Aurealis was first released in April 1990 and was edited by
Dirk Strasser and
Stephen Higgins. It is currently edited by Stuart Mayne. In 1999 it was a short-list nominee for the Ditmar Award for best Australian magazine or anthology, losing to
Jack Dann and
Janeen Webb's
Dreaming Down-Under. The artwork also received nominations at the Ditmar Awards
Trudi Canavan was a finalist for best professional artwork for the cover
Aurealis #17 as well as her work on
Eidolon #22/23 but lost to
Elizabeth Kyle's cover of
Dream Weavers and
Adam Duncan was a short-list nominee for best artwork in 2009 but lost to
Shaun Tan's
Tales from Outer Suburbia. The magazine has featured short stories which have been short-listed and won literary awards. These stories have won five
Aurealis Awards and a Ditmar Award and have been short-list nominees at these awards on 21 other occasions. ==Aurealis Awards==