Australia
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Aussiefandom is quite active. They were called Auslans once, but now Aussiefan or Ozfan is more common.
Australia and New Zealand together are Australasia.
Contents
Conventions[edit]
National Convention[edit]
Some Regional Conventions[edit]
- Western Australia: Swancon
- Queensland: Conquest (See also Q-Con.)
- N.S.W.: Medtrek
- A.C.T.: Conflux (See also Circulation.)
- Victoria: Continuum (See also Convergence, and Multiverse.)
Adelaide has held some Advention conventions, and the 2009 Natcon, Conjecture. Tasmania has held some Thylacon conventions, including the 2005 Natcon.
Some Fan-Voted Awards[edit]
- National: Ditmar Awards
- W.A.: Tin Duck Awards
Australian Doctor Who fandom has the Double Gammas. Australian Star Wars fandom has, or had, the Obies. Australian media fandom had the Australian Science Fiction Media Awards. A.C.T. fandom had the ACT Region SF Awards. Victorian fandom had the Chronos Awards.
Authors and Illustrators[edit]
See List of Australian Authors and List of Australian Illustrators.
See also the Australian SF Snapshot Project.
A Brief Chronology[edit]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1935, Aug 15 | First official meeting of the Sydney Science Fiction League |
| ca. 1937 | Spacehounds (fan publication) first published |
| 1939, Feb 1 | John Gregor's Science Fiction Review (fanzine) published (as by John Devern) |
| 1939, Nov 5 | First official meeting of the Futurian Society of Sydney |
| 1940, Apr 1 | Importation of books and magazines from non-sterling countries banned |
| 1942 | Futurian Society of Sydney officially disbanded |
| 1947 | Futurian Society of Sydney revived |
| 1950, Mar | First issue of Thrills Incorporated (prozine) |
| 1951 | Australian Science Fiction Society announced in first issue of Woomera |
| 1952, Mar 22 | First Australian Science Fiction Convention (i.e., first Australian Natcon) |
| 1952, May 9 | First official meeting of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club (as the Melbourne Science Fiction Group) |
| 1952, June | Last issue of Thrills Incorporated |
| 1953 | First issues of Future Science Fiction and Popular Science Fiction (prozines) |
| 1953, Aug 8-9 | Riverina Conference |
| 1954 | A Handbook of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Donald H. Tuck published |
| 1955 | Last issues of Future Science Fiction and Popular Science Fiction (prior to reprints in 1967) |
| 1957 | Last issue of Science Fiction Monthly |
| 1959 | Ban on importation of books and magazines from non-sterling countries lifted |
| 1966 | Australian Science Fiction Review first published |
| 1967, Dec 6 | First official meeting of the Sydney Science Fiction Foundation |
| 1968, Oct | ANZAPA started (as APA-A) |
| 1969 | The Pacific Book of Australian SF (anthology) published |
| 1969, Apr | Ditmar Awards first presented |
| 1969, Aug | First issue of Vision of Tomorrow (in UK) |
| 1970, Mar 25 | First issue of Norstrilian News |
| 1970, Sep | Last issue of Vision of Tomorrow |
| by 1971 | Space Age Books opened (as The Space Age Bookshop) |
| 1972 | First DUFF race won |
| 1974, Feb 18 | First issue of Fanew Sletter |
| 1975, Aug | First issue of Void |
| 1975, Aug 14–17 | Aussiecon |
| 1976, June | Australian Science Fiction Foundation formed |
| 1976, Oct 9-11 | First Swancon convention |
| 1977, Mar | Last issue of Void |
| 1979 | First FFANZ race won |
| 1979 | Australian Science Fiction Review revived |
| 1979 | Tom Baker promotional tour (for Doctor Who) |
| 1980, Aug 31 | Peter Nicholls won 1980 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo |
| 1981, Jan/Feb | First issue of Omega Science Digest |
| 1982 | First Conquest convention |
| 1983 | First GUFF race won |
| 1983 | Supreme Council of Time Lords formed |
| 1983, Sep 24-25 | First Media Natcon, Conquest '83 |
| 1984 | First issue of The Australian Horror & Fantasy Magazine |
| 1984, Sep 4 | Donald Tuck won 1984 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo |
| 1984, Nov 25 | First Australian National Doctor Who Convention |
| 1985, Aug 22–26 | Aussiecon 2 |
| 1985 | Last issues of The Australian Horror & Fantasy Magazine |
| 1985/86, Summer | First issue of Aphelion |
| 1986/87, Summer | Last issue of Aphelion |
| 1987, Jan/Feb | Last issue of Omega Science Digest |
| 1988, Autumn | First issue of Terror Australis |
| 1990, May | Eidolon magazine first published |
| 1990, Sep | Aurealis magazine first published |
| 1992, Apr 19 | A. Bertram Chandler Award first presented |
| 1992 | Last issue of Terror Australis |
| 1993 | Mortal Fire: Best Australian SF published |
| 1994, Jan 21 | The Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet first published |
| 1994, Sep 4 | Peter Nicholls won 1994 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo (with John Clute) |
| 1995 | First Force convention |
| 1996, Mar 22 | First Aurealis Award winners announced |
| 1997, June | Star Wars 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet |
| 1997 | The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy published |
| 1998 | The MUP Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy published |
| 1999 | Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction published |
| 1999, May 2 | Ian Gunn won FAAn Award for Best Fan Artist |
| 1999, Sep 2-6 | Aussiecon 3 |
| 1999, Sep 5 | Greg Egan won 1999 Best Novella Hugo and Ian Gunn won 1999 Best Fan Artist Hugo |
| 1999, Nov | Dreaming Down-Under, edited by Jack Dann and Janeen Webb, won 1999 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology |
| 2000, Apr | Eidolon magazine last published |
| 2001 | First NAFF delegate appointed |
| 2002, Jun/Jul | First issue of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine |
| 2003, July 11-13 | First Continuum convention |
| 2003, Aug 28 | Marc Ortlieb's Australian Science Fiction Information website closed |
| 2004, Apr 23-26 | First Conflux convention |
| 2005, July 17 | AHWA launched at Continuum 3 |
| 2005, Sept | First volume of Year's Best Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy published by MirrorDanse Books |
| 2007, Feb 9-11 | First Nullus Anxietas convention |
| 2007, Aug | Meteor Incorporated founded |
| 2008, Oct | First issue of Midnight Echo |
| 2008, Dec 12-15 | First MiDFur convention |
| 2010, Sep 2-6 | Aussiecon 4 |
| 2010, Sep 5 | Shaun Tan won 2010 Best Professional Artist Hugo |
| 2011, Feb 27 | 2011 Academy Award for Best Short Film, Animated won by The Lost Thing (short film), directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan |
| 2011, Apr | First UnderCONstruction held at Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon 50 |
| 2011, Aug 20 | Shaun Tan won 2011 Best Professional Artist Hugo |
| 2011 | First volume of The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror published by Ticonderoga Publications |
| 2012, Jul | Last issue of The Australian Science Fiction Bullsheet (third series) |
| 2012, Sep 12 | Peter Nicholls won 2012 Best Related Work Hugo (with John Clute, David Langford and Graham Sleight) |
| 2012, Oct | Angela Slatter won 2012 British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story |
| 2013, Sep 1 | Tansy Rayner Roberts won 2013 Best Fan Writer Hugo |
| 2014, May 25 | N. A. Sulway won 2013 James Tiptree, Jr. Award |
| 2015, Aug 22 | Galactic Suburbia won 2015 Best Fancast Hugo |
| 2015, Oct | First issue of Specul8 |
| 2015, Nov 21-22 | Doctor Who Festival |
| 2016, Mar 25 | Aurealis Awards ceremony held at Natcon |
| 2016, May | John Bangsund won Lifetime Acheivement Award of the FAAn Awards |
| 2016, Aug 20/21 | Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce won 2016 Alfie Award for Best Related Work |
| 2016, Sept | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine became electronic-only and shortened its name to Andromeda Spaceways Magazine |
| 2016, Nov | Ditmar "Dick" Jenssen won 2016 Rotsler Award |
| 2016, Dec 8 | First PS Australia book launched |
| 2017 | Issue 100 of Aurealis in print |
| 2018, Mar 31 | Tansy Rayner Roberts won four Aurealis Awards |
| 2018, May | Bruce Gillespie won Lifetime Acheivement Award of the FAAn Awards |
| 2020, Oct 17 | Natcon Business Meeting held online due to Covid-19 |
| 2021, Aug 15 | First issue of Etherea Magazine |
More Information[edit]
For more information on the history of Australian fandom, see the websites below and (in addition to some of the titles mentioned above)
- Australian Fandom - Adventures in Time by Leigh Edmonds.
- "A History of Australian Fandom 1935 - 1963" by Vol Molesworth, serialised in issues 82 - 87 of The Mentor, edited by Ron Clarke.
- Australian Fan History 1953-1966 by John Foyster.
- Mumblings from Munchkinland edited by Chris Nelson.
- iOTA edited by Leigh Edmonds
Australian Science Fiction Distributed Archive Project
Marc Ortlieb's Australian Science Fiction Information website (from 2003)
For more information on current Australian fandom see the Australian Science Fiction Foundation website.
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