Australian National Science Fiction Convention
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Australian National Science Fiction Convention
The Australian National Science Fiction Convention or Natcon is an annual science fiction convention. Each convention is run by a different committee unaffiliated with any national fannish body. Bids for running the Natcon are voted on by attendees at the Natcon two years in advance. These votes are held at a Business Meeting organised by the convention committee, and held at the convention, in practice much of the organisation of the meeting is done by a standing committee selected by the prior meeting.Natcon Constitution
, ''The Australian SF Information site''. Retrieved 23 April 2013.


Ditmar Award

The Ditmar Award has been awarded at the convention since 1969 to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction (including fantasy and Horror fiction, horror) and science fiction fandom. The award is similar to the Hugo ...
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Science Fiction Convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as films, television, comics, animation, and games. The format can vary but will tend to have a few similar features such as a guest of honour, discussion panels, readings and large special events such as opening/closing ceremonies and some form of party or entertainment. Science fiction conventions started off primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States but have now spread further. Several countries have their own individual conventions, as well as playing host to rotating international conventions. History The Royal Albert Hall has asserted that the Vril-Ya Bazaar and Fete, a charitable event held at the Hall in 1891, was the world's first science fiction convention. The event was a multi-day fundraising bazaar t ...
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Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, ''Dragonrider'', 1969). Her 1978 novel ''The White Dragon (novel), The White Dragon'' became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list, ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd SFWA Grand Master, Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the EMP Museum#Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007. Life and career Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second of three children of An ...
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Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a population of approximately 2.8 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of South East Queensland, an urban agglomeration with a population of over 4 million. The Brisbane central business district, central business district is situated within a peninsula of the Brisbane River about from its mouth at Moreton Bay. Brisbane's metropolitan area sprawls over the hilly floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Taylor Range, Taylor and D'Aguilar Range, D'Aguilar mountain ranges, encompassing several local government in Australia, local government areas, most centrally the City of Brisbane. The demonym of Brisbane is ''Brisbanite''. The Moreton Bay penal settlement was founded in 1824 at Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliff ...
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George R
George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgio Moroder * George, son of Andrew I of Hungary Places South Africa * George, South Africa, a city ** George Airport United States * George, Iowa, a city * George, Missouri, a ghost town * George, Washington, a city * George County, Mississippi * George Air Force Base, a former U.S. Air Force base located in California Computing * George (algebraic compiler) also known as 'Laning and Zierler system', an algebraic compiler by Laning and Zierler in 1952 * GEORGE (computer), early computer built by Argonne National Laboratory in 1957 * GEORGE (operating system), a range of operating systems (George 1–4) for the ICT 1900 range of computers in the 1960s * GEORGE (programming language), an autocode system invented by Charles L ...
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Bob Shaw
Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story " Light of Other Days" was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel '' The Ragged Astronauts'' in 1987. Life Shaw was born and raised in Belfast, the eldest of three sons of a policeman. He learned of science fiction at about 11 years old when he read an A. E. van Vogt short story in an early edition of '' Astounding Science-Fiction'' magazine. During the Second World War, American troops passed through Northern Ireland and often left their used SF magazines behind at Smithfield Market, where they were available for locals. He later described the experience as being more significant and long-lasting than taking LSD. He attended Belfast College of Technology. In 1950 he joined the group Irish Fandom, which also included another Northern Irish scienc ...
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John Varley (author)
John Herbert Varley (born August 9, 1947) is an American science fiction writer. Biography Varley was born in Austin, Texas. He grew up in Fort Worth, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, graduated from Nederland High School—all in Texas—and went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship. He started as a physics major, switched to English, then left school before his 20th birthday and arrived in Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco just in time for the " Summer of Love" in 1967. There he worked at various unskilled jobs, depended on St. Anthony's Mission for meals, and panhandled outside the Cala Market on Stanyan Street (since closed) before deciding that writing had to be a better way to make a living. He was serendipitously present at Woodstock in 1969 when his car ran out of gas a half-mile away. He also has lived at various times in Portland and Eugene, Oregon, New York City, San Francisco again, Berkeley, and Los Angeles. Varley has written seve ...
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Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson (born November 24, 1948) is an American-Canadian science fiction author. He has won a number of awards for his hard science fiction and humorous stories, including the Hugo Award 1977 and 1983, and another Hugo with his co-author and wife Jeanne Robinson in 1978. Early life and education Robinson was born in the Bronx, New York City; his father was a salesman. He was an avid reader of science fiction, and it was his early childhood exposure to the juvenile novels of Robert A. Heinlein that later influenced him to become a writer. He attended a Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary; this was followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the 1960s, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Stony Brook, Spider entertained at campus coffeehouses and gatherings, strumming his guitar and singing in harmony with his female partner. It was at this time that his fr ...
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Lynn Abbey
Marilyn Lorraine "Lynn" Abbey (born September 18, 1948) is an American fantasy author. Background Lynn Abbey was born in Peekskill, New York. She attended the University of Rochester, where she began as an astrophysics major. She earned a A.B. (1969) and an M.A. (1971) in European history, but shifted to computer programming as a profession "when my advisor pointed out that, given the natural rise and fall of demographic curves, tenured university faculty positions were going to be as scarce as hen's teeth for the next twenty-five years and my education was turning into an expensive hobby. (He was right, too.)" She had married Ralph Dressler July 14, 1969; they were divorced October 31, 1972. During this period she also became a member of science fiction fandom. Move to Michigan; accident and aftermath In 1976, after a stint as a programmer for insurance companies, and work on the state task force involved in documenting the New York City bankruptcy crisis, she moved to Ann Arbo ...
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Robert Asprin
Robert Lynn Asprin (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008) was an American science fiction and fantasy authors, fantasy author and science fiction fandom, active fan, known best for his humorous series ''MythAdventures'' and ''Phule's Company (series), Phule's Company''. Background Robert Asprin was born in St. Johns, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1964 through 1965. From 1965 through 1966 he served in the United States Army. He was married, twice, and had two children. He was active in science fiction fandom and in the early years of the Society for Creative Anachronism using the name "Yang the Nauseating", and co-initiated the society Great Dark Horde during 1971. He was also the initiator and an influential member of the Dorsai Irregulars. In 1976, he was nominated for the Hugo Award for Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Best Dramatic Presentation for ''The Capture (cartoon), The Capture'', a cartoon slide show written by Aspr ...
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Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest inland city, and the list of cities in Australia by population, eighth-largest Australian city by population. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. Canberra's estimated population was 473,855. The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Aboriginal Australians for up to 21,000 years, by groups including the Ngunnawal and Ngambri. history of Australia (1788–1850), European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John the Baptist Church, Reid, St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australi ...
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George Turner (writer)
George Reginald Turner (8 October 1916 – 8 June 1997) was an Australian writer and critic, best known for the science fiction novels written in the later part of his career. His first science fiction story and novel appeared in 1978, when he was in his early sixties. By this point, however, he had already achieved success as a mainstream novelist, including a Miles Franklin Award, and as a literary critic. Biography Turner was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and educated in Melbourne. He served in the Australian Imperial Forces during the Second World War. Subsequently, he worked in a variety of fields, including as an employment officer, as a technician in the textile industry, and was a reviewer of science fiction for the Melbourne Newspaper ''The Age''.Collins, Paulsen & McMullen 1998, p. 173. Prior to writing science fiction, he had a well-established reputation as a mainstream literary fiction writer, his most productive period being from 1959 to 1967, during whi ...
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Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave science fiction, New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic-book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. Some of his best-known works include the 1967 ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek'' episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", considered by some to be the single greatest episode of the ''Star Trek'' franchise (he subsequently wrote a book about the experience that includes his original teleplay), his ''A Boy and His Dog'' cycle (which was made into A Boy and His Dog (1975 film), a film), and his short stories "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (later adapted by Ellison into I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (video game), a video game) and ...
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