Ditmar Awards Voting is open. For the uninitiated, the Ditmars are the annual Australian peer-voted awards for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
What does peer-voted mean? Well, that you are either attending the National Convention, or that you are ‘active in fandom’. What does the latter mean?
As I understand it: if you’ve been to a convention in Australia, or are in an Oz spec-fic discussion group (online or live), or if you’re simply a fan of Australian speculative fiction,
you’re eligible. Which is to say, if you’re reading this, you can probably vote. If you are new to the Ditmars, feel free to nominate me as a ‘referee’ (this aspect will be clear once you’ve seen the nomination form). Note that voting closes on June 13.
Okay, enough preamble. I had two works published last year (three, actually, but Aliens: Bishop is not eligible) that I am very proud of – if you’ve read and enjoyed them, I’d appreciate your nomination (If 
you’ve not read them and want to, please email me at voight0kampff@gmail.com, and I’ll send you a free copy).
In the short fiction category, I have ‘Highway Requiem’, which first appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I’m particularly proud of this story. It’s subsequently been bought as a re-print for a ‘year’s best’ anthology, coming out in late 2024.
In the Novella/Novelette category I have ‘A Marked Man’, published by the excellent Australian magazine Grimdark. It’s my first foray into fantasy. I must have done something right, as it was nominated in the Best Fantasy Novella category in the Aurealis Awards.
Normally at this point I nominate stories by other Australian writers, but confess I have not kept up my reading this year on Australian Speculative Fiction. I have read a tonne of Australian stories – I was a judge for the Aurealis Awards in the Graphic Novel category, and I’m currently a judge for the ACT Book of the Year, but neither of these fit neatly into the categories of the Ditmars. They 
have no Graphic Novel award, and ACT Book of the Year has almost no speculative fiction (I wish it had more, but that is a separate discussion).
I will note that C. H. Pearce is a very fine artist, and is worthy of your consideration in the “Best Fan Artist” category.
That’s it. Whether or not you vote for my work, I encourage you to seek out Australian writers. We’ve an incredibly talented (and largely undiscovered) crop of genre authors down here, deserving of your attention. To name but a few: seek out Dan O’Malley if you like contemporary fantasy, Aaron Dries or Kaaron Warren if you’re into horror, Luke Arnold (yes, the actor from Black Sails) if you enjoy a fantasy/noir mashup, or Max Barry if you’re into SF.
