The annual celebration of Australian Crime Fiction, the Ned Kelly Awards, has announced its shortlist, which this year leans toward new and upcoming writers.

The final 11 names that make up the short list has been whittled down from an initial 23 writers, and span four categories: true crime; best first fiction; best fiction and the SD Harvey Short Story award.

Now in its 16th year, the 2011 Ned Kelly’s has shunned some of Australia’s more famous crime fiction novelists, with Adrian Hyland’s Gunshot Road a surprise omission for us – not least because Hyland is the one name we’re most familiar with from the Australian crime fiction scene through his Emily Tempest character.

You can see the complete shortlist here, and the winners will be announced on August 31 as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival Program.