"The Diamond Pit" is a 2001 fantasy science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 novella

Novella

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 by Jack Dann

Jack Dann

Jack Dann is an American writer best known for his science fiction, an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, in the majority of cases as editor or co-editor of story anthologies in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres...

.

Background

"The Diamond Pit" was first published in 2001 in a collection of Jack Dann's short stories entitled Jubilee by HarperCollins

HarperCollins

HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

 under their Voyager imprint. In June 2001 it was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...

June 2001 edition and in 2004 it was published in The Best Australian Science Fiction: A Fifty Year Collection, edited by Rob Gerrand

Rob Gerrand

Rob Gerrand is an Australian writer of science fiction - Books :* Transmutations ,* Fortress * Rewrite Your Life! ,...

. "The Diamond Pit" won the 2002 Ditmar Award

Ditmar Award

The Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom...

 for best Australian short fiction and placed twelfth on the 2002 Locus Award

Locus Award

The Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...

 for best novella. It was also a finalist for the 2001 Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story

Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers"...

, the 2001 Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers"...

, the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novella

Nebula Award for Best Novella

Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novella. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.-Winners and other nominees:-External links:**...

, and the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novella

Hugo Award for Best Novella

The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...

.