The Ditmar Awards have been awarded at the National Science Fiction conventions since 1969 in order to recognise achievements in Australian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. Named after Melbourne fan Martin James Ditmar Jenssen, the award differs from the World Science Fiction Convention’s Hugo Awards in that it focuses on national works - while at times the awards have included international categories, currently they are exclusively awarded to Australian who are nominated (which includes both Australian citizens and permanent residents).

Voting

Voting for the Ditmar Awards is now closed, and the 2009 winners have been announced. Winners have been marked out in bold text, below.

Any correspondence on the 2009 Ditmars may be addressed to ditmars@conjecture2009.org.

Best Novel

• Fivefold, Nathan Burrage (Random House)
• Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch, Simon Haynes (Fremantle Press)
• Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)
• How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbaliester (Allen & Unwin)
• The Daughters of Moab, Kim Westwood (HarperVoyager)
• Earth Ascendant (Astropolis, book 2), Sean Wiliams (Orbit)

Best Novella

• “Soft Viscosity”, David Conyers, (in 2012, Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Night Heron’s Curse”, Thoraiya Dyer (in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, #37)
• “Angel Rising“, Dirk Flinthart (Twelfth Planet Press)
• “Creeping in Reptile Flesh”, Robert Hood (in Creeping in Reptile Flesh, Altair Australia Books)
• “Painlessness”, Kirstyn McDermott (in GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 2, Spring 2008)

Best Short Story

• “Pale Dark Soldier”, Deborah Biancotti (in Midnight Echo, #2)
• “This Is Not My Story”, Dirk Flinthart (in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, #37)
• “The Goosle”, Margo Lanagan (in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ellen Datlow (ed), Del Rey)
• “Her Collection of Intimacy”, Paul Haines (in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine, #2)
• “Moments of Dying”, Rob Hood (in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine, #1)
• “Sammarynda Deep”, Cat Sparks (in Paper Cities, Ekaterina Sedia (ed), Senses Five Press)
• “Ass-Hat Magic Spider”, Scott Westerfeld (in The Starry Rift, Jonathan Strahan (ed), Viking Juvenile)

Best Collected Work

• Dreaming Again, Jack Dann (ed), (Harper Voyager)
• Canterbury 2100: Pilgrimages in a new world, Dirk Flinthart (ed), (Agog! Press)
• 2012, Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne (eds), (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Midnight Echo, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond (eds), (Australian Horror Writers Association)
• Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine, Angela Challis (ed), (Brimstone Press)
• Creeping In Reptile Flesh, Robert Hood (Altair Australia Books)
• The Starry Rift, Jonathon Strahan (ed), (Viking Juvenile)

Best Artwork

• Aurealis #40 (cover), Adam Duncan (Chimera Publications)
• The Last Realm, Book 1 - Dragonscarpe, Michal Dutkiewicz (Angel Phoenix Publishing)
• Black Box (gallery), Andrew McKiernan (Brimstone Press)
• Creeping In Reptile Flesh (cover), Cat Sparks (Altair Australia Books)
• 2012 (cover), Cat Sparks (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)

Best Fan Writer

• Craig Bezant, Horrorscope
• Edwina Harvey, Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet
• Rob Hood, Undead Backbrain
• Chuck McKenzie, Horrorscope
• Mark Smith-Briggs, Horrorscope
• Brenton Tomlinson, Horrorscope

Best Fan Artist

• Rachel Holkner, for “Gumble” (soft toy) and other works
• Nancy Lorenz for body of work
• Andrew McKiernan for body of work
• Tansy Rayner Roberts for “Daleks are a Girl’s Best Friend“
• David Schembri for body of work
• Cat Sparks for Scary Food Cookbook (Agog! Press)
• Anna Tambour, “Box of Noses” and other works

Best Fan Publication

• Horrorscope, Shane Jiraiya Cummings et al. (ed) (Brimstone Press)
• Scary Food Cookbook, Cat Sparks (ed) (Agog! Press)
• ASif! Australian Speculative Fiction In Focus, Alisa Krasnostein and Gene Melzack (eds) (Twelfth Planet Press)
• Australian SF Bullsheet, Edwina Harvey and Ted Scribner (eds)

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

• “Dark Suspense: The End of the Line”, Shane Jiraiya Cummings (in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #3)
• “George A. Romero: Master of the Living Dead”, Robert Hood (in Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
• “Bad Film Diaries - Sometimes the Brand Burns: Tim Burton and the Planet of the Apes”, Grant Watson (in Borderlands #10)
• “Popular genres and the Australian literary community: the case of fantasy fiction”, Kim Wilkins (in Journal of Australian Studies, Vol 32, Issue 2)

Best Achievement

• Angela Challis for Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine and Brimstone Press
• Marty Young and the AHWA Committe for promoting horror through the Australian Horror Writers Association
• Talie Helene for her work as Australian Horror Writers Association News Editor
• Steven Clark for Tasmaniac Publications
• Damien Broderick for fiction editing in Cosmos Magazine
• James Doig for preserving colonial Australian horror fiction and his anthologies Australian Gothic and Australian Nightmares
• James “Jocko” Allen and KRin Pender-Gunn for The Gunny Project: A tribute to Ian Gunn 1959-1998, presented at the Melbourne SF Club

Best New Talent

• Peter M. Ball
• Felicity Dowker
• Jason Fischer
• Gary Kemble
• Amanda Pillar

Nominations for the Ditmar Awards closed on the 4th of May, 2009. The call for nominations page has details about the process.

Business Meeting

As well as awarding the Ditmars, Conjecture, as the National SF Convention, hosted the annual Business Meeting, where changes to the Ditmar rules could be discussed.