The 2025 Aurora Award Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Aurora Awards for excellence by Canadians in the fields of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.  We want to congratulate all of this year’s nominees.  Full details about this year’s awards and how voting and nominations went got our statistics document in our 2025 Archive page, https://www.csffa.ca/aurora-archives-home/2025-aurora-awards/

The awards went to:

• Best Novel:  The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed, Solaris
• Best YA Novel: Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao, Tundra Books
• Best Novelette/Novella:  The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed, Tordotcom
• Best Short Story: “Blood and Desert Dreams“, Y.M. Pang, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 408
• Best Graphic Novel:  Star Trek Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio, IDW Publishing
• Best Poem/Song “Cthulhu on the Shores of Osaka“, Y.M. Pang, Invitation: A One-shot Anthology of Speculative Fiction
• Best Related Work:  Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Two,
  Stephen Kotowych, editor, Ansible Press
• Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration:  Augur Magazine, Issue 7.1, cover art, Martine Nguyen
• Best Fan Writing and Publication: SF&F Book Reviews, Robert Runté, Ottawa Review of Books
• Best Fan Related Work:  murmurstations, Sonia Urlando, Augur Society, podcast

The awards were live-streamed on Sunday, August 10^th, 2025, via YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. .

CSFFA members have until 11:59pm EDT on July 19th, 2024, to submit their ballot for the Aurora Awards.

(To become a member: https://www.csffa.ca/become-a-member/)

Voters’ Package: CSFFA members can download our voters’ package when you log into your account.  It’s there to help you make informed decisions when you vote. The voters’ package is only available until July 12th (one week before the voting deadline) so download what you plan to vote for now.

In this newsletter:

1. 2024 Prix Aurora Awards Finalists
2. Update on the Aurora Award Voters Package
3. CSFFA Hall of Fame Update
4. 2024 Professional Development Grant Recipient
5. Personnel Changes on CSFFA’s Board of Directors

2024 Prix Aurora Award Finalists

This ballot is for works originally done in 2023 by Canadians.  The Aurora Awards are nominated by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.  The top five nominated works were selected.  Additional works were included where there was a tie for fifth place.  An online awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, August 11th, 2024, at 5pm EDT, with hosts Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Liz Anderson.

Best Novel

Bad Cree, Jessica Johns, HarperCollins Canada
The Marigold, Andrew F. Sullivan, ECW Press
Moon of the Turning Leaves, Waubgeshig Rice, Random House Canada
Silver Nitrate, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey
The Valkyrie, Kate Heartfield, HarperVoyager

Best Young Adult Novel

The Crystal Key: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 2, Douglas Smith, Spiral Path Books
Flower and Thorn, Rati Mehrotra, Wednesday Books
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Cherie Dimaline, Tundra Books
The Grimmer, Naben Ruthnum, ECW Press
The Stars of Mount Quixx, S.M. Beiko, ECW Press

Best Novelette/Novella

Green Fuse Burning, Tiffany Morris, Stelliform Press
I AM AI, Ai Jiang, Shortwave Media
“The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World”, Nalo Hopkinson,
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, Random House
Pluralities, Avi Silver, Atthis Arts
Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee, Tordotcom

Best Short Story

“At Every Door A Ghost”, Premee Mohamed, Communications Breakdown, MIT Press
“The Dust Bowl Café”, Justin Dill, Augur Magazine, Issue 6.1
“If I Should Fall Behind”, Douglas Smith, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept/Oct Issue
“Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont”, P.A. Cornell, Fantasy Magazine, Issue 96
“Sink Your Sorrows to the Sea”, Chandra Fisher, Saltwater Sorrows, Tyche Books

Best Graphic Novel/Comic

Atana and the Firebird, Vivian Zhou, HarperCollins
A Call to Cthulhu, Norm Konyu, Titan Nova
Carson of Venus, Ronn Sutton (artist), Martin Powell (writer), and Maggie Lopez (colourist), webcomic
Cosmic Detective, Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt, art by David Rubin, Image Comics
It Never Rains, Kari Maaren, webcomic
The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao, with lettering by Kyla Aiko, Clarion Books
Wychwood, Ally Rom Colthoff, webcomic

Best Poem/Song

“As a, I want to, so I can”, Kelley Tai, Heartlines Spec, Issue 2, Spring/Summer 2023
“Awakening”, Tiffany Morris, Nightmare Magazine, Issue 134
“Lying Flat”, Lynne Sargent, Strange Horizons, Issue 9 October 2023
“predictive text”, Dominik Parisien, Augur, Issue 6.1
“Scarecrow”, David Shultz, Polar Starlight, Issue 9
“A Siren’s Call, A Banshee’s Wail, A Grandmother’s Dream”, Ai Jiang, Uncanny Magazine, Issue Fifty Four

Best Related Work

GAME ON!,  Stephen Kotowych & Tony Pi, editors, Zombies Need Brains LLC
No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories, Premee Mohamed, Undertow Publications
On Spec Magazine, Diane L. Walton, Managing Editor, The Copper Pig Writers’ Society
Skin Thief: Stories, Suzan Palumbo, Neon Hemlock Press
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume One, Stephen Kotowych, editor, Ansible Press

Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration

Augur Magazine, Issue 6.1, cover art, Lorna Antoniazzi
Endless Library � Fantasy, interior art, Marcco Marin,
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume One, Ansible Press
Green Fuse Burning, cover art, Chief Lady Bird, Stelliform Press
The Machines That Make Us, cover art, Brent Nichols, Tyche Books
The Passion of Ivan Rodriguez, cover art, Kayla Kowalyk, Tyche Books
Tales & Feathers Magazine, Issue 1, cover art, Jade Zhang

Best Fan Writing and Publication

Maria’s Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Short Fiction Roundup, Maria Haskins
Polar Borealis Magazine, Issues: 24, 25, 26, and 27, edited by R. Graeme Cameron
Polar Starlight Magazine, Issues: 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, edited by Rhea E. Rose
The Travelling TARDIS, Jennifer Desmarais, JenEric Designs
Young People Read Old SFF, edited by James Davis Nicoll, online

Best Fan Related Work

ephemera Reading Series, KT Bryski and Jen R. Albert, co-chairs, online
Scintillation 4, Jo Walton and René Walling, co-chairs, Montreal
Sip & Read / Sip & Social @ Librairie Saga Bookstore, Mathieu Lauzon-Dicso, bookstore owner
When Words Collide, Randy McCharles, chair, Calgary
The Worldshapers Podcast, Edward Willett, online

Note: Can*Con recused themselves from this year’s ballot even though they had enough nominations.

Voters Package Update

The ballot has been announced and we want to send our heartfelt congratulations to each and every nominee. It is an exciting time and now it is your turn to read and immerse yourself in some great work.

The Voter’s Package has a lot of moving parts that take some time to get all gathered into one place and put into the wonderful package we all look forward to. We are in the home stretch to get it out to you so you have as much time as possible to read. You will be able to get the package the week of May 20^th. Watch the newsletters, our website and social media for availability.

Remember you are voting for the best of the best so give time and consideration to the material so kindly provided by the publishers, authors, and creators. That way you can make informed choices about what really speaks to you. Read. Enjoy. Vote. If you have any questions or are having problems with the download just drop us at line on our website.

Happy reading!

CSFFA Hall of Fame Update

The 2024 CSFFA Hall of Fame inductees have been selected.

We wish to thank the jury for their work:
Ryah Deines; Gordon Johansen; Rebecca Lovatt; Michelle Sagara; and David Clink, chair.

We will officially announce the inductees later this summer.

We would like to take this moment to thank all of the nominees.
Those who were not selected will remain nominees for future years.

CSFFA members are encouraged to nominate Canadian SFFH creators. The nomination form can be found here. The Hall of Fame honours Canadian creators who have made a significant 20+ year impact in the speculative fields (SFFH). For more information on eligibility, see here.

2024* CSFFA Professional Development Grant Recipient

We launched our Professional Development Grant to further the growth of new writers or new to the genre to the wonderful world of science fiction and fantasy. We’re thrilled to announce the recipient for our first 2024 PD Grant period: Paola Ferrante.

Paola Ferrante is a woman writer living with depression. Her speculative short fiction collection, Her Body Among Animals (Book*hug 2023), received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, made the 2023 CBC Books fall reading list, and was eligible for a CSFFA Prix Aurora Award. Paola will use the grant for a book coach and editorial feedback to continue developing and completing revisions of her first novel, Completables.
(*we conduct two rounds of applications per year, and if you fit the eligibility bill, you are encouraged to apply in our next round by the Aug. 31st deadline).

Personnel Changes on CSFFA’s Board of Directors

Goodbye Clint, Goodbye Jeanette, Welcome Aymen

Clint Budd has retired as a CSFFA director. CSFFA as it is today is the result of years of his leadership as President of the Board. Clint stepped down as President in October, 2019. Until April 2023 Clint also annually organized the CSFFA Hall of Fame jury.

Clint is a CSFFA Hall of Fame nominee: read more about Clint here.

Jeanette Dover joined CSFFA’s Board of Directors as Treasurer in the summer of 2019. CSFFA had the benefit of Jeanette’s time for nearly five years. Jeanette also worked with board member Shannon Allen: Shannon administers CSFFA’s Professional Development Grant.

During the April 2024 Board meeting your Board voted to appoint Aymen Saidane as CSFFA’s new Treasurer.

Aymen’s bio (members will see it as part of the 2024 AGM documents): “Succeeded Jeanette Dover in April. Operations Manager at ECW Press and instructor of Publishing Finance at Humber College. Dreams of living on the moon in retirement.”

An update regarding the Aurora Awards, received from the CSFFA

Winter is almost over (we hope) and with it the first stage of 2024’s Aurora Awards process. Please see below for specific updates.

In this newsletter:

1. Aurora Award Updates for February 2024
2. An Aurora Awards History Tidbit

Aurora Awards Updates for February 2024Eligibility Lists Close Soon

Depending on when you read this, the lists for this year’s works eligible to be nominated for the 2024 Aurora Awards closes soon.  The lists will be closed at 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, February 24^th.

Over the following week our eligibility team of volunteers will review all works that are still pending.  If you see something that was missed, please email us.  If it is not too late, we will try to add it.

Nominations Open in March

Nominations will open on Saturday, March 2^nd.  CSFFA members have until Saturday, April 6^th at 11:59 pm EST to enter your choices.  One special feature of the nomination process is that you can return as many times as you wish to add or modify your choices.  After our deadline our webmaster will lock all nominations that members have entered.

For those new to the awards, you may enter up to five choices in each category.  Each entry in a category must be unique.  If you submit the same work more than once ALL of them will be voided.  If you accidentally duplicate one you can always use the “blank” record that it at the top of each dropdown list.  Please be careful and review your choices before you submit them. Nominate what you know and enjoyed.

Special request when you nominate or ask others to nominate

Please do NOT ask friends or family to get a membership to just nominate or vote (later) for your works if they are not SF/Fantasy fans.  Members are encouraged to nominate in multiple categories.  The awards are for fans of the genre.  This is not a popularity contest to see who has the largest family.

We want people to get memberships who read Science Fiction, Fantasy, and/or Horror to help us determine the best works that were done last year.