We are over the moon to share that ‘Phoenix Pharmaceuticals’ by Jessica Nelson-Tyers has won the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story.

‘Phoenix Pharmaceuticals’ was published in Cancer: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac – part of the Zodiac series of anthologies inspired by the imagery and mythology of the Zodiac signs – and as soon as our selection panel read it, we knew that the piece was something special. Never before has the response to a story been so immediately positive!

Congratulations to Jessica Nelson-Tyers (go ahead and visit her website or follow her on twitter @JessNelsonTyers) for the win, and to the other authors nominated; Elaine Cuyegkeng for ‘The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter’, Martin Livings for ‘The Bone Fairy’, Garth Nix for ‘Many Mouths to Make a Meal’ and Helena O’Connor for ‘How We Felt’.

The Cancer anthology had a second story shortlisted in the Aurealis awards, ‘Karkinos’ by Nikky Lee was shortlisted for Best Fantasy Novella. In a fun twist, Nikky Lee did actually win the Aurealis award for Best Fantasy Novella, but for a piece called ‘Dingo & Sister’.

You can grab a copy of Cancer: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Zodiac here in ebook format or paperback to find out what all the fuss is about, and to support local authors and indie publishers.