The 43rd World Science Fiction Convention (

Worldcon Worldcon, officially the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during Wor ...

), also known as Aussiecon Two, was held on 22–26 August 1985 at the Southern Cross, Victoria, and Sheraton Hotels in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. The convention was chaired by David Grigg.

Participants

Attendance was 1,599.

Guests of Honour

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and no ...

(pro) * Ted White (fan)

Awards

1985 Hugo Awards

* Best Novel: ''

Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian author William Gibson. Set in a near-future dystopia, the narrative follows Case, a computer hacker enlisted into a crew by a powerful artificial intelligence and a traumatis ...

'' by

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...

* Best Novella: ''PRESS ENTER■'' by John Varley * Best Novelette: "

Bloodchild ''Bloodchild and Other Stories'' is the only collection of science fiction stories and essays written by American writer Octavia E. Butler. Each story and essay features an afterword by Butler. "Bloodchild", the title story, won the Hugo Award ...

" by

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to recei ...

* Best Short Story: "

The Crystal Spheres "The Crystal Spheres" is a science fiction short story by American writer David Brin, originally published in the January 1984 issue of '' Analog'' and collected in '' The River of Time''. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1985. In it, ...

" by

David Brin Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American science fiction author. He has won the Hugo Award, Hugo,

* Best Non-Fiction Book: '' Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction'' by

Jack Williamson John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006) was an American list of science fiction authors, science fiction writer, one of several called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the t ...

* Best Dramatic Presentation: ''

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

'' * Best Professional Editor:

Terry Carr Terry Gene Carr (February 19, 1937 – April 7, 1987) was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor. Background and discovery of fandom Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of S ...

* Best Professional Artist:

Michael Whelan Michael Whelan (born June 29, 1950) is an Americans, American artist of imaginative Realism (arts), realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has ...

* Best Semiprozine: '' Locus'', edited by

Charles N. Brown Charles Nikki Brown (June 24, 1937 – July 12, 2009) was an American publishing editor, the co-founder and editor of '' Locus'', the long-running news and reviews magazine covering the genres of science fiction and fantasy literature. Brown was ...

* Best Fanzine: ''

File 770 ''File 770'' is a long-running science fiction fanzine, newszine, and blog site published and administered by Mike Glyer. It has been published every year since 1978, and has won a record eight Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine, with the first w ...

'', edited by

Mike Glyer Mike Glyer (born February 16, 1953) is both the editor and publisher of the long-running science fiction fan newszine ''File 770''. He has won the Hugo Award 12 times in two categories: ''File 770'' won the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1984, 1985, 1989 ...

* Best Fan Writer:

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'' and holds the all-time record for most Hug ...

* Best Fan Artist: Alexis Gilliland

Other awards

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

Lucius Shepard Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014) was an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leaned into other genres, such as magical realism. Career Shepard was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, wher ...

References

External links

NESFA.org: The Long List

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Science Fiction Convention 043 1980s in Melbourne 1985 conferences 1985 in Australia August 1985 in Australia Science fiction conventions in Australia Worldcon