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.
The Aurora Awards are given out by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). The awards are nominated and voted on by members of CSFFA. Membership is open to all Canadians and Permanent Residence for a nominal fee.
This year the awards went authors and creators from across Canada.
- 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 announced during a live-streaming ceremony, on both YouTube and Facebook, on Sunday, August 10th. The ceremony included the induction of this year’s Hall of Fame recipients, Clint Budd, Charles R. Saunders, Diane L Walton.
Best Novel award went to Premee Mohamed, a Nebula, World Fantasy, and Aurora award winning author. The Siege of Burning Grass has been called, “A stunning meditation on war, nationalism, violence, and courage.”. Premee also took home the award in our Best Novella/Novelette category for The Butcher of the Forest. She is an Indo-Caribbean Canadian scientist based in Edmonton, Alberta.
Heavenly Tyrant, Book 2 in the Iron Widow series by Xiran Jay Zhao took home the Best Young Adult award. The Iron Widow books are New York Times best sellers and Xiran has been nominated for many major awards. They reside in the Vancouver BC area.
Toronto author, Y.M. Pang took home Aurora awards in both the Best Short Story and Best Poem/Song categories. Her short story, “Blood and Desert Dreams“, was published in online magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
For his interactive graphic novel, Star Trek Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North, with art by Chris Fenoglio, won the Best Graphic Novel award. Their work, based on the animated TV series, Lower Decks, was an inventive way to tell a new story about characters Star Trek fans have come to love.
Editor, Stephen Kotowych, again took home the Best Related Work award for his anthology, Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Two. It contains 49 of what he felt was the best short fiction done in 2023
About CSFFA
CSFFA (Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association) is a Canadian registered non-profit society, https://www.csffa.ca/. The society manages annual awards, inductions to our Hall of Fame, and development grants for new writers. Membership to the society is open to all Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residence. Our board members are fans from across Canada, Board of Directors (names, photos, bios). Note: CSFFA is pronounced Kiss-Fa
To stay up-to-date on what we are doing we recommend fans sign up for our monthly newsletter at: https://www.csffa.ca/about/subscribe-to-our-newsletter/.
The Aurora Awards, https://www.csffa.ca/awards-information/, are for excellence in the field of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. CSFFA’s members nominate and vote for works done by Canadians. The awards have been given out since 1980.
CSFFA Hall of Fame, https://www.csffa.ca/the-csffa-hall-of-fame/, inducts three nominees who have made great contributions to the genres. Each year a jury from across Canada chooses inductees from a list of candidates submitted to us by CSFFA members.
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