Australian Natcon
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The Australian National Science Fiction Convention, started in 1952 regularly presents the Ditmar Awards.
It also holds a Business Meeting at which, nowadays, bids are presented to host the Australian Natcon two years onward.
Contents
National Media Conventions[edit]
In some years there was a separate Australian National Media Convention. Australian Media Natcons used to present the Australian Science Fiction Media Awards. In 1983, Conquest '83, in Brisbane, was the first media natcon. In 1984, Medtrek '84, in Sydney, was the Australian National SF Media Convention for that year. In 1985, Con Amore, in Brisbane was the National Media Convention. In 1986, Galactic Tours Convention, in Melbourne was the Australian National Media Convention. In 1987, Eccentricon, held at Hawkesbury Agricultural College in Richmond NSW, was the 5th National S.F. Media Convention. In 1989, Conspire, in Canberra, was the Australasian SF Media Convention. In 1993, the New Zealand Natcon, DefCon, was the Australasian Media Natcon.
Spawncon[edit]
There was a joke bid, by Jerry Kaufman and Clifford R. Wind, for the 1985 Australian Natcon to be held in Seattle (U.S.A.). It won.
SpawnCon Two[edit]
In 1999, when Australia hosted the 57th Worldcon, Aussiecon 3, the Australian Natcon was SpawnCon Two.
Dudcon III[edit]
In 2010, when Australia hosted the 68th Worldcon, Aussiecon 4, the Australian Natcon was Dudcon III.
List of Australian Natcons[edit]
| No. | Date | Convention | Location | Guests of Honour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 22, 1952 | First Australian Science Fiction Convention | Sydney (G.U.O.O.F. Hall) | (none) |
| 2 | May 1-3, 1953 | Second Australian Science Fiction Convention | Sydney (G.U.O.O.F. Hall (Saturday) and Sydney Bridge Club (Sunday)) | (none) |
| 3 | April 17-18, 1954 | Third Australian Science Fiction Convention | Sydney (Federation Hall) | (none) |
| 4 | March 18-20, 1955 | Fourth Australian Science Fiction Convention | Sydney (Dunbar House, Watson's Bay) | Arthur C. Clarke |
| 5 | December 8-9, 1956 | Olympicon | Melbourne (Richmond Town Hall) | Frank Bryning |
| 6 | April 5-6, 1958 | Sixth Australian Science Fiction Convention | Melbourne (Richmond Town Hall) | (none) |
| 7 | April 8-11, 1966 | Seventh Australian Science Fiction Convention | Melbourne (MSFC) | (none) |
| 8 | April 4-6, 1969 | Eighth Australian Science Fiction Convention | Melbourne (MSFC and Capri Theatre, Murrumbeena) | Lee Harding and (fan) John Foyster |
| 9 | March 27-30, 1970 | Ninth Australian Science Fiction Convention | Melbourne (Capri Theatre, Murrumbeena, and MSFC) | (none) |
| 10 | January 1-2, 1971 | Tenth Australian Science Fiction Convention | Melbourne (University of Melbourne) | (fan) Robin Johnson |
| 11 | August 11-13, 1972 | Syncon 2 | Sydney (Squire Motor Inn, Bondi Junction) | Lesleigh Luttrell |
| 12 | August 17-19, 1973 | Advention 2 | Adelaide (Lincoln College, University of Adelaide) | John Foyster |
| 13 | August 16-18, 1974 | Ozcon | Melbourne (Victoria Hotel) | Merv Binns and (fan) John Bangsund |
| 14 | January 24-27, 1975 | Syncon '75 | Sydney (Macquarie University) | (none) |
| 15 | August 13-15, 1976 | Bofcon | Melbourne (Noah's Palmlake Motor Inn) | (none) |
| 16 | July 29-31, 1977 | A-Con 7 | Adelaide (St. Vincent Hotel, Glenelg) | Bill Rotsler |
| 17 | March 24-27, 1978 | Unicon IV | Melbourne (Melbourne Town House) | Brian Aldiss, Roger Zelazny |
| 18 | August 10-13, 1979 | Syncon '79 | Sydney (New Crest Hotel, King's Cross) | Gordon R. Dickson, Ken Fletcher, Linda Lounsbury, Kouichi Yamamoto |
| 19 | August 15-18, 1980 | Swancon 5 | Perth (Park Towers Hotel) | Anne McCaffrey, Shayne McCormack, Grant Stone |
| 20 | June 6-8, 1981 | Advention '81 | Adelaide (Oberoi Hotel) | Frank Herbert, John Ossian (John Foyster), K. U. F. Widdershins (John Foyster) |
| 21 | April 9-12, 1982 | Tschaicon | Melbourne (Melbourne Town House) | Jack Vance, Leanne Frahm, Eric Lindsay |
| 22 | June 10-13, 1983 | Syncon '83 | Sydney (Shore Inn) | Harlan Ellison, Van Ikin |
| 23 | April 20-23, 1984 | Eureka!con | Melbourne (Victoria Hotel) | George Turner |
| 24 | April 5-8, 1985 | Advention '85 | Adelaide (The Townhouse Adelaide) | Lee Harding |
| 25 | March 28-31, 1986 | Swancon XI | Perth (Miss Maud Hotel) | C. J. Cherryh, Jack Herman |
| 26 | April 24-27, 1987 | Capcon | Canberra (Canberra Parkroyal Hotel) | Robert Asprin, Lynn Abbey, and (fan) John Newman |
| 27 | June 10-13, 1988 | Conviction (Syncon '88) | Sydney (Shore Motor Inn, Artamon) | Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson, Carey Handfield |
| 28 | March 23-27, 1989 | Swancon 14 | Perth (The King's Ambassador Hotel) | John Varley and (fan) Paul J. Stevens |
| 29 | April 13-16, 1990 | Danse Macabre | Melbourne (The Diplomat Motor Inn) | George R. R. Martin, Eric Lindsay |
| 30 | March 29 - April 1, 1991 | SunCon | Brisbane (Brisbane Gateway Hotel) | Patrick Tilley, Harlan Ellison (absent), Leigh Edmonds |
| 31 | April 17-20, 1992 | Syncon '92 | Sydney (Shore Motor Inn, Artamon) | Michael Whelan, Nick Stathopoulos |
| 32 | April 8-12, 1993 | Swancon 18 | Perth (The Ascot Inn) | Terry Pratchett and (fan) Craig Hilton |
| 33 | April 1-4, 1994 | Constantinople | Melbourne (Southern Cross Hotel) | William Gibson, and (fans) Bruce Gillespie, and Bean & Medge |
| 34 | June 9-12, 1995 | Thylacon | Hobart (Hadley's Hotel) | Kim Stanley Robinson, Peter Nicholls, Grant Stone |
| 35 | April 4-8, 1996 | Festival of the Imagination 1996 | Perth (King's Perth Hotel) | Storm Constantine, Neil Gaiman |
| 36 | Sept 27-28, 1997 | Basicon 2 | Melbourne (YWCA Cato Conference Centre) | (no one or everyone) |
| 37 | June 5-8, 1998 | Thylacon 2 | Hobart (Hadley's Hotel) | George R. R. Martin, Leanne Frahm |
| 38 | Sept 2-6, 1999 | SpawnCon Two | Melbourne (Melbourne Convention Centre) | (none) |
| 39 | April 20-24, 2000 | Swancon 2000 (Swancon 25) | Perth (Ascott Inn) | Connie Willis, Robin Hobb, Garth Nix, Ian Nichols |
| 40 | April 12-16, 2001 | Swancon 2001: Masquerade | Perth (The Rydges Hotel Perth) | Robert Silverberg, Karen Haber, Rosaleen Love, Marilyn Pride, Lewis Morley, Kate Orman, Sue Ackermann |
| 41 | June 7-10, 2002 | Convergence 2002 | Melbourne (Cato Conference Centre) | Joe Haldeman, Gay Haldeman, Lucy Sussex, Sean Williams, and (fan) Race Mathews |
| 42 | April 17-21, 2003 | Swancon 2003 | Perth (Kings Perth Hotel) | Lynn Flewelling, Tony Shillitoe, Fiona McIntosh, and (fan) Justin Ackroyd |
| 43 | April 23-26, 2004 | Conflux | Canberra (Rydges Lakeside) | Greg Benford, Sean McMullen, and (fan) Karen Herkes |
| 44 | June 10-13, 2005 | Thylacon 2005 (Thylacon IV) | Hobart (Wrest Point Hotel) | Anne Bishop, Marianne de Pierres, and (fan) Merv Binns |
| 45 | April 14-17, 2006 | Conjure | Brisbane (Mercure Hotel Brisbane) | Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, Sean Williams, Jonathan Strahan, and (fan) Erika Maria Lacey |
| 46 | June 8–11, 2007 | Convergence 2 | Melbourne (Cato Conference Centre) | Isobelle Carmody, Fred Gallagher, Dave Freer, and (fan) Cath Ortlieb |
| 47 | March 20–24, 2008 | State of the Art: Swancon 2008 | Perth (All Seasons) | Ken Macleod, Rob Shearman, Glenda Larke, and (fan) Zara Baxter |
| 48 | June 5–8, 2009 | Conjecture | Adelaide (Holiday Inn Adelaide) | Julie E. Czerneda, and (fans) Steve Scholz & Catherine Scholz |
| 49 | Sept 2–6, 2010 | Dudcon III | Melbourne (Melbourne Convention & Entertainment Centre) | Peter Watts, Helen Merrick, and (fan) Jacob Blake |
| 50 | April 21–25, 2011 | Swancon Thirty Six | Natcon Fifty | Perth (Hyatt Regency Perth) | Ellen Datlow, Justina Robson, Sean Williams, and (fan) Sarah Xu |
| 51 | June 8-11, 2012 | Continuum 8: Craftonomicon | Melbourne (Rydges on Swanston) | Kelly Link, Alison Goodman, and (fan) Sue Ann Barber |
| 52 | April 25-28, 2013 | Conflux 9 | Canberra (Rydges Capital Hill) | Nalo Hopkinson, Marc Gascoigne, Karen Miller, and (fan) Rose Mitchell |
| 53 | June 6-9, 2014 | Continuum X: Carnival of Lost Souls | Melbourne (InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto) | Jim C. Hines, Ambelin Kwaymullina, and (fans) Danny Oz & Sharon Moseley |
| 54 | April 2-6, 2015 | Swancon 40 | Perth (Pan Pacific Perth) | John Scalzi, Kylie Chan, and (fan) Anthony Peacey |
| 55 | March 25-28, 2016 | Contact2016 | Brisbane (Hotel Jen Brisbane) | Ben Aaronovitch, Keri Arthur, Maria Lewis and (fans) Jill Pantozzi and Kirilee Barker |
| 56 | June 9-12, 2017 | Continuum 13: Triskaidekaphilia | Melbourne (Jasper Hotel) | Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant and Likhain, DUFF Delegate: Paul Weimer |
| 57 | March 29 - April 2, 2018 | Swancon 2018 | Perth (Pan Pacific) | Kameron Hurley, Ryan Griffen, Emily Smith, Foz Meadows, and (fan) Barb de la Hunty |
| 58 | June 7-10, 2019 | Continuum 15: Other Worlds | Melbourne (Jasper Hotel) | Kate Elliott, Ken Liu |
| 59 | Swancon 2020 | Perth | Nalini Singh, John Robertson |
Much of the information for this page has been obtained from the Convergence 2 website, which updated a list compiled by Marc Ortlieb, and (more recently) from a (less recent) list provided by Marc Ortlieb in the Aussiecon Three Souvenir Book.
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