Futurian Society of Sydney
FSS, a club in Sydney, NSW, also known as Sydney Futurians, existed in two distinct chunks, from 1939 to sometime in the mid-late 1950s and again from 1994 to the present.
First FSS[edit]
Its first official meeting was held 5 November 1939. By December 1940, it had suspended meetings, apparently due to disagreements over what its aims should be, and the First Sydney Conference was convened to discuss what to do about it. The 10 members present decided to continue, but the club was officially disbanded in November 1942 due to World War II.
Revived First FSS[edit]
It revived in June 1947. A club library was formed. For a time right after WW II, the club admitted foreign members and during that time they called themselves the Auslans. It sponsored the Second Australian Science Fiction Convention in 1953.
At the time of the Third Australian Science Fiction Convention, held in 1954, the club had a clubroom at 3rd floor, 124 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. Issue 25 of Etherline reports a visit by Robert Heinlein to the FSS clubroom on Saturday 20th February 1954.
They published the Futurian Society News from 1953–55.
From 1959 to 1965, the club library was housed in a city office. Issue 58 of Science Fiction News, dated December 1978, reports the collection as intact although not in circulation.
Second FSS[edit]
The editorial of issue 85 of The Mentor reports a revival of the Futurian Society of Sydney in 1994, with a first meeting on 22 April of that year.
The 1990s revival of the Futurian Society of Sydney saw monthly meetings held circularly at a variety of fans' homes, as organised by Graham Stone. Leigh Blackmore often hosted meetings at his home in Leichhardt. Later in the 1990's meetings were moved to a regular venue within the University of Technology, Sydney. Regular attendees included Peter Eisler, Glayne Louise Blackmore, Ian Woolf, Graham Stone, Ron L. Clarke, Kevin Dillon and others including John August and David Bofinger.
Fanzines: The Sydney Futurian, Futurian Observer (2010 -)
| Club | 1939— |
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