Fantastic Queensland has released this year’s shortlist for the Aurealis Awards.

Congratulations to all finalists. Ones to watch are Cat Sparks and Garth Nix, with three nominated stories each, and Kate Forsyth who seems to have virtually choked the life out of her competitors for the children’s long fiction.

Fantastic Queensland has vastly improved the awards website layout; it looks superb and is much easier to navigate. Mind you, you still have to be careful saying its acronym out loud in public spaces.