Ion Newcombe

The Australian Science Fiction Foundation is seeking nominations for the A.Bertram Chandler award. It is given by the A.S.F.F. for “Outstanding achievement in Australian Science Fiction”. The Chandler, as it is fondly known, is a jury award and, although nominally an annual award, is not necessarily presented every year.

To nominate someone whom you believe has made a significant contribution to Australian science fiction and/ or Australian fandom, write or email to the ASFF, noting the nominee’s achievements and why you consider the nominee worthy of the Award.

Please send the several paragraphs of your written nomination to our e-mail address: <awards@asff.org.au>.

Nominees should be recognised members of the Australian speculative fiction community, whether in professional areas such as publishing or from the myriad fandoms that make up the scene.

James Allen (ASFF committee)

From the Conflux Committee:

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of Conflux again this year.

We had hoped beyond hope that we would be able to see you all this year after the horrors of 2020. But with the latest outbreaks across the country showing no sign of abating quickly, we cannot in good conscience go ahead with this event.

Sadly our theme (Visions of time) seemed to be prophetic: our time with our speculative fiction family must, for now, remain a vision rather than a reality.

If you have already purchased your membership, you have the option of rolling it over to 2022 or receiving a full refund. Please email the Conflux Registrar indicate your preference.

If you have booked accommodation at the Rydges Hotel, they provide a full refund as long as you cancel more than 24 hours in advance.

The short story competition will go ahead. We are currently working on how we host the Ditmars and will advise further once we have everything in place for that.

The Conflux team hopes you are keeping safe and well in this difficult time. We will get through this together, and we’re already looking forward to an extra-special Conflux in 2022. Block out the dates of Friday, 30 September to Monday, 3 October 2022 in your calendar now!

The Ditmar Awards are now open for nominations!

The Ditmars are peer-voted awards presented annually at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention (Natcon) to recognise achievement in Australian speculative fiction community over the last year. Anyone involved in Australian fandom can nominate, then members of this year’s Natcon (Conflux 16) and last year’s virtual Natcon (Swancon) will vote for the finalists.

The works with the most nominations in each category will appear on the final ballot.

You can nominate in a range of categories:

Professional categories:

• Best novel
• Best novella or novelette
• Best short story
• Best collected work
• Best artwork.

Fan categories:

• Best fan writer
• Best fan artist
• Best fan publication in any medium

Special awards:

• Best new talent
• The William Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review (Although technically not a Ditmar, this award is presented alongside the Ditmar awards, recognising excellence in science fiction criticism).

Read the full details in the Ditmar rules.

To give you some inspiration, there’s also a (non-exhaustive and unofficial) list of eligible people and works to nominate, to which everyone is encouraged to add to!

Nominations close at 11.59 AEST on Sunday, 15 August 2021.

Who can nominate?

To nominate a person or work for a Ditmar, you must be a natural person active in fandom, or a full or supporting member of Conflux 16.

You must include your name with any nomination. Where a nominator may not be known to the Ditmar subcommittee, the nominator should provide the name of someone known to the subcommittee who can vouch for the nominator’s eligibility.

Convention attendance or membership of an SF club are among the criteria which qualify a person as “active in fandom”, but are not the only qualifying criteria. If in doubt, nominate and mention your qualifying criteria.

The Ditmar subcommittee, which is organised under the auspices the Standing Committee of the Natcon Business Meeting, will rule on situations where eligibility is unclear.

How many times can you nominate?

You can nominate as many times in as many award categories as you like, although you may only nominate a particular person, work or achievement once.

How to nominate

1. (The easiest and preferred option) through the online form.
2. via email to ditmars@sf.org.au (ensuring you include your name, address and eligibility criteria)
3. by post to Ditmars PO Box 338 Bull Creek Western Australia 6149 (ensuring you include your name, email address, address and eligibility criteria, and noting that postal nominations must be postmarked no later than Friday, 13 August, 2021).

Dr. Gillian Polack is this year’s Natcon (Conflux 16) contact person from the ASFF.

Please refer all inquiries to Gillian via her website <https://gillianpolack.com/contact-me/>.

Conflux is the 2021 Australian National Convention (NatCon) and in conjunction with that the ASFF will present the Chandler Award, and have a presence at the convention.

Similarly, since it is the 2021 NatCon, Conflux will host the Australian Ditmar Awards. Nominations for the Ditmar Awards open soon.

More information at <https://conflux.org.au>.

 

Get Writing! Natcon 2021 Story Competition “Visions of Time”

Conflux wants your stories of 4000 words or under, in any speculative fiction genre, on the theme “Visions of Time”. The competition is open to all Australian residents and members of either the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild or Conflux 16. Entry is $5, unless you are a member of the CSFG or Conflux 16 or you are aged 16 or under, in which case it is free!

The winning stories will be published in the Conflux 16 convention magazine.

Prizes

First prize is $200 and a 2021 Conflux 16 membership! Second prize is $50 and a discounted Conflux 16 membership, and third prize is $25 and a discounted Conflux 16 membership.

Guidelines

Stories should be written in English, suitable for a general audience (ie, no gratuitous violence or erotica), and, of course, your own original, unpublished work.

Please submit them in the following format: RTF, double spaced, courier font, with the story title in the top right header.

Make the first page of your document a cover sheet that includes your name, contact details and story title (we’ll remove this before we give it to the judges). YOUR NAME MUST NOT APPEAR ON ANY OF THE OTHER PAGES OF THE STORY.

Get it to through to <chair@conflux.org.au> before midnight on Friday August 30 2021.

Entry Fees
Fees can be paid by direct deposit:
BSB 083-004
A/C 79-147-4332
Conflux Incorporated
Please put reference: 2021Short.

Save the Date: Saturday June 12 2021
Keep your masks handy, your sanitiser close, and keep the day free for a Continuum miniconvention! (Please note this will not be Continuum 16).

Q: A miniconvention? WHERE?
A: Somewhere in Melbourne, venue TBC — we’ll let you know SOON.

Q: Will this be COVID-Safe?
A: Yes! We will be only running two streams of programming (…maybe) and limiting memberships, so stay tuned for more information on when we are releasing them for purchase!

Q: What can I find out about the programming?
A: Programming information coming soon! Do you have any ideas for panels? Email programming@continuum.org.au or contact us on our social media channels.

Q: Will this be an online convention?
A: We’re still investigating the logistics of streaming and recording some of the convention. We’ll let you know more closer to the date.

Stay subscribed on our socials: Facebook, Twitter, and Discord!

 

At the ASFF AGM held by Zoom in February 2021, several committee members stepped down and not many stepped up. The committee is currently in caretaker mode while we investigate a number of matters including the legalities of operating with only two executive members. The committee also seeks expressions of interest for the unfilled positions.

Committee:

(Vacant) President

Louise Sampson, Membership Officer

Carey Handfield, Treasurer & Public Officer

(Vacant) Administrative Secretary

Gillian Polack, General Committee Member

Ion Newcombe, General Committee Member / Website Manager

James Allen, General Committee Member / Chandler Award

Cath Ortlieb, General Committee Member

Delegated Responsibilities:

(Vacant) Norma K. Hemming Award Administrator

(Vacant) Writing Competition Administrator

If you have any enquiries please contact: <admin@asff.org.au>

Posted on behalf of:

Louise Zedda-Sampson
Membership Officer
Executive Committee
Australian Science Fiction Foundation

and

Carey Handfield
Treasurer & Public Officer
Executive Committee
Australian Science Fiction Foundation

Conflux is back again in 2021 with “Visions of Time” and this year it’s also the Aussie national spec fic convention!

Conflux is Canberra’s annual speculative fiction convention for both established writers and artists and those seeking a foundation in the industry.

As we adapt to the mad (Max) world that is our new formal, Conflux will spend three days over the weekend of October 2-4 2021 exploring the future of the speculative fiction industry.

(Dr.) Who will be there you ask? This year’s guest of honour is John Birmingham, author of He Died with a Felafel in His Hand and the Axis of Time trilogy, and our International guest of honour is multi-award winning Helen Marshall, known for her psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic.

Since Conflux 2021 is also the Australian National Science Fiction Convention it will include the Ditmar Award, which recognises achievement in Australian science fiction (including fantasy and horror) and science fiction fandom.

More information and memberships now available at the Conflux 2021 website <https://conflux.org.au>.

Featuring a smorgasbord of leading names in Australian and international genre fiction across a spectacular line up of panels, workshops and special events, GenreCon is Queensland’s leading conference for genre writers. Find your tribe and join us as we celebrate all things Genre!

In 2021, GenreCon is going virtual for an action-packed day of amazing Live Streamed sessions on Saturday February 27, and a workshop night on Friday February 26.

More information at: <https://genrecon.com.au/>.

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It is with great pleasure that the Australian Science Fiction Foundation announces the A. Bertram Chandler Award for 2020 goes to Dr Gillian Polack.

Gillian first encountered fandom in 1979 at a Melbourne University Science Fiction Association meeting. As so many do, she immediately gravitated towards their library. She later became more active and attended her first convention in Canberra. Gillian has been a Canberra fan since 2002 and was on the Conflux committee for seven years, organizing historical banquets, being part of the small team running the Conflux online minicon for several years, as well as convening and judging the short story competition. She was a co-convenor of Flycon, the first international online Science Fiction convention and was the GUFF winner in 2014, attending the 72nd Worldcon in London. She published her trip report, Gillian’s Book of Lists.

Gillian instituted the popular historical banquets at Conflux where she researched and tested recipes with the help of fellow fans. At Aussiecon 4 she was awarded the Best Achievement Ditmar for the Conflux Southern Gothic banquet along with her team and produced a related recipe book Five Historical Feasts, (Conflux/Eneit Press, 2011). She has introduced people to historical and science fiction inspired food and many fans have had their first (and possibly last) interaction with the joys of dehydrated portable soup at one of her panels. At the 2017 Worldcon in Helsinki, she introduced many con goers to Australian bush tucker and her home-made Medlar liquor is a wondrous delight that has been known to make an appearance at room parties.

Many conventions and fanzines have turned to Gillian for assistance when needing material to complete their publication in a short timeframe such as Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Steam Engine Time, various Continuum con books and Worldcon con books or to sub-edit Australian Speculative Fiction when Donna Hanson was out of commission. Other publications include SFSignals, Wisconsin Chronicles, Strange Horizons and SF World along with reviews for Horrorscope, ASIF and SF Commentary. She has also published multiple short stories and novels for which she has been nominated for Ditmars and been listed in the Years best listings by Ellen Datlow and Gardner Dozois. She is the editor of the Baggage anthology (2010) and co-editor of Masques, (2009). She spent four years judging the Aurealis awards. Recently she won the 2020 Best Novel Ditmar award for her book, The Year of the Fruit Cake.

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