The Australian Shadows is an annual award presented by the The Australian Horror Writers Association, (AHWA) and judged on the overall effect - the skill, delivery, and lasting resonance - of a work of horror fiction written or edited by an Australian and published either in Australia or overseas.
A shortlist of works comprising short stories, novels, collections and/or anthologies is selected by a panel of three judges and presented to that year's Guest Judge for selection of the winner. The shortlisted entries will are announced in March/April of each year following judging.
2008 Shadows Award Winner
The Claws of Native Ghosts" by Lee Battersby
(Published in The Beast Within, edited by Matt Hults, Graveside Books)
Lee Battersby is the multi-award winning author of over 70 stories, with publications in Australia, the US, and Europe. He lives in Western Australia with his wife, writer Lyn Battersby, a brood of kids, and a niggling sense of doom. This is the second time Lee has won the Australian Shadows Award, the first being in 2006 with his story "Father Muerte & The Flesh".
2008 Shortlists
Friday FEB 13TH, 2009 - The Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) has selected five of the best and scariest works of Australian horror fiction from 2008 as the finalists in the annual Australian Shadows Award.
The Australian Shadows Award is an annual jury-judged literary award issued by the AHWA that honours the very best works of Australian dark fiction published in the preceding year.
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
• "The Claws of Native Ghosts" by Lee Battersby (The Beast Within, ed. Matt Hults, Graveside Tales) - Winner
• "This Way To The Exit" by Sara Douglass (Dreaming Again, ed. Jack Dann, HarperCollins/Voyager)
• "Rick Gets a Job" by Jason Fischer (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37)
• "Lakeside" by Christopher Green (Dreaming Again, ed. Jack Dann, HarperCollins/Voyager)
• "Her Collection of Intimacy" by Paul Haines (Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine #2)
This year's shortlist is notable for the inclusion of Christopher Green, whose first published short story earned him this award nomination, and Paul Haines and best-selling fantasy author Sara Douglass, who are both battling cancer but still producing genre-defining work. Finalist Lee Battersby won the inaugural Australian Shadows Award in 2005. Lee is also notable as the author who has been nominated for the Australian Shadows Award the most number of times. This is his fourth nomination.
The winner of the 2008 Australian Shadows Award, to be determined by guest judge Sarah Endacott (acclaimed editor of Orb magazine) will be announced on March 13. The judges for this year's awards were Shane Jiraiya Cummings (AHWA Vice President and author of Shards), Brett McBean (author of The Mother), and Chuck McKenzie (author of Confessions of a Pod Person).
2007 Winner
"Toother" by Terry Dowling
(Published in Eclipse 1, edited by Jonathan Strahan, Night Shade Books)
A specialist in the short form, Terry Dowling has had more than 100 short stories published. He is the author of the collections Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear, Blackwater Days, An Intimate Knowledge of the Night, Antique Futures, Rynosseros, and Rynemonn. Dowling has also written several computer games and edited anthologies. His Australian Shadows Award win adds to an impressive awards resume, including wins in the International Horror Guild Awards, Ditmar Awards, and Aurealis Awards.
2007 Shortlist
Matthew Chrulew, "Between the Memories", Aurealis #38/39
David Conyers, "Subtle Invasion", The Black Book of Horror (Mortbury Press)
Winner: Terry Dowling, "Toother", Eclipse 1 (Night Shade Books)
Rick Kennett, "The Dark and What It Said", ASIM #28
Martin Livings, "There Was Darkness", Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
Jason Nahrung, The Darkness Within, Hachette Livre
Honourable Mentions
David Conyers & John Sunseri, The Spiraling Worm, Chaosium
Kaaron Warren, "Cooling the Crows", In Bad Dreams (Eneit Press)
Marty Young, "The Wildflowers", Fantastic Wonder Stories (Ticonderoga Publications)
2006 Winner
Will Elliott - The Pilo Family Circus
2005 Winner
Lee Battersby - Father Muerte and the Rain
Humour