The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW 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 current 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 fiction told primarily through words, children's fiction told primarily through pictures, 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 children's fiction (told primarily through pictures) category, as well as works that have received honourable mentions or have been highly commended. The best children's fiction (told primarily through pictures) award was created in 2001, as best children's short fiction, along with an award for children's long fiction. In 2008 the award was renamed "best children's illustrated work/picture book" and in 2010 was renamed again to "best children's fiction (told primarily through pictures)". Since 2001, hounarable mentions and high commendations have been awarded intermittently. Of the 20 winners, Kim Gamble is the only person to have won the award multiple times, with two wins. Anna Fienberg holds the record for most nominations with six, and Barbara Fienberg has the most nominations without winning, having been a losing finalist four times.
Famous quotes containing the words award, children, fiction and/or primarily:
“The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly: no poem ever attains such carat purity.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“If we have come to think that the nursery and the kitchen are the natural sphere of a woman, we have done so exactly as English children come to think that a cage is the natural sphere of a parrot: because they have never seen one anywhere else.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“For if the proper study of mankind is man, it is evidently more sensible to occupy yourself with the coherent, substantial and significant creatures of fiction than with the irrational and shadowy figures of real life.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
“The textile and needlework arts of the world, primarily because they have been the work of women have been especially written out of art history. It is a male idea that to be “high” and “fine” both women and art should be beautiful, but not useful or functional.”
—Patricia Mainardi (b. 1942)