Aurealis Awards 2007 Feature by Rosaleen Love
Introduction
When I volunteered to review the short-listed short stories in the Aurealis Awards lists, I did so in the spirit of curiosity. It was a way to read a pre-selected group of short stories published in 2006, stories that came recommended by the judges. The Aurealis short list includes 19 short stories and one graphic novel. As a keen reader and writer of the short story, I wanted to see what makes this particular group of stories special.
What I find satisfying in a short story in the fantasy or science fiction mode are some or all of the following: a clever organizing idea; complexity; mystery; surprise; clean prose; sound structure. I like intelligent science fiction.
Complexity is what I value most, I think, and I like a short story to have something like three strands to it, woven together in intriguing ways. There may be a strand of meaning, with a clever organizing idea that weaves through the story. There’s a strand or two or three of plot. There may be a trajectory that is far from straight, looping back on itself in some clever way.
When I find a short story unsatisfactory, it’s often because it lacks complexity. There may be only one or two strands to the story, or, to me, it may lack a strand of meaning; the trajectory may be straight and flat. Or the story may be too complex, with many more strands than my somewhat arbitrary three. In this case, the story ceases to be short story and becomes something else, the novel, or novella. In the Aurealis selection, I have to say I was surprised to find one novel, Sean Tan’s graphic novel, The Arrival.
I like stories that provoke a kind of Aha! reaction.
When I reflect on the short story in some kind of abstract way, I find it’s often not the characters that drive these short stories I tend to like best. This often surprises me, and may well be a personal idiosyncrasy. I’ll mention this upfront. Perhaps my preference is for complex ideas. A story with a clever idea may get away with relatively flat characters.
One thing I noted was how often characters in the stories are just not named at all, or labelled instead of named: e.g. the Balloon Man in the Stephanie Campisi story. I’ll explore this no-naming as I go.
There are some fine, distinctive voices to be found in these stories. The Australian genre short fiction scene is definitely in good shape.
Tomorrow: Science Fiction
Return to Aurealis Awards 2007 Feature Article
Go to Aurealis Awards 2007 Readers Comments to discuss this article
