And now, some Canadian content to balance out the Hugo Awards coverage: the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) has released the slate of nominees for the annual Aurora Awards, which recognize the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy works of the year. In the past, the awards ceremony has been held in conjunction with Canvention, as with the Hugos and Worldcon, but in recent years the organizers have transitioned to an online ceremony in order to allow for a wider viewership. The 2026 ceremony will be livestreamed on YouTube on August 9th - the link will be published closer to the event.
This year's nominees are:
BEST NOVEL
- The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Blight, Rachel A. Rosen
- Direct Descendant, Tanya Huff
- The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine, Robert J. Sawyer
- Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, Heather Fawcett
- A Shift of Time, Julie E. Czerneda
- Written on the Dark, Guy Gavriel Kay
BEST YOUNG ADULT (YA) NOVEL
- Breath of the Dragon, Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee
- Fireboy, Edward Willett
- A Lion’s Head, D.M. De Alwis
- Minotaur, Jamieson Wolf
- One Morning Sun, Avi Silver
- Winging It, Jen Desmarais
BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA
- The First Thousand Trees, Premee Mohamed
- In the Gardener’s Service, Michèle Laframboise
- The Lure of Stone, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- A Palace Near the Wind, Ai Jiang
- The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar
BEST SHORT STORY
- Hunted To Extinction, Premee Mohamed
- I Ain’t Your Doll Face, Jacqueline Thorpe
- the love song of house and lake, Gillian Secord
- The Stone Played at Tengen, R.H. Wesley
- What If We Kissed While Sinking a Billionaire’s Yacht?, Rachel A. Rosen
BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL/COMIC
- Atana and the Jade Mermaid, Vivian Zhou
- Bonds of the Forest, Ally Rom Colthoff
- It Never Rains, Kari Maaren
- Questionable Content, Jeph Jacques
- Shark Girl, Kate Beaton
BEST POEM/SONG
- At the Spaceport Bar, Lisa Timpf
- Bigfoot Farewell, Carolyn Clink
- Dragon Karaoke, David Clink
- Explosive, Derek Newman-Stille
- flowers without meadow, Tiffany Morris
- From Dust, J. Y. Zhang
BEST RELATED WORK
- As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories, Terese Mason Pierre
- Augur Magazine, Issues 8.1-8.3, Kerry C. Byrne, Toria Liao, André Geleynse, Kelley Tai, and Azure Arther
- On Spec Magazine, Issues #131 – 134, Vol 35, Diane L. Walton, Managing Editor
- One Message Remains, Premee Mohamed
- Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three, Stephen Kotowych, Editor
BEST COVER ART/INTERIOR ILLUSTRATION
- Dancing With the Holly King, Janice Blaine
- Seance, Alice M.
- Lunar Base, Dan O’Driscoll
- Starship Librarians, Lorna Antoniazzi
- Listen to Me and I’ll tell You a Story, Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe
BEST FAN WRITING AND PUBLICATION
- Amazing Stories online columns, Numbers 405-420, Steve Fahnestalk
- Book Reviews in The Ottawa Review of Books, Robert Runté
- Polar Starlight Magazine, Issues 17-20, Rhea E. Rose, editor
- Speculative Poetry and the Hugos, Lynne Sargen
- Young People Read Old Science Fiction, James Davis Nicoll
BEST FAN RELATED WORK
- Can*Con, Marie Bilodeau, chair and Brandon Crilly, vice-chair
- Scintillation, Jo Walton and Rene Walling, co-chairs
- Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi, Troy Harkin and David Clink
- Wizards & Spaceships, Rachel A. Rosen and David L. Clink
- The Worldshapers Podcast, Edward Willett
I see that The Infinite Revolution has not received a nomination this year - obviously not a surprise, but can you imagine? Joking aside, I suspect that my little hobby is a bit too casual for awards consideration - although, we are coming up on the 20th anniversary of this blog, perhaps I should be recognized for sheer persistence.
- Sid
