Ion Newcombe

The 2019 Peter McNamara Achievement Award, judged this year by Kirstyn McDermott, was presented to speculative fiction author Kaaron Warren at Continuum 15.

Congratulations to Kaaron, who has won numerous speculative fiction awards for her writing. Kaaron’s most recent novel is “Tide of Stone”.

The Peter McNamara Achievement Award, formally The Peter (the ‘Mac’) McNamara Award [for] Lifetime Achievement and Contribution towards Australian Speculative Fiction, is an award presented in honour of the late Peter NcNamara at the Australian National SF Convention awards ceremony. The award was inaugurated by Robert N. Stephenson, and is made and named for the year in which it is presented.

Bruce Gillespie (pictured) received the Continuum Foundation’s “Eternity” Award 2019 on Friday June 7 at the opening ceremony of Continuum 15, Natcon 58. This extraordinary award, featuring an hourglass trophy, recognises those who do a huge amount of work for SF fandom over an impossibly long period of time — in this case more than fifty years.

Bruce Gillespie thanked all of the people who helped to get “SF Commentary” off the ground in January 1969, including Lee Harding, John Foyster, John Bangsund, Leigh Edmonds, George Turner, and Tony Thomas in particular.

Read moreBruce Gillespie Receives The “Eternity” Award

The Continuum Foundation announced joint winners, Julian Warner and Lucy Sussex of the special, rarely-given, Ian Gunn Memorial Award at Continuum 15, Natcon 58, at the opening ceremony on Friday June 7.

The Ian Gunn Memorial Award, or “Gunny”, is an irregular Victorian award, only given out on years when someone suitably deserving is put forward to the Continuum Foundation committee.

It recognises the ‘unsung heroes’ of fandom — people who consistently work in the background for no other reason than the work needs doing, and who never expect any recognition of their efforts.

Ian Gunn was good at noticing such people.

The trophy, designed by Lewis Morley, incorporated a plastic spaceman in memory of the many plastic spacemen hidden in other fans’ homes by Ian Gunn and Karen Pender-Gunn.

Congratulations Julian and Lucy!

Winners of the 2019 Ditmar Awards for Australian SF were announced at Continuum 15 (Natcon 58, the Aussie Natcon), on Saturday June 8, during the awards ceremony.

Best Novel

WINNER: City of Lies, Sam Hawke (Tor)
Devouring Dark, Alan Baxter (Grey Matter)
The Subjugate, Amanda Bridgeman (Angry Robot)
Faerie Apocalypse, Jason Franks (IFWG Australia)
The Beast’s Heart, Leife Shallcross (Hodder & Stoughton)
Tide of Stone, Kaaron Warren (Omnium Gatherum)

Read moreDitmar Award Winners 2019

The 2019 Norma K Hemming Award for excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class or disability in speculative fiction published in 2018, was presented on Saturday 8 June, 2019 at a ceremony at the Continuum convention in Melbourne.

In an exciting development, there was a tie in the Long Work category, with Sam Hawke’s City of Lies (Transworld / Tor) and Mother of Invention edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth Planet Press) shared the top honour.

Read more2019 Norma K. Hemming Award Winners

Continuum 15 hosted the Australian Horror Writers Association Shadow Awards Ceremony in Melbourne on June Saturday June 8. Congratulations to all of the winners. Here’s another great speculative fiction reading list:

Read more2018 Shadows Award Winners Announced at Continuum

The winner of the A Bertram Chandler Award for 2019 is ALAN STEWART.

Alan received his award at Continuum 15, Natcon 2019, in Melbourne, at the awards ceremony.

Alan Stewart believes he entered fandom in 1979. Since that inauspicious entry 40 years ago, Alan continuously been involved in a variety of fanac both in Australia and overseas.

Alan Stewart’s fannish reputation commands great respect. He is a man of quiet achievement, of modesty and geniality: always generous and good-natured with his time and resources.

Congratulations Alan.

Find the full citation for Alan Stewart right here at the ASFF website.

Join S.T. Joshi in an evening of conversation and discussion on the works of H P Lovecraft and hear a performance by Edward Neeman & Eloise Fisher of Larry Sitsky’s Necronomicon.

Joshi is a leading authority on H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, H. L. Mencken, and other writers, mostly in the realms of supernatural and fantasy fiction.

Read moreNecronomicon Australis Tour

Continuum 15: Other Worlds is happening in Melbourne over the coming long weekend of June 7 till June 10. Bestselling novelist Kate Elliott and the award-winning writer and translator Ken Liu are this year’s Guests of Honour.

ASFF committee members Rose Mitchell, James Allen, and Geoff Allshorn will host “A Brief History of Post-Aussiecon Fandom – the 80s and 90s”. The panel will take place in the Barrayar Room on Friday June 7th, from 7pm – 8pm.

There will be a table for the Australian Science Fiction Foundation, shared with the Australian Fan Funds, in the Dealer’s Room.

Finally, the ASFF will present the 2019 A. Bertram Chandler Award and 2019 Norma K. Hemming Award during the Continuum Awards/Ditmars ceremony on Saturday 8 June, 2019 at the Jasper Hotel in Melbourne, from 4pm till 6pm. Entry is available through purchasing a Continuum membership or via a Ditmar Awards ticket.

The NAFF is administered by the ASFF to assist fans across Australia to make it to the annual National Australian Convention (Natcon). The winner of this year’s NAFF is Stephen Dedman. He will attend Continuum 15, held in Melbourne at the Jasper Hotel from Friday June 7 till Monday 10, 2019.

More information about NAFF winners is available at the NAFF site <http://ozfanfunds.com/?page_id=10>

Read moreNational Australia Fan Fund Winner