The Aurora Awards (French: Prix Aurora-Boréal) are a set of primarily literary awards given annually for the best Canadian science fiction or fantasy professional and fan works and achievements from the previous year.[1] The event is organized by Canvention and the awards are given out by the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association and SFSF Boreal Inc.[1] Originally they were known as the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards which was shortened to CSFFA and nicknamed the Casper Awards based on that acronym, but this name was changed to the Aurora Awards in 1991, because the Aurora is the same in English and French.[2] The categories have expanded from those focused on literary works to include categories that recognize achievements in comics, music, poetry, art, film and television.
Originally, the CSFFA gave out both the English-language and French-language versions of the awards, with the French-language version known as the Prix Aurora. However, the French-language section of the awards is now known as the Prix Aurora-Boréal and was created through an agreement between SFSFBI and the CSFFA in November 2010, which combined the independent Prix Boréal and the Prix Aurora into a single award affiliated to the English-language award. The awards are selected by member vote, in a similar style to that of the Hugo Awards.[3][4]
The first award was granted in 1980 at Hal-Con 3, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which was in turn the first convention to be named Canvention, a name which rotates to the convention hosting the awards that year in addition to its regular name.[5]
Voting for the awards is done by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, who pay an annual fee of $10.[6] Publishers cannot vote during the nomination or shortlist ballot, but can submit works by authors they represent without paying a fee.[6]