The Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) has updated the entry guidelines for the 2026 Aurealis Awards, established to recognize the best in Australian speculative fiction, making changes including expanded terms for entry fees.
The Aurealis Awards were established in 1995 by Chimaera Publications, the team behind the magazine Aurealis. The Awards later partnered with different organizations to administer them. According to the Aurealis Awards web page, these have included “Fantastic Queensland, SpecFaction NSW, Conflux Inc. (ACT), the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation (WASFF), Continuum Foundation (Vic), and the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG).” In August 2025, the Aurealis Awards announced “new overlords” on a web page no longer available, and the QWC later established the new web page for the Awards, in which they note that the QWC is “anchoring the awards ceremony within the vibrant programming of GenreCon.”
According to online sources, when the WASFF started overseeing the awards, fees were introduced for titles entered into all novel categories, as well as anthology and collections categories, each entry incurring a $10 cost. However, as of this time, the prior Aurealis Awards website now forwards to the QWC website, which does not show archival pages for the old website, making authoritative verification challenging.
The 2026 entry guidelines set entry fees as $30 for Best Science Fiction Novel, Best Fantasy Novel, Best Horror Novel, and Best YA Novel; $5 for the four short story categories; and $20 for other categories, with “belonging discounts” for QWC members and GenreCon ticketholders.
In response to the changes, authors Alan Baxter and Matt Tighe shared an open letter to the QWC expressing concerns about the entry fees:
The change to the fees is onerous, and a large change compared with the full history of the awards. This is perceived by many as a ‘pay to play’ situation that favours those able to absorb the cost, and disadvantages self-publishing authors and small presses as well as authors whose publishers won’t take on the costs. The new structure will ensure that many works worthy of consideration will not be submitted, and favours larger publishers and well-established authors.
As well, the reduced fees for QWC or GenreCon members is perceived as a clear conflict of interest between award management and the financial operation of the Centre, as well as a disadvantage to authors in regional, remote, or interstate areas for which the above is not practical nor feasible. No costs to enter an award should be passed onto the authors, and especially no preference given to some authors over others.
The letter also expresses concerns about changes to rules, in particular arguing there is “lack of clarity around judge autonomy” and highlighting the rule that works shortlisted for multiple categories can only win in one, saying, “This is an impeachment on judge impartiality and artificially restricts works that blend genre or that cross categories.” The letter requests that the guidelines should also include a “clear statement that AI-generated work is not eligible.”
The letter was sent July 18, 2026 “with almost 250 signatures,” including authors and editors such as Leigh Blackmore, Jeff Clulow, Gabino Iglesias, T.R. Napper, Cat Sparks, and Kaaron Warren.
On July 20, the post was updated to report a reply to the letter: “Thank you for sharing this finally. Because it is so close to our Management Committee meeting we will hold it over for their consultation on the 28th. We will be in touch after that. I will update as and when we hear more.” The meeting was reportedly later delayed to August 10.
For more information, see the QWC website.
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