The 48th World Science Fiction Convention (

Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally 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 ...

), also known as ConFiction, was held 23–27 August 1990 at the Netherlands Congress Centre in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands. The organising committee was chaired by Kees van Toorn.

Participants

Attendance was 3,580, despite the preparations for the

Gulf war The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

which deterred many Americans from traveling.

Guests of Honor

Joe Haldeman Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel ''The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including ''The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), have wo ...

Wolfgang Jeschke Wolfgang Jeschke (19 November 1936 – 10 June 2015) was a German science fiction author and editor at Heyne Verlag. In 1987, he won the Harrison Award for international achievements in science fiction. Biography Jeschke was born in 1936 in Dě ...

* Harry Harrison *

Andrew I. Porter Andrew Ian Porter (born March 24, 1946) is an American editor, publisher and active science fiction fan. Background Born Andrew Ian Silverberg on March 24, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan, he moved to New York City with his mother and brother ...

(fan) *

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (born September 15, 1942) is an American writer. She is known for her series of historical horror novels about the vampire Count Saint-Germain. Biography Yarbro was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schoo ...

(toastmaster)

Awards

1990 Hugo Awards

* Best Novel: '' Hyperion'' by

Dan Simmons Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...

* Best Novella: "

The Mountains of Mourning The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.Lillian Stewart Carl and John Helfers, ''The Vorkosigan Companion'', Baen Books 2008, The first ...

" by Lois McMaster Bujold * Best Novelette: "Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another" by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

* Best Short Story: " Boobs" by Suzy McKee Charnas * Best Non-Fiction Book: ''

The World Beyond the Hill ''The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence'' (1989) is a book about the history of science fiction, written by Alexei Panshin and Cory Panshin. Publication It was first published in hardcover by Jeremy P. Tarche ...

'' by Alexei &

Cory Panshin Cory Panshin (born 1947) is an American science fiction critic and writer. She often writes in collaboration with her husband, Alexei Panshin (1940–2022). The Panshins won the Hugo award for Best Non-Fiction Book in 1990 for ''The World Beyo ...

* Best Dramatic Presentation: ''

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action film, action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones, ''Indiana ...

'' * Best Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois * Best Professional Artist: Don Maitz * Best Original Artwork: cover of '' Rimrunners'' by Don Maitz * 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 (magazine), Locus'', the long-running news and reviews magazine covering the genres of science fiction and fantasy litera ...

* Best Fanzine: ''The Mad 3 Party'', edited by Leslie Turek * 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 ...

* Best Fan Artist: Stu Shiffman

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 ...

: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Notes

The convention was opened by the then Minister of Cultural Affairs of the Netherlands, and the Hugos were presented by the U.S.

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the Netherlands. This was the first

after the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

, so was the first convention which many fans, writers and editors from Eastern European countries were able to attend.

References

External links

ConFiction 1990 convention report

World Science Fiction Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Science Fiction Convention 048 1990 conferences 1990 in the Netherlands Conventions in the Netherlands Science fiction conventions in Europe Worldcon