Swancon 2001: PR3: Guests

Posted on 12 November, 2019 by australian sf-history

Part of page 1 (the front cover) and part of page 2 of this PR is Guests:

Guests

Guest of Honour
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg has published more than 100 science fiction books, more than 60 non-fiction books, countless short stories, and edited more than 60 anthologies. His career has spanned five decades, and he is still publishing.

International Guests
Karen Haber
Karen Haber began to write genre fiction in 1988, with the story “Madre de Dios”, which was published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her best known fiction is the Fire in the Winter sequence. She is also a successful editor, and co-edits the Universe anthologies with Robert Silverberg.

Scott Frazier
Scott Frazier works in the anime industry. He has worked on RikiOh 2, Locke the Superman (OVA), Shurato (OVA), Bubblegum Crash (OVA) and Tottoi (feature) among others.

Australian Guests
Rosaleen Love
Rosaleen is best known for her fabulous short stories, especially in her collections The Total Devotion Machine (1989) and Evolution Annie (1993). Her latest project is Reefscape, a book of non-fiction essays on the Great Barrier Reef.

Marilyn Pride
Marilyn has worked in various artistic fields, including illustration and sculpture. She is currently working on creating models of crime scenes for the NSW Police Department.

Lewis Morley
Lewis mainly does modelling work for films. He is currently working on the next Star Wars instalment, and has previously worked on films such as Dark City and The Matrix.

Kate Orman
Kate Orman is the author of some of the most acclaimed Doctor Who novels ever published, including the The Left-Handed Hummingbird, Set Piece, and The Room With No Doors. Her short stories have appeared in Interzone and Realms Of Fantasy.

Jonathan Blum
Jonathan Blum is the author (with Kate Orman) of the Doctor Who novels Vampire Science, Seeing I and Unnatural History. He recently wrote the acclaimed Doctor Who audio release The Fearmonger, starring Sylvester McCoy.

Invited Guests
Zan Ross
Local poet Zan Ross is currently studying for her PhD at Curtin University. Her poem By the River of Crocodiles was published in the 1999 edition of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

Scot Snow
Scot has published over 100 short stories. Currently he is involved in script writing for comics, TV and film. His story What We Want and What We Need will be appearing in the forthcoming anthology AustrAlien Absurdities..

Grant Watson
Local playwright Grant Watson is the writer of the speculative fiction plays Frames, R3 and Degree Absolute – which Triple J described as ‘dark and extremely tense’.

Russell Blackford
Russell is a noted scholar in the science fiction field. His recent collaboration with Van Ikin and Sean McMullen, Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction was recipient of the William Atheling Jr. Award for criticism or review at the 2000 Ditmar Awards.

Juliet Marillier
Juliet Marillier is a Western Australian writer who has just published the fantasy novels Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows, which are both instalments of the Sevenwaters trilogy. The trilogy has been published in Australia, the UK, the USA and Germany.

Fan Guest
Susan Ackermann
Our fabulous Created Guest. Susan has worked towards becoming a Fan Guest for many years through her theatre sports, readiness to take part in mad fan projects at short notice, and her openness towards new fans.

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Festival of The Imagination 1996 – Storm Constantine

Posted on 5 November, 2019 by australian sf-history

Being page 4 of the January 1996 Newsletter.

Storm Constantine is 30 something, and lives in Stafford with eight cats and a husband. Apart from being a successful author and an accomplished artist, through her love of music, she has been involved with band management for many years.

Storm has written stories all her life. Her interests have always lain in the realms of the fantastical, but she was influenced by the mythology of Ancient Egypt and Greece more than by contemporary fantasy writing. After beginning – and never completing – several full-length works, Storm began work in 1985 on the first of her Wraeththu novels, The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit. This was completed in 1986 and accepted by Futura/Macdonald, finally being published in 1987. It was followed by two further Wraeththu books, The Bewitchments of Love and Hate (1988) and The Fullfilments of Fate and Desire (1989).

In 1990, Macdonald/Orbit published Storm’s fourth book, The Monstrous Regiment – a departure from the territory of the Wraeththu, though still, as her editor once put it, “quintessential Storm”. A sequel to The Monstrous Regiment – Aleph – appeared in 1991.

1991 also saw Storm moving publishers, to Headline, which Storm saw as a major step forward in her career. Storm had four happy and successful years with Headline which saw the publication of her next four books: Hermetech (1991), Burying the Shadow (1992), Sign For The Sacred (1993) and Calenture (1994). Hermetech, a favourite of Storm and her fans, was a step sideways for Storm in that it was a science fiction novel.

A change of publishers in 1994, to the exciting new Penguin/Creed imprint, has served to strengthen Storms’ outlook and career. Her first book with Creed, Stalking Tender Prey, is due to be published in November 1995. Stalking Tender Prey explores Storm’s continuing fascination with the mythology of the Fallen Angels, drawing on characters and ideas from her earlier novel, Burying The Shadow, and her short story, “A Change of Season” (which appeared in the Midnight Rose Anthology, The Weerde).

Besides her novels, Storm has had several short stories published in magazines and anthologies/collections, and both Hermetech and Burying The Shadow have been translated into German with translations into other languages planned for future.

Below this was a ‘Selected Bibliography’. As this pretty much echoes the works listed above, this has not been replicated

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Festival of The Imagination 1996 – Neil Gaiman, Robin Pen

Posted on 29 October, 2019 by australian sf-history

Page 5 of the SwanCon/Festival of the Imagination 1996 January 1996 Newsletter has brief (one paragraph) bios on guests Neil Gaiman and Robin Pen. There is also a selected bibliography for Neil Gaiman, which has been omitted on the principle that if you want to know, you know how to google. The page finishes with a quote from Robin in large type face.

Neil Gaiman

Expatriate Britisher and winner of the World Fantasy Award, Neil Gaiman is probably most widely known as the writer of the Sandman comic saga. He is also the author of numerous comics and graphic novels, often working with acclaimed artist Dave McKean. An occasional writer of short fiction (some of which was recently published in a collection), he collaborated with Terry Pratchett on a highly successful humorous fantasy novel and co-created and edited a namuber of shared-world anthologies including Temps and Weerde. Gaiman also collaborated with Kim Newman on a compilation of high-lights of the low-lights of science fiction and horror writing in literature and fim; he is a popular interview subject, has received many awards and happens to are an authority on Douglas Adams’ Hitch-Hiker series of plays and novels.

Robin Pen

Writer, columnist, film maker, artist, publisher, editor, critic, interviewer and raconteur, Robin Pen has worked in three SF bookstores – managing two of them – two comic shops, and a computer games store, and has been active in conventions since Swancon 14 in 1989. In 1990, he helped found and edit Eidolon – The Australian Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and began his film column, “Critical Embuggerance”, for which he won a Ditmar Award in 1993. He has also programmed film events for the Lumiere Cinema, including two Sci Fi Blockbusters and the week long Festival Fantastique in 1994. Today, along with his contributing editorship with Eidolon, he is also an associate editor for PC Games Plus.

“Godzilla is the sensei in the dojo of Cinema Ephemera.”
Robin Pen

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Festival of The Imagination 1996 – The Chair Speaks

Posted on 22 October, 2019 by australian sf-history

Being the main part of page 3 of the January 1996 Newsletter. Details from page 4 that are mentioned can be found at the newsletter summary page; those from page 9 may or may not be transcribed later.

Welcome to the penultimate newsletter for the Festival of the Imagination 1996. This newsletter will be the last one being distributed to Australia in blind mailings. We will be producing a final newsletter in March with the Postal Voting forms for the Ditmars and ASFMAs. This will be available in shops, albeit without the forms, but if you aren’t a member by then or on the mailing list (without any obligation), you won’t receive it.

The big news for this newsletter is that Storm Constantine is our new guest. Storm is a great person, a rising star in the fantasy field, and a real gas at a con. We are very lucky to have her coming, and I’m sure you’ll agree that she is a great choice. See page 4 for more information. As you can see below, we have a pretty impressive guest line-up attending the conference, and we hope to add even more names in the near future.

Would all those members (or prospective members) who are thinking about staying at the con Hotels please book a room soon. We can obtain more block bookings at the special conference rate, but we need to make sure rooms are available. Rooms in the primary Hotel are almost all gone, so don’t miss out – book now.

Well, that’s about all from me this time. I want to draw all our WA readers’ attentions to the Quiz night (well, afternoon), which is sure to be a blast and has great prizes too (see page 9). We hope to see you there. If you have any questions, please write, phone, email, or heck, just drop by; we’re always happy to talk to members and the fan community.

See you at the con!

Richard Scriven
Chair, Festival of the Imagination 1996

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Festival of the Imagination 1996 – Souvenir Book – Jack Dann

Posted on 15 October, 2019 by australian sf-history

This is a Guest bio for Jack Dann in the souvenir book, page 37 for Swancon 21, Festival of the Imagination 1996. It is followed on the next page by an appreciation by Joe Haldeman which we will not reproduce. As much as possible typographical errors have been faithfully reproduced.

Jack Dann

Jack Dann is the author or editor of over thirty-five books, including the novels Junction, Starhiker, and The Man Who Melted. Dann’s work has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, Ronald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Castaneda, J G Ballard, and Philip K Dick. Philip K Dick, author of the stories from which the films Blade Runner and Total Recall were made, wrote that “Junction is where Ursula Le Guin’s Lathe of Heaven and Tony Boucher’s ‘The Quest for Saint Aquin’ meet … and yet it’s an entirely new novel … I may very well be basing some of my future work on Junction.” Best selling author Marion Zimmer Bradley called Starhiker “a superb book … it will not give up all its delights, all its perfections, on one reading.” Library Journal has called Dann “… a true poet who can create pictures with a few perfect words.” Roger Zelazny thinks he is a reality magician and Best Sellers has said that “Jack Dann is a mind-warlock whose magicks will confound, disorient, shock and delight.” The Washington Post Book World compared his novel The Man Who Melted with Ingmar Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal.

His short stories have appeared in Omni and Playboy and other major magazines and anthologies. He is the editor of the anthology Wandering Stars, one of the most acclaimed anthologies of the 1970s, and several other well-known anthologies such as In the Field of Fire. He also edits the multi-volume Magic Tales fantasy series with Gardner Dozois and is a consulting editor for Tor Books. He has been a finalist for the Nebula Award eleven times and a World Fantasy Award finalist three times. He has also been a finalist for the British Science Fiction Award, and is a recipient of the Premios Gilgames de Narrativa Fantastica award.

High Steel, a novel co-authored with Jack C. Haldeman II, has been published in hardcover by Tor Books to rave reviews. British critic John Clute called it “a predator … a cat with blazing eyes gorging on the good meat of genre. It is most highly recommended.” A sequel, Ghost Dance is in progress.

Dann’s major historical novel about Leonardo da Vinci–The Memory Cathedral–was published in hardcover by Bantam Books in December, 1995. Morgan Llewelyn called it “a book to cherish, a validation of the novelist’s art and fully worthy of its extraordinary subject”, Lucius Shepard thought it was “an absolute triumph”, and Kirkus Reviews called it “An impressive accomplishment”. Dann is currently working on The Silent, a new novel about the Civil War, which will also be published by Bantam.

As part of its Bibliographies of Modern Authors series, The[*] Borgo Press has published an annotated biobliography and guide entitled The Work of Jack Dann. A second edition is in the works. Dann is listed in Contemporary Authors and the Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series; The International Authors And Writers Who’s Who; Personalities Of America; Men Of Achievement; Who’s Who In Writers, Editors, And Poets, United States And Canada; Dictionary Of International Biography; and the Dictionary Of Distinguished Americans.

Jack Dann lives in Melbourne, Australia.

There is a photograph of him taken by M C Valada. (Copyright, all rights reserved).

* I assume this is ‘The’ based on googling. The page had that followed by a box and an r.

Posted in Con books, Conventions, SwanCon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Swancon 2001: PR2 part 3 of 3

Posted on 8 October, 2019 by australian sf-history

The Swancon 2001:Masquerade Progress Report 2, while a light weight publication, devoted a significant proportion of the real estate to Guest of Honour, Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg

“The man who put sex in science fiction”
– Neil Gaiman

Its almost impossible to to sum up the work of Robert Silverberg in this short a space. His career has been long, prolific, and has produced an enormous amount of work of the highest quality.

An indication of how well regarded he is as a science fiction writer is that he has been nominated for the Nebulas 20 times (and won 5 times), and been nominated for the Hugos 27 times (and won 4 times, withdrawing 4 times), beginning with the Hugo for ‘most promising new author’ in 1955, a promise that he has well and truly made good on. He has also been nominated for the Locus Readers Award 97 times and won 5 times. Most notably, he is the only science fiction writer to have won major awards in every decade from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Robert Silverberg is not only a writer of an enormous amount of superb science fiction, but also a notable editor (for example, he edited the recent Legends anthology), and writer on many other subjects (including much excellent non-fiction). He is also a witty, warm and entertaining speaker, who has been a guest of honour at many science fiction cons before.

Perhaps his best known recent work is the Majipoor series, beginning with Lord Valentine s Castle, that he is currently continuing with books including the recent Lord Prestimion.

We are absolutely delighted at the prospect of having Robert as a guest.

“Where Silverberg toes today, the rest of science fiction will go tomorrow!”
— Isaac Asimov

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Swancon 2001: PR2 part 2 of 3

Posted on 1 October, 2019 by australian sf-history

The Swancon 2001:Masquerade Progress Report 2, while a light weight publication, devoted a significant proportion of the real estate to the Convenor’s rant.

Dave’s Rave

Swancon 2001 is please to announce that we will have as our International Guest of Honour Robert Silverberg, Hugo and Nebula award winner, and author of more than 100 sf books. As those who attended Worldcon in Melbourne last year will know, Robert is not only a talented and prolific writer but also a witty, knowledgeable, and entertaining speaker on almost any issue to do with science fiction.

Accompanying him will be his wife Karen Haber, also an sf writer and editor – we are very pleased to have her as well.

Robert should be a wonderful guest, and we are grateful to Harper Collins for their assistance in bringing him across.

While we are busy preparing for Swancon, we would also urge you to think about getting involved. We will have an art show and a short story competition in conjunction with the con, and a short film festival beforehand, all of which are great opportunities to show off some of the great talent that exists in Australian fandom. Another way you can get involved is by coming along to our open programming meetings. If you have some ideas for what you would like to see at Swancon, please come along and let us know, or email us if unable to attend. Swancon is a chance for everyone in fandom (in Perth particularly, but we really want national involvement) to share their interests, their enthusiasms, their ideas and most of all to get together and have a good time. So please let us know what you want to see, how we are doing, and what you would like to do – because its your con, the members, not ours.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to those who have offered to help Swancon in various ways. A particular thanks to Harper Collins Australia, to JAFWA, and to The West Lodge. All your contributors are valued.

And lastly, a big woohoo to Cathy Cuppitt [sic], Swancon committee member and DUFF winner, who by the time you read this will already be on her way to Worldcon to spread the word about Australian fandom and Swancon. Have fun Cathy, and remember that you will be sharing the experience with us all in your DUFF report at the Con!

Cheers,
David

Convenor and Chairthingy

Footnote: Cathy’s name is spelt with a single ‘p’, but we have faithfully preserved the typo.

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Swancon 2001: PR2 part 1 of 3

Posted on 24 September, 2019 by australian sf-history

The SwanCon 2001 (‘Masquerade’) Progress Report 2 is a single A3 page (printed back and front) page folded into an A4 booklet.

The front cover has the text “Things are not always what they seem” (although rather nicely laid out) as well as a rather fetching piece of artwork by Colin Sharpe which defies description. The back has the committee details, the web page, upcoming events (see below). It gives the credits for the PR as

This PR was compiled by Sarah [redacted]* and Dave Cake, cover art by Colin Sharpe

The inside has four columns, which contain:

  1. Dave’s Rave (to be transcribed later)
  2. Swancon 2001 Unmasked (repeats information we have elsewhere about timing, location, membership, guests of honour, invited guests, and other minutia), which flows in to the top of …
  3. Robert Silverberg (to be transcribed)
  4. Art Show; Call for papers (see below)

* last name omitted as it is no longer in use.

Art Show

We welcome all sorts of two dimensional- and three dimensional – fantasy, science fiction and horror art work for the Swancon 2001 art show. Pieces which address the convention theme ‘Things are not what they seem’ are particularly welcome.

Reproductions or prints from digitally created works are allowed, though only one of any particular piece may be hung. Please state on the entry form if the piece is an original or a reproduction. You may put up a notice on the displayed print advising that further copies are available.

Works judged by the art show staff to have libelous (as opposed to humorous) content in regard to known persons will not be accepted. Works of pornography can not be accepted, as this art show is open to the general public including minors. If you are in doubt as to whether your work is acceptable, please contact the art show staff in advance.

Call for papers

Academic Stream

Swancon 2001: Masquerade is still accepting and encouraging submissions of proposals for papers to be presented as part of our academic stream.

We are interested in papers on any aspect of science fiction or fantasy, including fandom.

The deadline for proposals for papers is November 20th 2000. Proposals should be submitted by email to:

Helen Merrick
email [redacted]

Or by snail-mail to: Swancon 2001: Masquerade, PO Box xxx, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6909

Upcoming Events

Westlodge Farscape Day
Come and watch episodes of Farscape
21st October 2000
10am – 10pm
xxx Wright Street Kewdale
tickets $8
call Sven 04xx xxxxxx

Quiz Day
11th February 2001
2pm
Sandringham Hotel Belmont
tables of 8
tickets $7

Posted in Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

SwanCon 17 Progress Report July 1991 – Details front cover

Posted on 27 August, 2019 by australian sf-history

Transcription and commentary by Chris Creagh

The A4 buff coloured booklet front cover has a central image of radiating lines overlaid with the impossible triangle (apex downwards) overlaid with a clear silhouette of a  young adult in the style of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man) overlaid with the words “THE FESTIVAL OF THE IMAGINATION”. At the bottom of the page can be found “A Celebration of Fantasy and Science Fiction in All Media”.

Inside the front cover you can find the “Convention Details”.

Dates: Friday, January 24 to Monday, January 27, 1992

Venue: The Ascot Inn Function Centre, 1 Epson Ave. Belmont, WA

Guests:
Terry Dowling – Pre-eminent author of Rynosseros & Wormwood
Nick Stathopoulos – Australia’s finest genre artist

Costs:
Attending Membership $40.00 ($45.00 from 01-08-91), reviewed 01-11-91)
Supporting Membership $15.00

Please Note: Supporting Membership cost will never rise beyond $15 and will be convertible to the Attendance Fee at the then-current fee less $15. Persons with Supporting Membership will receive all Progress Reports and the Program Book.

The Hotel: Room Costs $50 per night for single/double. The convention organisers have been able to obtain a special room rate of $50 per night… then there is more info about the limited number of rooms and how to book them with the hope that the whole hotel could be booked out and the expected attendant benefits. The page ends with correspondence and payment details as well as Huckster and Advertising enquiries.

Page 3 top has the Table of Contents which apart from the above mentioned includes, P4 Programme, P6 Social Programme, P8 Video Programme, P10 Hotel Feature, P12 Gaming Programme, P16 Writers’ Workshop, P19 Education Seminar, P19 Short Story Competition, P20 Afterword & Committee.

At the bottom of page 3 in large friendly letters is

Don’t Panic
There’s a lot in here.
You don’t need to read it all.
To help you skim we’ve highlighted the headings.
This should help you find the stuff that interests you, and ignore the junk that doesn’t.

which really says it all!

 

Posted in Artwork, Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Festival of The Imagination 1996 – Hotel, Gaming Programme, Fundraiser Quiz

Posted on 20 August, 2019 by australian sf-history

Being pages 8 & 9 of the December 1995 newsletter. As ever, transcription done as faithfully as we can manage

The Hotel

Not many rooms are left at the Kings, so get your bookings in now. There has been some confusion over the room prices at the Kings Perth Hotel. Members phoning the Hotel have been told that the price is greater than the 80/85 quoted in our newsletter. This is correct, as the Festival has negotiated a special rate available only through the con. The Hotel is confirmed at 80/85 but only first 40 rooms are available at this special price at the Kings. We have also booked The Inntown Hotel as the quiet hotel, only about fifty meters around the corner from the main venue. The hotel rooms are available at the same price of 80/85. We ask that everyone with a pre-existing booking please confirm their wish to stay in the Kings or move to The Inntown.

Gaming Programme

Gaming has always been kept as a sideline for previous Swancons, something to keep those diehard Rail Barons happy. This year we intend to open up the gaming slightly, running several items which are intended to be enjoyed by the audience as well as the participants, or simply to entice a wider range of people to participate.

Freeforms have become a regular event at previous conventions, and this one should prove to be no different. This year we are intending to run between three and five different freeforms at the convention, the final number depending on how much programming time we are able to steal. Several people have expressed that they wish to write a freeform for use during the convention and we feel that this is appropriate. If you wish to write a freeform for the convention please forward any information to the committee and we will see what can be done. Also this year we are fortunate to be able to run the World Trade Game at the Festival, run by the organization Junior Chamber International. The World Trade Game is a mixture of a freeform and Monopoly in which people take on the part of various countries and try to balance the budget through dealing with other countries. The whole game is conducted over two hours, which ensures frantic buying and selling throughout.

Bill Gant’s boardgames version of “Salute of the Jugger” will be back again this year, and we hope to run a competition between entrants to find out who will be able to take on the League team. For anyone who watched the cult film with Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen, or anyone who feels like spending time manoeuvring their team to get a dog skull onto the opponents’ spike!

There will be a gaming room set up for the usual games of Rail Baron, Shogun, Nuclear War and Magic, and anyone wishing to organise a tournament should contact the committee, hopefully before the convention. This room will be available for gaming throughout the convention, 24 hours a day for those hardened gamers, so bring along anything that you wish to play. You won’t get anything out of it unless you participate.

Fundraiser Quiz

The Festival of the Imagination 1996 fundraiser quiz will be held on February the 11th, 1996, at the Hype Park Hotel, on Bulwer Street in North Perth. It will start as 12:30 PM, and run through until around 5PM – the restaurant will be open beforehand, so come and have lunch with everyone prior to taxing your brains, and there will be bar service available throughout, including afterwards, so apres quiz socializing is encouraged. There will be six people to a table, with an entry fee of $30 per table. Up for grabs will be a a large selection of prizes, including dinner for six kindly donated by the hotel, and pop quizzes will punctuate the routine every once in a while. Also look out for the slowly-becoming-legendary and difficult to win (on purpose, anyway!) L. Ron Hubbard Memorial Award for Outstanding Mediocrity. The question will be chiefly of a genre nature, and will be assembled by an evil team of mad scientists to challenge and entertain even the most anal-retentive of sci-fi fanatics, let alone the rest of us.

There will be more details, including more of the prizes, in the January newsletter. For further information, contact Richard Scriven on (xx) xxx-xxxx, or check with your fan club or local shop. (see sponsors list, page 14).

Posted in Conventions, Progress reports, SwanCon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment