Aurora Awards 2020

The Aurora Awards are Canada’s annual English-language Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards.

Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) members across Canada are the nominators and the voters.

Nominees and winners must be Canadian, as are the members of CSFFA

Auroras have been presented annually since 1980,where the first award was granted at Hal-Con 3, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The name Aurora has been official since 1991.

The 2020 Aurora Awards were supposed to be held at When Words Collide in Calgary, Alberta, but moved to online streaming due to Covid-19.

Teaser Video/Preview for 2020 Aurora Awards

The live stream (August 15, 7 PM Eastern), was hosted by MC Mark Leslie Lefebvre, and included live appearances by Clint Budd, Cliff Samuels, Heather Dale, Cory Doctorow, and multiple winners throughout the night.

A full list of nominees appear below, with the person who received the award highlighted in bold italics with an *).

LIVE STREAM VIDEO

The scheduled LIVE STREAM

Links to view directly on YouTube:

Links to view via Facebook: (Links will be added 7 days prior to the event, due to Facebook limitations on scheduling)

2020 Categories & Nominees

Below are the categories and nominees. Details about the nominees can be found here.

Best Novel

Haunting The Haunted by E. C. Bell, Tyche Books

* The Gossamer Mage by Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books *

A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay, Viking Canada

The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken, Solaris Books

Jade War by Fonda Lee, Orbit Books

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey and Jo Fletcher Books

Best Young Adult Novel

Wolf’s Bane by Kelley Armstrong, K.L.A. Fricke Inc

The Brilliant Dark: The Realms of Ancient, Book 3 by S.M. Beiko, ECW Press

The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Metamorphosis by Marty Chan, Fitzhenry & Whiteside

* Bursts of Fire by Susan Forest, Laksa Media Groups Inc *

Murder at the World’s Fair by MJ Lyons, Renaissance

Best Short Fiction

* This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Saga Press and Jo Fletcher Books *

Clear as Quartz, Sharp as Flint by Maria Haskins, Augur Magazine, issue 2.1

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield, Tor.com Publishing

Little Inn on the Jianghu by Y.M. Pang, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September

Modigliani Paints the World by Hayden Trenholm, Neo-Opsis, Issue #30

Blindside by Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, Amazing Stories, v. 77, issue no. 1, Fall

Best Graphic Novel

The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault, McClelland & Stewart

* Krampus is My Boyfriend! by S.M. Beiko, Webcomic *

It Never Rains by Kari Maaren, Webcomic

Carpe Fin: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Douglas & McIntyre

Dakwäkãda Warriors by Cole Pauls, Conundrum Press

Best Poem/Song

The Girl Who Loved Birds by Clara Blackwood, Amazing Stories Magazine, v. 76, no. 3, Spring

* At the Edge of Space and Time by Swati Chavda, Love at the Speed of Light, Ancient Hound Books *

Steampunk Christmas by David Clink, Star*Line,  v. 42, no. 4., Fall

The Day the Animals Turned to Sand by Tyler Hagemann, Amazing Stories Magazine, v. 76, issue no. 3, Spring

Totemic Ants by Francine P. Lewis, Amazing Stories Magazine, v. 77, issue no. 1, Fall 

Beauty, Sleeping by Lynne Sargent, Augur Magazine, issue 2.2

* Bursts of Fire by Sora, theme song for book trailers

Best Related Work

PodCastle by Jen R. Albert and Cherae Clark, Escape Artists Inc.

Nothing Without Us by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson, Renaissance

Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine edited by Karl Johanson

Lackington’s Magazine,edited by Ranylt Richildis (online)

Dave Duncan’s Legacy by Robert Runté, On Spec Magazine issue 111

Augur Magazine, Issue 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 published by Kerrie Seljak-Byrne and Alexander De Pompa

* On Spec Magazine, Diane L. Walton, Managing Editor, The Copper Pig Writers Society *

Best Visual Presentation

* Umbrella Academy, Steve Blackman, Dark Horse Entertainment *

V Wars (Season 1), William Laurin and Glenn Davis, High Park Entertainment

Killjoys (Season 5), Michelle Lovretta and Adam Barken, Temple Street Productions

Murdoch Mysteries (Ep. 10-18/Season 12 and Ep. 1-9/Season 13), Peter Mitchell and Christina Jennings, Shaftesbury Films

Van Helsing (Season 4), Jonathan Lloyd Walker, Nomadic Pictures

Best Artist

Samantha M. Beiko, cover for Bursts of Fire

James F. Beveridge, cover for Fata Morgana and cover for On Spec #112

Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk, A Rivet of Robots in On Spec Magazine and Cartoons in Amazing Stories

Nathan Fréchette, covers for Renaissance Press

* Dan O’Driscoll, covers for Bundoran Press and cover for On Spec Magazine #110 *

Best Fan Writing and Publications

R. Graeme Cameron, weekly columns in Amazing Stories (online)

* R. Graeme Cameron, Polar Borealis, Issues #9 to #12, editor *

Jennifer Desmarais, Travelling TARDIS, JenEric Designs

Steve Fahnestalk, weekly columns in Amazing Stories (online)

Ron S. Friedman, Will Voyager 1 leave the Milky Way?, Quora

Christina Vasilevski, Books and Tea

Best Fan Organizational

KT Bryski and Jen R. Albert, ephemera reading series, Toronto

Brent Jans, Pure Speculation Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival, Edmonton

* Derek Künsken and Marie Bilodeau, co-chairs, Can-Con, Ottawa *

Randy McCharles, chair, When Words Collide, Calgary

Sandra Wickham, Creative Ink Festival, Burnaby, BC

Best Fan Related Work

Brandon Crilly and Evan May, Broadcasts from the Wasteland, podcast

Kari Maaren, Music on YouTube Channel

* Derek Newman-Stille, Speculating Canada *

Joshua Pantalleresco, Just Joshing, podcast

Edward Willett, The Worldshapers, podcast