Fremantle Press books make the cut for the 2017 Aurealis Awards

Dungzilla by James Foley and Gwen by Goldie Goldbloom have been announced as finalists in the 2017 Aurealis Awards for science fiction.

Gwen has been shortlisted in the Best Fantasy Novel category, while Dungzilla has made the list for Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated Book. This is the second book in James’s S. Tinker Inc. series to make it to the finals and the fourth time the author and illustrator has been on the list.

James said he’s pleased the book got the nod: ‘Making a 130-page graphic novel about a giant dung beetle was a long process, and I often questioned whether anyone would read it when I was finished. So I’m glad that it’s been successful, that it’s made kids laugh and think, and that it’s got a some recognition in the Aurealis Awards.’

Goldie Goldbloom said of her nomination: ‘It’s lovely to have one’s work acknowledged. Awards and prizes aren’t the reason why I write, but they make it more likely that I’ll be more experimental and take risks in my writing.’

Judging coordinator Tehani Croft noted that the number of entries continues to grow, with over 800 submissions in 2017. ‘We continue to be impressed by the breadth of entries, with publishers from all over the world ensuring the work of their creators is considered. It’s very pleasing to see publishers of all types featured among the finalists this year, with small publishers and self-published work finding a place alongside the majors.’

In Dungzilla, Sally Tinker continues her adventures in invention when her latest brainchild, ‘the resizenator’, enlarges a dung beetle to epic proportions. When the giant beetle heads straight to the sewerage farm to roll a ball of poo large enough to flatten the entire town, Sally and her friends must hurry to save the day.

Gwen, meanwhile, is a work of historical fiction that follows the story of artist Gwendolen Mary John. Gwen walks from Calais to Paris seeking out the great painter and sculptor Auguste Rodin as anti-Semitism spreads across Europe. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, praised the novel as being ‘startling and beautiful; a powerful tribute to a great painter’.

Goldie’s work appears more recently in Fremantle Press’s memoir collection Women of a Certain Age, published this month.

James is currently working on his third S. Tinker Inc. book, Gastronauts. The first S. Tinker Tube episode will soon be available on YouTube. Dungzilla and Brobot are both available in all good bookstores and online.

Winners of the 2017 Aurealis Awards and the Convenors’ Award for Excellence will be announced at the Aurealis Awards ceremony during the Easter long weekend as part of the Swancon convention at Pan Pacific Perth. For more information, visit the Aurealis Awards website at http://www.aurealisawards.org.