{"id":2851,"date":"2016-02-28T21:37:48","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T11:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwebb.name\/?p=2851"},"modified":"2017-03-04T21:34:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T11:34:47","slug":"australian-sf-awards-part-2-the-ditmar-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwebb.name\/?p=2851","title":{"rendered":"Australian SF Awards Part 2 – The Ditmar Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Both of the major SF awards in Australia are happening towards the start of the year, so I thought I might signal boost both sets of shortlists. In this second\u00a0post, I’ll be focusing on the Ditmar\u00a0Awards (you can see my thoughts on the Aurealis Awards in Part 1 of this series<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Ditmar awards are Australia’s national popular vote awards for speculative fiction. Where the Aurealis awards (which are judged not voted on) focus on written work and divide the genre up into extensive sub-categories, the Ditmar awards keep the genres together and award only on length (best novel, novella, short story, collected work etc). There are also several awards for non-written contributions to the SF categories (e.g. best fan writer, artwork, fan publication in any medium etc).<\/p>\n

The Ditmars are given out at the Australian national SF convention (which is this year Contact 2016 in Brisbane<\/a>). The rules for the awards can be found on the Ditmar wiki<\/a>. Details of the 2016 ceremony can be found on the Contact website<\/a>. Voting is due to finish on 18 March 2016, with the voting form here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To nominate a work, you have\u00a0to be “known to fandom”, but to actually vote in the final ballot\u00a0one\u00a0needs to purchase a membership at the national convention (or have been a member of the previous year’s national convention). \u00a0I can see how this\u00a0makes the voting process administratively easier (and is in line with the voting practices in overseas awards), but it does seem to work to restrict voting to those that can afford the financial outlay (a\u00a0supporting membership of Contact 2016 costs $40).<\/p>\n

Why does this matter? The Ditmars suffer from the same weaknesses that other voted awards do – namely the voting process is only robust if you get a large, representative sample of people to nominate and vote. There is always the chance that the Ditmar’s become less representative of the best work of the year, and more representative of famous\/popular content creators. While not conclusive, I find it interesting that I recognise nearly all of the names on the Ditmar ballot, but there are a lot of names that are new to me on the Aurealis awards ballot. I do wonder if removing or reducing the financial barriers to participation in the voting process might improve the inclusiveness of the results. Having said that, the nomination process is broader, so perhaps not!<\/p>\n

It is good to have awards for non-fiction contributions to the Australian speculative fiction scene. As well as the categories listed below, there are two other awards that are usually given out at the Ditmar award ceremony. From the Contact 2016 website:<\/p>\n

Norma K. Hemming Award
\n<\/strong>The Norma K. Hemming Award marks excellence in the exploration of race, gender, sexuality, class and disability, and is awarded by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation (ASFF). Nominations close in the second week of December in the year preceding the respective NatCon.<\/p>\n

A. Bertram Chandler Award
\n<\/strong>Australia\u2019s top fan award, the Chandler is awarded by the ASFF for outstanding achievement in science fiction. Unlike the Ditmars, this award is decided upon by a jury appointed by the Foundation. Nominations for the Chandler Award are always open.<\/p>\n

More information<\/strong>\u00a0about the Norma K. Hemming Award and the A. Bertram Chandler Award can be found on the\u00a0ASFF website.<\/a><\/p>\n

All in all, the Ditmars represent a wonderful chance for the established Australian SF community to come together. I’ve attended a couple of ceremonies in the past, and they have always been uplifting affairs. In 2014, I was even fortunate enough to be on a podcasting team that won the Best Fan Publication in Any Medium award, which was a huge honour. Between the Ditmar and the Aurealis awards shortlists, you can get an excellent sense of where the action is in the Australian scene – and I commend it to you.<\/p>\n

2016 Ditmar Ballot contents<\/span><\/h3>\n

The following section details the contents of the preliminary ballot. (Note that the final ballot will include a “No Award” option in each category.<\/p>\n

Best Novel<\/span><\/h4>\n