Firstly, we are very sad to announce that Lyn McConchie and Mary Victoria are no longer able to attend due to unforseen events. We were so pleased when they said yes to being invited guests of the convention and they will be missed.

However (look away, Lyn and Mary!), we have so much for you to do and see that you should really start sleeping all day and night to prepare. If you haven’t already, take a look at our mintox program, and see more details of the Academic Stream and the WriterStream.

Thursday night is free, and you’ll be able to bring your friends to sample the Swancon experience. The hilariously geeky BRENT! will launch the convention with some end-of-week LOLs, followed by a debate over the assertion that “We are Living in a Computer Simulation”. Then join Eric Ripper, SF fan and Leader of the Opposition, who will be launching the Future Imperfect Art Show. There will also be gaming and various panels, plus the Hyatt bar will be open for business if you just want to catch up with everyone.

Before the convention opens, you are invited to Meet Our Guests over lunch at Mai’s Vietnamese Restaurant East Perth. Places are limited, but there’s still some seats available if you get in quick!

If there’s one thing that fans love most of all, it’s Having Opinions. If that describes you, make sure you get your votes in for the Tin Duck and Ditmar Awards. There will be printed ballots available at the door so you can vote once you arrive. Check the links for eligibility criteria. Then join us for cocktails at the Orbit | Gollancz Natcon Fifty Awards Ceremony, for the presentation of these awards and more!

Saturday night is Masquerade night! Airbrush Tattoos WA are trading in the Dealer Room all weekend. They specialise in full colour and glow in the dark, waterproof airbrush tattoos small and large! They are also available for full costume tattooing – if you want something a little special for the Masquerade or any other program item, you are welcome to book ahead by email to make your appointment.

Lastly: Swancon only survives on the kindness of volunteers. If you have a strong attention to detail and a few hours to spare over the convention weekend we would love to hear from you.

The draft Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty program is now online. While we are making every effort to make sure all details are correct, we cannot guarantee that items won’t change. We also have plenty of space for last minute program ideas, so if the mood strikes and you want to organise something, we’ll help provide you with space to do it.

Contact us any time in the lead-up to the convention, or speak to a committee member once you arrive.

View the full program, or see each day individually: Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday

Image from here

7:30pm on Sunday 24 April 2011 in the Hyatt Regency Perth.

Thanks to our very kind sponsors, Orbit Australia and Gollancz Australia, members of Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty are invited to attend a cocktail party before the presentation of awards for the best works of science fiction and fantasy for 2010, including:

The Swancon Thirty Six Tin Ducks
The Natcon Fifty Ditmar Awards
The 2011 Norma K Hemming Award
Peter McNamara Achievement Award
and more…

GOLLANCZ AUSTRALIA on Facebook

ORION AUSTRALIA on Facebook

Best Novel
————————————————————————
* Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson (Hachette)
* Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Pan Macmillan)
* Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Voyager)
* Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke (Voyager)
* Walking the Tree, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)

Best Novella or Novelette
————————————————————————
* “Acception”, Tessa Kum (Eneit Press)
* “All the Clowns in Clowntown”, Andrew J. McKiernan (Brimstone Press)
* “Bleed”, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Her Gallant Needs”, Paul Haines (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “The Company Articles of Edward Teach”, Thoraiya Dyer (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Short Story
————————————————————————
* “All the Love in the World”, Cat Sparks (Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Bread and Circuses”, Felicity Dowker (Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications)
* “One Saturday Night With Angel”, Peter M. Ball (Sprawl, Twelfth Planet Press)
* “She Said”, Kirstyn McDermott (Scenes From the Second Storey, Morrigan Books)
* “The House of the Nameless”, Jason Fischer (Writers of the Future XXVI)
* “The February Dragon”, Angela Slatter and Lisa L. Hannett (Scary Kisses, Ticonderoga Publications)

Best Collected Work
————————————————————————
* Baggage, edited by Gillian Polack (Eneit Press)
* Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears, edited by Angela Challis and Marty Young (Brimstone Press)
* Scenes from the Second Storey, edited by Amanda Pillar and Pete Kempshall (Morrigan Books)
* Sprawl, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Worlds Next Door, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing)

Best Artwork
————————————————————————
* Cover art, The Angaelien Apocalypse/The Company Articles of Edward Teach (Twelfth Planet Press), Dion Hamill
* Cover art, Australis Imaginarium (FableCroft Publishing), Shaun Tan
* Cover art, Dead Sea Fruit (Ticonderoga Publications), Olga Read
* “The Lost Thing” short film (Passion Pictures), Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan

Best Fan Writer
————————————————————————
* Robert Hood, for Undead Backbrain
* Chuck McKenzie, for work in Horrorscope
* Alexandra Pierce, for body of work including reviews at Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus
* Tehani Wessely, for body of work including reviews at Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus

Best Fan Artist
————————————————————————
* Rachel Holkner, for Continuum 6 props
* Dick Jenssen, for cover art of Interstellar Ramjet Scoop
* Amanda Rainey, for Swancon 36 logo

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium
————————————————————————
* Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus, edited by Alisa Krasnostein et al.
* Bad Film Diaries podcast, Grant Watson
* Galactic Suburbia podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce
* Terra Incognita podcast, Keith Stevenson
* The Coode Street podcast, Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan
* The Writer and the Critic podcast, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond

Best Achievement
————————————————————————
* Lisa L. Hannett, cover design for The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales (Ticonderoga Publications)
* Helen Merrick and Andrew Milner, Academic Stream for Aussiecon 4
* Amanda Rainey, cover design for Scary Kisses
* Kyla Ward, Horror Stream and The Nightmare Ball for Aussiecon 4
* Grant Watson and Sue Ann Barber, Media Stream for Aussiecon4
* Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, Rachel Holkner, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Tehani Wessely, Snapshot 2010

Best New Talent
————————————————————————
* Thoraiya Dyer
* Lisa L. Hannett
* Patty Jansen
* Kathleen Jennings
* Pete Kempshall

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review
————————————————————————
* Leigh Blackmore, for Marvels and Horrors: Terry Dowling’s Clowns at Midnight
* Damien Broderick, for editing Skiffy and Mimesis: More Best of Australian Science Fiction Review
* Ross Murray, for The Australian Dream Becomes Nightmare
* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for A Modern Woman’s Guide to Classic Who

Votes can be sent via email to: ditmars@sf.org.au

Online voting is available at: http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2011

Postal ballots will be distributed in the near future.

Voting for the Ditmar Award is conducted in accordance with the rules specified at http://wiki.sf.org.au/Ditmar_rules, and is open to members of Swancon Thirty Six (including supporting members) and to members of Dudcon III who were eligible to vote in the 2010 Award. Voting in all award categories is by the optional preferential system, and each eligible individual may vote only once. All ballots (including emailed ballots) should include the name and address of the voter. If you have questions regarding the ballot or voting procedure, please email ditmars@sf.org.au.

Back in the days of yore…

Ok, back in about 1997 or 1998, my agent, who lives in UK, told me I should start going to science fiction conventions now that I had my first book accepted for publication. I said, ‘Conventions? What are they?’

She explained, and it all seemed rather strange and alien. I couldn’t imagine me, all alone, rolling up to a place where I knew no one and no one knew me – and not just for one day, either. For several days, and at great expense, seeing as I live in Malaysia where there is no such event.

Yeah, well, I’ve come a long way since then. Once I got the hang of this thing called the internet*, I investigated and it all seemed intriguing. So I decided I’d give one a try. I timed a visit to Perth to see my sister with the Easter holidays, then twisted her arm to come with me for the first day of Swancon 2004. Fortunately she’s an ex teacher-librarian with a love of SF/F, and she was happy to oblige.

No one knew who I was, my first Oz published books were not long out, but I was welcomed, shoved onto panels, met a whole slew of terrific people many of whom are still friends, and generally had a ball. Tim Powers was the main guest, and was totally delightful. I still remember his GoH speech.

I was hooked for life. I’ve loved cons ever since. Donna Hanson somehow got me to go from Perth to Canberra for Conflux 2004 immediately afterwards. That was the first time I met Russell Kirkpatrick… The main GoH was Greg Benson. I went back the next year to another Swancon (Charles de Lint was the main guest). Even now, I still haven’t got over being on the same panel with famous writers.

In 2008 I was totally gobsmacked to be asked to Swancon as their Australian GoH. I was incredibly moved to have my hometown ask me back as a guest. Even more fabulously, the international GoH was Ken McLeod, and writer Rob Shearman of Dr Who fame was a guest as well. What a great con.

So, above you have several reasons to go to a SF Con, especially ones in Perth.

Reason No 1: You have a ball
Reason No 2: They have fabulous guests
Reason No 3: You make lifelong friends
Reason No 4: You can end up on panels — or attend them

I’ve been to other Australian conventions since: Continuum 2005 in Melbourne, which had one of the funniest debates I’ve ever heard — after all how can you go wrong with Neil Gaiman, Russell Kirkpatrick and Kim Wilkins (Lord, how could ANYONE ever forget her speech???), Poppy Z.Brite and Richard Harland taking sides on the subject of whether humans are creatures natural or unnatural…

Reason No 5: Writers are often also very witty speakers…

Most of that con I actually spent with the Harper Voyager and their authors, including Robin Hobb. I think that was the time I first met author Karen Miller, whom I now count a very special friend. Then there was Natcon/Convergence in Melbourne in 2007, which was where I first met Dave Freer, who was one of the guests, and was later enticed back to Oz to live.

Reason No 6: You meet some of your favourite authors…

And in the meantime I was also investigating my first Worldcon, in Glasgow in 2005, and my second in Denver in 2008, my third in Melbourne last year.

So, if you live in Oz and aren’t going to Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty – the 50th Natcon, by the way – why not? Come to think of it, you don’t have to live in Oz to go. I don’t.

See here for more info. It’s 21st-25th April (Easter) 2011. And I am one of a whole stack of invited guests. Don’t miss it.
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*I was a very early user of a PC — Apple IIe anyone? — but came somewhat late to the internet.

Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty: it’s quite a mouthful and a lot of history. We’re so glad that we have the opportunity to host the fiftieth Australian Natcon at this year’s Swancon. Perth has hosted nine of them already, and we’re ready to make this one the best so far.

Take a look at our program, and I think you’ll agree it’s pretty awesome! There will be lots to do, see, hear and say. Whether you’re in the mood to listen to presentations from writers, editors, artists and academics; debate ideas with other fans of speculative fiction; network and socialise with guests and members in one of the Hyatt’s many bars and cafes; or just spend time in our fabulous dealers room and fan lounge; there will always be something for you to do.

Remember that Thursday night is free! So bring a friend or two and see what Swancon has to offer.

Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty is all about fandom, and the fans. We’re holding a party in your honour – all you have to do is show up and have fun. We’ve compiled a short summary of what’s on offer. There will be more announcements as we go, so be sure to keep an eye on our rss feed, or our Twitter feed (@natcon50) for more exciting updates and news throughout the year.

But first, the basics:

21-25 April 2011
Hyatt Hotel, Adelaide Tce, Perth

From the moment you receive your membership card, the kind folks at Planet Books and Fantastic Planet have offered to give you 10% off all the books you buy – valid until 25 April 2011. You really can’t afford not to sign up!

Until 20 April 2011, membership of Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty will be $210, or $155 for students and concession card holders. Once registration opens at 4:00pm on Thursday 21 April prices will be $250 / $185. You can buy day memberships for $70 per day, or $50 student/concession. Supporting memberships are $20.

You can purchase memberships online, at Planet Books, Fantastic Planet, White Dwarf, Empire Toys, Quality Comics, Tactics and Tokyo Underground, or in person from Swancon Thirty Six committee members.

Become a member of Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty today!

See our program here.

Donald A. Ford from the Cincinnati Fantasy Group wrote a piece in which he describes, amongst other things, the beginnings of the Indian Lake Convention:

This regional con is for the more hardened fen though. It isn’t nice to have to quell a gibbering neo-fan when he sees his favorite pro denuded of glamor and living it up just like at home.

The shock of finding their idols with feet of clay is too much for them, and their little beanie-capped brains collapse as rapidly as fan and pro mags. A special squad has been organized to lead the poor dazed creatures back to their rooms where they can be alone with their grief. Seeing their favorite pro author stretched out on the floor, dead drunk, does something to them than all King Ron’s auditors can’t put together again. Only the first five fandoms can stand this sight without a tremor. Sixth fandom still has to be watched over, for signs of occasional relapses. However Seventh Fandom has been making an effort to help out their own. A number bring fire crackers and use them for shock therapy. Sometimes it works. Other times it merely brings the pros to, and they rise up calling loudly for another drink and a new deck of cards. Will Eighth Fandom be able to withstand this, along with the “A” and “H” bombs?