnson [with Gio Clairval] (Tales from the Crosstimbers, Crosstimbers Publications LLC)
‘Scorpion Girl’, Janeen Webb (Scorpion Girl, PS Publishing)
‘The Girlfriend Experience’, CZ Tacks (Lightspeed Magazine)
‘Through These Moments, Darkly’, Samantha Murray, (Clarkesworld)
Novella/Novelette
Winner
‘The Hidden God’, Tim Napper (Asimov’s March/April)
Nominees
‘Cinder House’, Freya Marske
‘The Cold House’, AG Slatter
‘A Second Coming’, Janeen Webb
‘Drowning in the Dark’, Matt Tighe
Novel
Winner
Honeyeater, Kathleen Jennings (Pan Macmillan)
Nominees
The Crimson Road, AG Slatter (Titan Books)
Veil, Jeff Clulow, (Third Eye Press)
Upon a Starlit Tide, Kell Woods (Harper Collins)
When Dark Waters Burn, Zena Shapter (Midnight Sun Publishing)
Collected Work
Winner
This Dark Architect and Other Grim Tales, Pamela Jeffs (Four Ink Press)
Nominees
Drowning in the Dark and Other Stories, Matt Tighe (IFWG)
Songs of Shadow, Words of Woe, Matthew R Davis (JournalStone)
The Leper’s Garden and Other Contagions, Jeff Clulow (Third Eye Press)
Scorpion Girl and Other Stories, Janeen Webb (PS Publishing)
Professional Artwork
Winner
Honeyeater internal art, Kathleen Jennings
Nominees
Never Say Die cover, Maddison Lee
The Ship’s Big Steaming Log: the Book of Bladderwrack, Adam Browne
Rebels & Rainbows cover, C.H. Pearce
Fan Art
Winner
Brave New Wardrobe, Conflux 19 art show, Kaaron Warren
Nominees
Gideon the Ninth fan art, Annalise Jensen
Instagram art, Elise Miller
FaN Writer
Winner
Ian Mond reviews, Substack
Nominees
Leigh Edmonds, Ornithopter
Jan MacNally reviews, Ethel the Aardvark fanzine (MSFC)
Rob Masters, writings on aus.social
Claire Fitzpatrick, ‘Frankenstein in Pop-Culture’ (Aurealis)
Fan Publication
Winner
Aurealis Awards: Behind the Curtain podcast, Alexandra Pierce
Nominees
Going Prose podcast, A.D. Ellicott and C.Z. Tacks
Recent Reads book reviews blog, Leanbh Pearson
The Narratives Library, Karena Wynn-Moylan
Terry Talks Movies, Youtube, Terry Frost
The William Atheling Jr Award
Winner
Story Thinking and the Real-world Applications of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing by Helen Marshall, Kim Wilkins & Lisa Bennett
Nominees
Eugen Bacon, ‘Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: Finding the Self in Other’, Strange Horizons
Ian Mond for review in Locus
‘The Horror of Australian Literary Censorship’, Louise Zedda Sampson, in Midnight Echo #20
‘When ‘EAT THE RICH’ Is Not Enough: Horror Meets Late-Stage Capitalism’, Kirstyn McDermott, Ruadán Books
‘Almost a Witch’, Freyja Stokes, Speculative Insight
Stephen Herczeg, ‘The Lost World: its influence on modern science fiction’, Steel True Blade Straight 2025/26, Belanger Books
Stephen Herczeg, ‘August Derleth and the rise of the Cthulhu Mythos’, The Pontine Dossier Millenium Edition 2025, Belanger Books
Russell Blackford, ‘Mass Appeal: Stephen Dedman’s Genre Alchemy’, Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, issue 57
Russell Blackford, ‘Remembering Damien Broderick: A starlit mind in the cosmos of ideas’, SF Commentary 120
