AHWA Awards and Announcements

The winners for the 2016 Australian Shadows Awards have been announced. The award is given by the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) and “celebrates the finest in horror and dark fiction published by an Australian or New Zealander.”

Best Short Fiction

• “His Shining Day”, Richard Harland (Dreaming in the Dark)

• “D Is for Death”, Pete Aldin (C is for Chimera)
• “Midnight in the Graffiti Tunnel”, Terry Dowling (Dreaming in the Dark)
• “Protege”, Anthony Ferguson (Monsters Among Us)
• “No Other Men in Mitchell”, Rose Hartley (Nightmare 2/16)
• “Selfie”, Lee Murray (SQ Mag 5/16)
• “What the Sea Wants”, Deb Sheldon (SQ Mag 2/16)
• “Uncontainable”, Helen Stubbs (Apex 12/16)
• “All Roll Over”, Kaaron Warren (In Your Face)
• “Fade to Grey”, Janeen Webb (Dreaming in the Dark)

Best Collected Works

• Crow Shine, Alan Baxter (Ticonderoga)

• Concentration, Jack Dann (PS)
• Everything Is Fine, Grant Stone (Racket House)

Best Edited Work

• Dead of Night, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, ed. (Australian Horror Writers Association)

• Dreaming in the Dark, Jack Dann, ed. (PS Australia)
• At the Edge, Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray, eds. (Paper Road)

Best Novel

• The Grief Hole, Kaaron Warren (IFWG)

• Hollow House, Greg Chapman (Omnium Gatherum)
• The Devil’s Prayer, Luke Gracias (self-published)
• Presumed Dead, Rick Kennett (self-published)
• The Invasion, Brett McBean (Sinister Grin)
• Into the Mist, Lee Murray (Cohesion)
• Unbidden, TJ Park (HarperImpulse)
• Devil Dragon, Deborah Sheldon (Severed)

Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction

• “Tipuna Tapu”, Dan Rabarts (And Then…: The Great Big Book of Awesome Adventure Tales, Vol I)

• Box Of Bones, Jeremy Bates (Ghillinnein)
• “Served Cold”, Alan Baxter (Dreaming in the Dark)
• The Eschatologist, Greg Chapman (Voodoo)
• The Heart of the Mission, Matthew R Davis (Oz Horror Con)
• “Burnt Sugar”, Kirstyn McDermott (Dreaming in the Dark)

There were no nominees in the Comics/Graphic Novels or Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism categories this year.

The AHWA executive committee has created a new President’s Award, to be given to an AHWA member “who has not only gone out of their way to promote their work, but assisted with the horror genre in general, as well as enhanced the public perception, reputation and awareness of the Australasian Horror Writers Association in general.”

Winners for the AHWA Flash and Short Story competition have also been announced:

• Short Story Winner: “Fish”, Chrisi Reardon
• Short Story Runner-Up: “Byzantium”, Joshua Kemp
• Flash Fiction Winner: “Elizabeth”, Xanthe Knox
• Flash Fiction Runner-Up: “Rambling Man”, Andrew Cull

Mentorships have been awarded to Isobel Blackthorn, Anthony Ferguson, and Helen Stubbs, who will each co-edit upcoming issues of Midnight Echo, the magazine of the Australasian Horror Writers Association.

For more information, see the AHWA website.