SwanCon is a

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 ex ...

held in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is Australia's longest-running science fiction convention, and probably the longest-running in the southern hemisphere. It was founded in 1975 by Grant Stone, with the first convention held in 1976, and has been run annually since. It is generally run by different committees of volunteers each year, and committees bid for the right to run the convention two years in advance. In recent years it has been run as a project of the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation (WASFF), with that year's committee reporting to the WASFF board. The convention is frequently run at Easter, but has been run at other times, though typically in the first half of the year, and is generally held in a hotel. It generally attracts 250–300 attendees. It will normally have guests attending including at least one international author, and international guests have included

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

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 Da ...

, Anne McAffrey,

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the '' Mistb ...

Charles Stross Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine ' ...

, and

David Zindell David Zindell (born November 28, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy epics writer. Writing career Zindell's first published story was "The Dreamer's Sleep" in ''Fantasy Book'' in 1984. His novelette ''Shanidar'', which shared a bac ...

. Australian guests have included

John Birmingham John Birmingham (born 7 August 1964) is a British-born Australian author, known for the 1994 memoir ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'', the ''Axis of Time'' trilogy, and the well-received space opera series, the ''Cruel Stars'' trilogy. ...

, Marianne de Pierres, Kim Wilkins and Kate Forsyth.Lay, Duncan. (31 March 2013) "Read Them or Weep". ''The Sunday Times'', Perth, Australia. p68. SwanCon first hosted the Australian National Science Fiction Convention in 1980, and has done so relatively regularly since. In 2011, SwanCon hosted the 50th Australian National Science Fiction Convention, including guests Ellen Datlow, Justina Robson and Sean Williams."Fans of science fiction and fantasy are set to descend upon the Hyatt Hotel in Perth this week for the 50th anniversary of a national convention" (19 April 2011). ''Guardian Express'', Perth, Australia. p3.

Tin Duck Awards

The Tin Duck Awards are the Western Australian science fiction achievement awards. They are given out annually at SwanCon and voted on by members of the convention. They were first presented in 1980 at SwanCon 5. The Tin Duck design, after which the Awards were named, was by Rob McGough.Strong, Caroline. 'SwanCon 7 Program Book' , p. 10
Transcription by Anna Hepworth, Australian SF History 2012
Retrieved April 30, 2013

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Swancon Homepage

Swancon history page
on th
Australian sf information site
Recurring events established in 1975 Science fiction conventions in Australia