Sir Julius Vogel Award Finalists Announced

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand has announced the finalists for the 2023 Sir Julius Vogel Awards, which recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy, and horror works by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents. This round of awards will honor material published in 2022.

The awards were named for Sir Julius Vogel, the eighth Premiere of New Zealand, serving from 1973 to 1875 and again in 1876. Vogel wrote Anno Domini 2000 – A Woman’s Destiny (1889), considered to be the first full-length science fiction novel by a New Zealander. The book’s utopian futurism portrayed many women in positions of power, and many favorably compare the book to today’s reality in New Zealand. The award was named after Vogel at OdysseyCon in 2001, by a near-unanimous vote.

 

Professional Awards Section

Best Novel – Adult

• Brightest Star by Andy Southall (Amapur Press)
• Tarquin the Honest: The Hand of Glodd by Gareth Ward (Bateman Books)
• A Rake of His Own by A.J. Lancaster (Camberion Press)
• Chevalier & Gawayn: The Ballad of the Dreamer by Phillip Mann (Quentin Wilson Publishing)
• City of Souls by Mel Harding-Shaw (Coruscate Press)
• Ithaca Bound by Kirsten McKenzie (Squabbling Sparrows Press)

Best Novel – Youth

• The 716 by S.J. Pratt (self published)
• The Carbonite’s Daughter by Deryn Pittar (IFWG Publishing Australia)
• Onesies and Ouijaboards by Jamie Sands (Grey Kelpie Studio)
• Earth’s Embrace by Lani Wendt Young (Nafanua Press)
• The Rarkyn’s Familiar by Nikky Lee (Parliament House Press)

Best Novella

• Goldie by Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s Science Fiction)
• Wddings and Wichcraft by Andi C. Buchanan (Sleepy Squid Press)
• Murmurs of Magic by K.M. Jackways (Old Souls Press)
• Curses and Cousins by Helen Vivienne Fletcher (HVF Publishing)
• How to Get a Girlfriend (When You’re a Terrifying Monster) by Marie Cardno (Paper Road Press)
• Three Past Desolation Cut by Grant Stone (Lost Colony Books)
• Data and Divination by Andi C. Buchanan (Sleepy Squid Press)

Best Novelette

• “The Source of Lightning” by Anthony Lapwood (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• How to Marry a Winged King by A.J. Lancaster (FaRoFeb)
• “The Ether of 1939” by Anthony Lapwood (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• The Library by Helen Vivienne Fletcher (Fablecroft Publishing)
• “Provided With Eyes, Thou Departed” by Anthony Lapwood (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Best Short Story

• “Anamnesis” by Jack Remiel Cottrell (New Zealand Listener)
• “My Nascent Garden” by Melanie Harding-Shaw (Analog July/August)
• “Born From the Drowning Forest” by James Rowland (Strange Horizons)
• “If We Do Not Fly at Sunset” by Andi C. Buchanan (Lightspeed)
• “One Last Job” by Jamie Sands (Strange Horizons)
• “From Here” by Grant Stone (Kaleidoscope)

Best Collected Work

• The Devil Took Her by Michael Botur (The Sager Group)
• Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol 4 edited by Emily Brill-Holland (Paper Road Press)
• Reflections by Tabatha Wood (self published)
• Tales From The Tavern by Jamie Sands (Grey Kelpie Studios)
• Home Theatre by Anthony Lapwood (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Best Artwork

• Rebecca Hawkes – Cover of Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol 4 (Paper Road Press)
• Xephia – Miriel and Galadriel
• Laya Rose – Cover of Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth (Speculatively Queer)
• Vivienne To – Cover of Last Fallen Moon (Disney Hyperion)
• Deanna Gunn – Mona (Dislyte)

Best Production/Publication

• The Black Archive #61 – Paradise Towers by John Toon

 

Fan Awards Section

Best Fan Writing

• Review of Violet Black by Dylan Howell (My Opinion on Books)
• Pass the Rules by Jo Toon (as published in Phoenixine)
• “SITREP” by Alex Lindsay (as published in Phoenixine)
• No Horror Without the Body: How Body Horror Helped Me Embrace Being Nonbinary by Tabatha Wood (tabathawood.com)
• Two Computers Discuss Human Happiness by Ashley Langlocke (self published)
• Conservation, Red in Tooth and Claw by Rem Wigmore (Climate Fiction Writers League)

Best Fan Artwork

• Gentle Dove by Saefin
• Jinx by Leadambeck
• A Little Bit of Rain by Ashley Langlocke

Best Fan Publication

• Phoenixine by John and Jo Toon

 

Special Awards

Best New Talent

• S.J. Pratt
• Nikky Lee
• Oliver Dace
• Tehnuka

Services to Fandom

Matthew Pavletich

 

Details on the awards ceremony will be announced later in the year.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand has a stated goal of becoming part of the national infrastructure of NZ fandom, acting as a liaison between clubs and conventions throughout the country.