Because it is good to know how things were done in the past, here’s the information on the awards to be presented at Swancon 14. All typos faithfully recorded. Transcribed by Elaine Walker.
Australian Science Fiction Awards, 1989
Two types of awards will be presented at Swancon 14, the nominees and winners of which are decided by convention members. The Ditmar award is the Australian award for Science Fiction achievement. The William Atheling is a special award presented for Science Fiction criticism by an Australian writer.
The specific awards will be outlined below, along with eligibility requirements. All nominations must be recieved by January 27 1989, to allow inclusion in PR4. Voting will take place at the convention. A special “voting only” membership is available for those unable to attend the convention. For the nominal fee of $5.00, voting members may cast their vote for the Ditmar and William Atheling awards.
Ditmar Awards 1989
The awards to be presented fall into three categories, all awards apply to the calendar year 1988. A list of all works eligible for the International Fiction and Australian Fiction categories will be compiled by the Australian Science Fiction Association. We will endeavour to include this list in TRO PR3.
International Fiction.
1) Best International Fiction.
A work shall be deemed eligible for this category if the work has been published for the first time, in either hard or paperback, in english, and distributed to the Australian readership by an Australian book publisher of distributor in the calendar year 1988. The award applies to both novels and anthologies.
Australian Fiction
In addition to the requirements for the International Fiction award, nominees for these awards must be Australian citizens or residents of at least seven years.
2) Best Australian Novel.
3) Best Australian Short Fiction.
Australian Fanzines, Fan Writers and Artists
A general requirement of these awards is that the work be generally available to Australian readers. To assist voters we hope to have copies of the nominated fanzines available at Swancon 14. To this end, we ask those nominating a fanzine to either send us representative copies or to provide us with the postal address of the fanzine to allow us to contact the editor.
4) Best Australian Fanzine.
5) Best Fan Writer.
6) Best Fan Artist.
The work of the fan artist and fan writer nominees must have appeared in at least two fanzines generally available in the calendar year 1988.
William Atheling Award 1989
7) William Atheling Award (Australian Criticism).
To be eligible for this award, the critic must have produced either a substantial critical piece or a body of shorter pieces in the calendar year 1988.