Aust SF Bullsheet 164(long)
Marc Ortlieb
A peccant newszine produced for the Australian National Science
Fiction Association by Marc Ortlieb, P.O. Box 215, Forest Hill,
Vict, 3131, AUSTRALIA (e-mail: mort...@vicnet.net.au).
Postal subscriptions $6-00 for ten.(Cheques made out to Marc
Ortlieb please. Stamps accepted). Available for items of
gossip. E-mailed direct, a once off $10 fee. Free copy from
aus.sf on Internet or at
http://www.vicnet.net.au/~sfoz/bullsheet.htm
AUREALIS AWARDS
Thanks to Alan Stewart, who attended the Awards at Borders
Bookshop in Melbourne on Friday March 2nd, for the following
information. He mentioned that about thirty people were in
attendance and that most of the winners were able to accept
their awards in person.
SCIENCE FICTION
Novel
THE MIOCENE ARROW Sean McMullen (Tor)
Short Story
"Infinite Monkey" by Damien Broderick Eidolon #29/30
FANTASY
Novel
SON OF THE SHADOWS Juliet Marillier (Pan Macmillan)
Short Story
"The World According to Kipling (A Plain Tale from the Hills)" Geoffrey
Maloney Aurealis #25/26
HORROR
Novel
THE RESURRECTIONISTS Kim Wilkins (HarperCollins)
Short Story
"The First and Final Game" Deborah Biancotti Altair #6/7
YOUNG ADULT
Novel
Thursday's Child Sonya Hartnett (Penguin)
Short Story
"The Queen's Notice" Margo Lanagan White Time
CONVENORS' AWARD
SPINOUTS BRONZE Edited by Paul Collins and Meredith Costain (Pearson Education)
Tied with
THE LOST THING Shaun Tan (Lothian Books)
In the official Press Release, the following was added "A full
report will be printed in Aurealis #27, due June 2001, or
contact Keith Stevenson if you would like an information kit
containing judges reports, competition guidelines etc. emailed
to you. (keith_s...@hotmail.com 03-9557-2740)
The conveners for the 2001 Aurealis Awards are Rowena Cory
Linquist, Sophie Masson, Peter McNamara, Keith Stevenson, and
Dirk Strasser.
PLEASE NOTE - Aurealis has a new, temporary website address
www.sf.org.au/aurealis"
DITMAR NOMINATIONS
Mark Bivens kindly sent me a copy of the Ditmar nomination
sheet. Jonathan Strahan then sent the following corrected list.
In order to vote you have to be a member of Swancon 2001. If
you are not currently a member, you will need to join and then
wait until Swancon sends you out a voting form. To date I
haven't seen a voting deadline and don't know whether or not
Swancon is planning to allow voting at the convention.
Jonathan noted "There is no nominee attached to the "Swancon
2001 Launch Video"; there is no indication of what "Waking
Henson: A Jim Henson Retrospective" is or where it was
published. I would suggest that in the Best Fan Production
category it might be worth mentioning what the nominated works
are."
BEST NOVEL: CYBERSKIN, Paul Collins (Hybrid Publishers); THE
MIOCENE ARROW, Sean McMullen (Tor Books); SEA AS MIRROR, Tess
Williams (HarperCollins Australia); EVERGENCE 2: THE DYING
LIGHT, Sean Williams & Shane Dix (Ace Books)
BEST SHORT FICTION: Note that there were insufficient
nominations to run "Best Novella or Novelette" as a separate
category and, as provided in the Ditmar Rules, eligible
nominees have been merged with the "Best Short Story" category.
"That Old Black Graffiti", Robert Hood (Tales from the
Wasteland, ed. Paul Collins, Hodder Headline) "The Devotee",
Stephen Dedman (Eidolon 29/30); "The First and Final Game",
Deborah Biancotti (Altair #6/7); "The King with Three
Daughters", Russell Blackford (Black Heart, Ivory Bones, Avon,
eds. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling); "The Saltimbanques", Terry
Dowling (Blackwater Days, Eidolon Publications); "Basic Black",
Terry Dowling (Blackwater Days, Eidolon Publications)
BEST COLLECTED WORK: TALES FROM THE WASTELAND, ed. Paul
Collins (Hodder Headline); BLACKWATER DAYS, Terry Dowling
(Eidolon Publications); WHITE TIME, Margo Lanagan (Allen &
Unwin Australia)
BEST ARTWORK: Shaun Tan, THE LOST THING (Lothian Books); Otto
Schmidinger, "'Space' Stamp Issue" (Australia Post); Marc
McBride, cover to TALES FROM THE WASTELAND (Hodder Headline)
BEST FAN WRITER: Grant Watson; Robin Pen; Bruce Gillespie; Alan
Stewart
BEST FAN ARTIST: Grant Watson; Jade Todd;Dick (Ditmar) Jenssen
BEST FAN PRODUCTION: The Rhizome Factor, ed. Cathy Cupitt;
First Sight, dir., Chris Dickinson; Angriest Video Store Clerk
in the World, Grant Watson; SwanCon 2001 Launch Video; The
Unrelenting Gaze: SF Commentary # 76, ed. Bruce Gillespie;
MITCH? SHORT STORIES FOR SHORT ATTENTION SPANS, ed. Mitch?
WILLIAM ATHELING JR AWARD FOR CRITICISM AND REVIEW: Waking
Henson: A Jim Henson Retrospective, Grant Watson & Simon
Oxwell; The Unrelenting Gaze: SF Commentary # 76, ed. Bruce
Gillespie; Reviews in Locus: The Newspaper of the Science
Fiction Field, Jonathan Strahan; TRANSREALIST FICTION, Damien
Broderick (Greenwood); "Time Travel, Time Scapes and
Timescape", Russell Blackford (The New York Review of SF #150)
BEST NEW TALENT: Deborah Biancotti
BEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: FARSCAPE, Channel 9/Henson
Productions; SPINOUTS BRONZE, eds. Paul Collins & Meredith
Costain (Pearson Educational) THE LOST THING, Shaun Tan
(Lothian Books)
No Award is an option in all categories.
IN PRINT
Garth Nix has an Arthurian short story, "Under the Lake" in the
Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction February 2001. Juliet
Mariller's story in Realms of Fantasy, noted in the previous
Bullsheet, is titled "Otherling".
EIDOLON SITE NEWS
Among other things, the Eidolon Site News notes "Sean Williams
and Shane Dix have sold US publisher Del Rey a trilogy of Star
Wars New Jedi Order novels. Juliet Marillier has sold world
rights to two as-yet-unwritten and untitled novels in The
Byrgisey Saga--a new fantasy series set during Viking times--to
Pan Macmillan Australia. The first book is due to be delivered
at the end of 2001, for an early 2002 publication. Karthryn
Cramer and David G.Hartwell have bought Simon Brown and Alison
Tokley's "A Serpent in Eden" (Eidolon 29/30) and Terry Dowling
has sold "The Saltimbanques" (Blackwater Days) to the
Kramer/Hartwell book and the fourteenth Datlow/Windling Year's
Best Fantasy and Horror.
Site news also notes "In association with Jack Dann's
speculative writing workshop in Canberra in April 2001, the
Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild has announced the Gregor
Samsa Award."
IN ELECTRONS
Damien Broderick notes I've now got a bunch of stories
available for fairly inexpensive download from Fictionwise.com
in the States, at
http://www.fictionwise.com/servlet/mwserve?action=view&template=author.htm&a
uthorid=25.
The most recent is a short piece, `Infinite Monkey', that just
won the Aurealis Award for best Aussie sf short fiction of
2000. It's currently at the top of F/wise's bestseller list,
although obviously that will change as new stories go up on
their site.
Fairly soon, Fictionwise.com plan to put up a complete novel,
The Dreaming, the revised/updated version of my 1980
award-winning book The Dreaming Dragons, selected by David
Pringle as an entry in his SF: The 100 Best Novels. That'll be
pretty exciting for me. There's also a free sample story of
mine at the site Barbara Lamar is building about my work:
http://www.thespike.addr.com. `A Passage in Earth'."
BULLSHEET MEDIA WATCH
Chris Nelson notes "The first item of the
Opinion/Feedback page of the New Scientist for 3 March (p.64)
mentions an attempt by a California company to register the
word "fandom" as its trademark. Iain Triffitt noted "Channel 9
will be running a segment on SF fans and their favourite space
films this Monday (12/3/01) at about 7:45am on the Today show.
The fans involved are Garfield Barnard, Catriona Sparks (winner
of the 2000 Ditmar for Best Fan Artist), Ian Woolf (one of the
Sydney Futurians), Stephanie Lennon, Karen Smith and myself."
Later reports on aust.sf suggested that this went well. The
Herald Sun 2/3/2001 had an obituary for Gordon Dickson which
mentioned his GoH stints at the '84 Worldcon and at the '88
British NatCon, but ignored his GoH stint at the Australian
NatCon in 1979.
NON-PERIPATETIC FANS
David Russell sends further news of Les Robertson. It
appears that he was badly beaten by another inmate of Langi Kal
Kal and this resulted in his suffering from chest pains later
diagnosed as angina. His diabetes may lead to his foot being
amputated. He was, as of March 5th, in St Vincent's Hospital
and could be contacted via the Corrections Officer there. His
release relies on a serviced apartment being found for him in
Moe, but it seems that this is unlikely to eventuate in the
near future.
FAN FUNDS
This year's DUFF winners, Naomi Fisher & Patrick
Molloy, have some rough dates for their trip. Apart from being
in Perth for Swancon they are hoping to be in the Sydney area
from April 19 to April 23
CONVENTION NEWS
Swancon 2001 has released their Dealers Rates &
Information "Due to restrictions of space there will be a
limited number of full-time Dealers tables allocated in the
foyer area of the convention. These shall be available on the
first come, first served basis, bookings must be made to the
Dealer co-ordinators. We shall also be holding a Market Day on
Saturday 14th out on the Terrace (outside area with shade
sails), weather permitting.
Trading hours for full-time Dealers are: Friday 13th 9.00am -
4.00pm; Saturday 14th 9.00am - 4.00pm; Sunday 15th 9.00am -
4.00pm; Monday 16th 9.00am - 3.00pm. Trading hours for the
Market Day are: Saturday 14th 9.00am - 4.00pm
Tables measure 750mm x 1800mm. Full-time Dealers (one table)
$100.00 Market Day Dealers (one table) $ 30.00. Traders must
hold a membership to the convention) For bookings and further
information please contact Brian / Elizabeth on (08) 9316 3260
or 0419163260. Email address is: ngtv...@iinet.net.au "
Armageddon notes the addition of Emma Caulfield to their guest
list the replacement of June's Studio Hollywood convention with
a Friends of Science-Fiction gathering on June 3 and a new
Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo at the Michael Fowler centre,
Wellington, on September 15th/16th.
UPCOMING CONVENTIONS
THE MILLENNIUM FREECON
March 24 & 25 2001. Discovery Centre meeting room of The
Australian Museum, Sydney Places are limited. Application forms
will be available at SF&F book shops or by sending a SSAE to
Post Office Box 2, Bexley North NSW 2207. Web:
http://members.optushome.com.au/aussff/Milfrcn2.html Email:
gary-peter...@tafensw.edu.au Phone (after 7pm) 02 9718
5827 NSW and ACT Writers and Artists currently booked to
attend: Patricia Bernard, Bill Congreve, Rob Riel, Rob Hood,
Maxine McArthur, Chuck McKenzie, Robbie Mathews, Marco Nero,
Carol Nomarhas, Les Petersen, Cat Sparks, Alison Venugoban and
Richard Womack.
HIGHLANDER DOWNUNDER 4
April 6-8 2001 Mercure Hotel, Brisbane Confirmed Guests: Peter
Wingfield, Elizabeth Gracen (ocp) Other Guests tba $175
so...@hldu.com http://www.hldu.org PO Box 198, Brisbane Albert
St Qld 4002
SWANCON 2001 THE MASQUERADE,
40th Australian National Science Fiction Convention April 12-16
2001. GsoH Robert Silverberg, Rosaleen Love, Marilyn Pride,
Lewis Morley, Kate Orman, Jonathan Blum and Sue Ackerman The
Rydges Hotel Perth. P.O. Box 162 Nedlands W.A. 6909.Attending
$80; $100 at the door. Supporting $20
http://www.sf.org.au/swancon2001 P.O. Box 162 Nedlands W.A.
6909 swancon200...@egroups.com
ODYSSEY CON
Easter 2001 (13th-16th April) Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland
Literary GsoH Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, Lyn McConchie Fan
GoH Brian Howell. $NZ70 until 12th April 2001, $NZ80 at the
door P.O. Box 74-013 Market Rd, Auckland New Zealand
enqu...@odysseycon.sf.org.nz http://www.odysseycon.sf.org.nz
FRIENDS OF SCIENCE FICTION
May 19-20, 2001 GoH James Marsters (Spike, Buffy the Vampire
Slayer) ocp Lidcombe Catholic Club Sydney.FSF Members $50
Non-members $70. email book...@fsf.com.au or
http://www.fsf.com.au
ARMAGEDDON INVITATIONAL
May 26 NZI convention centre Aotea centre2001 Auckland. Special
guests James Marsters, Emma Caulfield and Brian Thompson
$60.00 www.pulpexpo.com
FRIENDS OF SCIENCE-FICTION
June 3 Lidcombe Catholic Club, 24 John st Lidcombe10am till
approx 6pm Cost Members $60, Non Members $75 Emma Caulfield
and Brian Thompson book...@fsf.com.au or
http://www.fsf.com.au
MULTIVERSE 4
June 8th - 11th 2001 Melbourne Edmund Barton Centre, South Road
Moorabbin GsoH Anthony Daniels,Virginia Hey and John Cook
Rates until 15/05/01 $140/$160; after 15/05/01 $150/$175. (The
cheaper rates are for members of clubs affiliated with
Multiverse.) multi...@multiverse.org.au
http://www.multiverse.org.au/
BOBW XII EARTH:FINAL CONFLICT
July 20-22 2001 The Southern Cross Hotel, corner Goulburn &
Elizabeth Streets Sydney Guests: Leni Parker, Anita La Silva
Richard Chevolleau Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Convention Day 1
$99.00 Convention Day 2 $99.00 More Information:
http://www.bobw.com.au Email: a...@nlc.net.au (02) 9453 0290
MANIFEST 2001
August 11-12 2001 Old Arts Building Melbourne University
10:00am to 9:00pm each day Contact mani...@metva.com.au P.O.
Box 14191 Melbourne 8001
THE MILLENNIUM PHILCON
The 59th World Science Fiction Convention August 30 to
September 3, 2001 The Pennsylvania Convention Center &
Philadelphia Marriott Hotel GsoH Greg Bear, Stephen Youll,
Gardner Dozois, George Scithers Toastmaster: Esther Friesner.
Attending $170 Supporting $US40 Millennium Philcon Post Office
Box 310 Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006-0310 U.S.A.
phil...@unix3.netaxs.com http://www.milphil.org
ARMAGEDDON PULP CULTURE EXPO
September 15-16 The Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington New
Zealand
COSTUME CON 20
February 15-18 2002 Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre
$A130 Jan 1st 2001 - Dec 31st 2001 $160 Jan 1st 2002 - Feb 15th
2002 $A50 Daily Admission The Australian Costumers' Guild PO
Box 322 Bentleigh Vic 3204 stil...@netspace.net.au
http://www.vicnet.net.au/~costume/
CONVERGENCE
41st Australian National Science Fiction Convention June 7 -
10 2002 GsoH Joe Haldeman, Sean Williams Lucy Sussex, Gay
Haldeman and Race Mathews Toastmaster Jack Dann Cato Conference
Centre Melbourne. Full Membership until June 2001 $130. Student
(13-16 years) $80. Child (5-12) $25. Supporting $25. GPO Box
1212k Melbourne Vic 3001 Web:-
http://www.vicnet.net.au/~converge/ email:-
contact-c...@egroups.com.
CON JOSE
The 60th World Science Fiction Convention August 29 to
September 2, 2002 San Jos McEnery Convention Centre GsoH
Vernor Vinge, David Cherry, Bjo & John Trimble, Ferdinand
Feghoot Toastmaster Tad Williams. P.O. Box 61363 Sunnyvale CA
94088-1363 U.S.A. Con...@sfsfc.org http://www.conjose.org/
Attending membership rate goes up to A$205 (Supporting A$60).
Australian agent: Terry Frost, 4/8 Walker St, West Brunswick,
VIC 3055. Cheques payable to "60th World Science Fiction
Convention."
TORCON III
The 61st World Science Fiction Convention August 28-September
1, 2003 Metro Toronto Convention Centre GsoH George R. R.
Martin Frank Kelly Freas Mike Glyer with Toastmaster: Spider
Robinson and GoHst of Honour:Robert Bloch the spirit of Toronto
Worldcons P.O. Box 3, Station A, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5W
1A2 Supporting Membership $US40; Attending Membership $US115.
Email: in...@torcon3.on.ca Website: http://www.torcon3.on.ca
GoH = Guest of Honour
O.C.P. = Other Commitments Permitting
tba= to be announced.
EVENTS
There is an annual calendar available on the Vicnet SF web site
at http://www.vicnet.net.au/~sfoz/2001cal.htm
CLUB NEWS
Robert notes "There are some SF/F/H lit fans up here in the
Sunshine State. We're just very quiet. Many of us are centred
around a spec fic writing group, Vision, which meets monthly
and has a closed membership of 25, though I believe there are
many more people on our mailing list. And we would love to have
a Worldcon up here.
There is also a very strong media SF presence in Brisbane, as
evidenced by the annual Conquest Convention that has been
staged here for nearly 20 years."
Julian Warner reports "The Nova Mob is held at the house of
Lucy Sussex and Julian Warner, 13 Frederick St, Brunswick. We
Meet on the first Wednesday of each month, except December and
January, starting at about 8.00pm. Talks run for less than an
hour and discussion follows. General chat ensues as we graduate
on to tea, coffee, biscuits and cake. A few people gather for
dinner before the meeting, usually at restaurants in the city.
Anyone taking the train should get off at Anstey station or if
you use the tram, get off at the Blyth St stop or the one
afterwards. E-mail me for more specific directions if you need
them.
For the next few months the program is:
April 4: Charlie Taylor talks on Bram Stoker
May 2: Arthur C. Clarke Awards discussion.
June 6: Andrew McCrae talks on Jeff Noon
The remainder of our calendar is being firmed up and we may
hold extra meetings on other dates to take advantage of
visiting authors or persons of note. Please let us know of any
notable visitors. If you would like to volunteer to speak at
the Nova Mob on a favourite book, film, author, genre or
whatever, then please get in touch with us. Our interest is
primarily Science Fiction but this is an ever-broadening field.
We are also open to any suggestions of good topics for
discussion."
A.C.T.
CANBERRA SPECULATIVE FICTION GUILD March 21 ACT Writers Centre,
CANBERRA SPECULATIVE FICTION GUILD JACK DANN SF WORKSHOP April
7 ACT Writers' Centre Gorman House, Braddon ACT.
les.pe...@detya.gov.au
NEW SOUTH WALES
SYDNEY FUTURIANS March 16 7pm University of Technology, Sydney
Room 1615 http://linus.socs.uts.edu.au/~iwoolf/futurians.html
SOUTHERN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY GROUP March 17 Contact
Bradley Row bra...@netspace.net.au
ALTERNATE REALITIES March 25 11:00am to 7:00pm Granville RSL
Club;
FRIENDS OF SCIENCE FICTION April 8 10:30am to 7:00pm Lidcombe
Catholic Club, 24 John St Lidcombe P.O Box 797 Fairfield NSW
1860 membe...@fsf.com.au http://www.fsf.com.au
QUEENSLAND
HIGHLANDER DOWNUNDER March 19 10am-4pm Metro Arts Centre,
Edward St Brisbane. PO Box 198, Brisbane Albert St QLD 4002
http://www.hldu.org so...@hldu.org
VICTORIA
MSFC March 16 TV's most obnoxious Discussion; March 23 Speed
Script Typing; March 30 UK SF Panel on all that is great from
the UK 8:00 pm St. David's Uniting Church Hall, 74 Melville
Road, West Brunswick P.O. Box 212 World Trade Centre Melbourne
3005 http://www.vicnet.net.au/~msfc/ MS...@yahoogroups.com
FRIDAY NIGHT MOB March 16 , March 23, March 30 6:00-7.30pm.
Informal eating and nattering. Myers Cafeteria Melbourne
THE AUSTRALIAN COSTUMERS' GUILD March 18 Robin Hood & Maid
Marian Day, Studley Park, Kew PO Box 322 Bentleigh Vic 3204
stil...@netspace.net.au http://www.vicnet.net.au/~costume/
MULTIVERSE March 19 Multiverse Preview Screening of The
Exorcist - Directors Cut 7:00pm Village Centre Cinemas, 206
Bourke Street Melbourne. $10.50 per adult, no children
allowed. no student discounts. After: Fast Eddy's cafe, top end
of Bourke Street Melbourne. tic...@multiverse.org.au
ENTERPRISE March 24 Puffing Billy & the Dandenongs P.O. Box
466 World Trade Centre Melbourne 3005
http://www.vicnet.net.au/~enterprise/ ente...@vicnet.net.au
NOVA MOB April 4 Charlie Taylor talks on Bram Stoker 13
Frederick St Brunswick
AUSTREK April 7 2 pm Annual General Meeting + activities St
Mark's Church Hall Cnr Canterbury & Burke Rds, Camberwell GPO
Box 5206AA Melbourne 3001 http://www.vicnet.net.au/~austrek/
aus...@vicnet.net.au
SKYFORCE April 7 1:00 to 5:00pm Charles Pearson Theatre
Education Resource Centre University of Melbourne P.O. Box 427
Northcote Vic 3070 starw...@starwalking.net
http://www.starwalking.net
W.A.
WEST LODGE ANDROMEDA FUNDRAISER March 18 Noon to 5pm, Sunday
18th $7. Maximum of 30 people Contact Brian and Elizabeth on
9316 3260 or ngtv...@iinet.net.au
FREEFORM - "SOULNAPPER" March 18 5pm 20 places only. Contact
Sarah Locksley space...@neo-tokyo.org
DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY June 15-17, 19- 23 and
26-30 8.00pm The Rechabites Hall 224 William Street
Northbridge WA$18 Full / $15 Concession Booking Through BOCS -
08 9484 1133.
ELECTRONIC STUFF
CoAs Correction MSFC M_S...@yahoogroups.com
NEW Ben Payne Short Fiction Reviews
http://server3005.freeyellow.com/potatomonkey/reviews.html
FANZINES
VANAMONDE 383-387 2pp John Hertz 236 S. Coronado St No 409 Los
Angeles CA 90057 USA
ELECTRONIC FANZINES
ANSIBLE 164 Dave Langford 94 London Road Reading Berkshire RG1
5AU U.K. ans...@cix.co.uk http://www.ansible.co.uk/
FANS ACROSS THE WORLD NEWSLETTER 107 B. Wilkinson 2 Hobbs
Close Abingdon Oxon OX14 3UX Great Britain
faw...@bjw.cix.co.uk
SITENEWS March 2001 Jeremy Byrne site...@eidolon.net
http://eidolon.net
COMM CENTRE THE March 7 2001 Multiverse PO Box 355 World Trade
Centre Melbourne Vic 3005 Australia
multi...@multiverse.org.au http://www.multiverse.org.au/
PAPER SNARL THE 20 Paper...@aol.com
http://www.papertiger.co.uk
DEADLINES
Bullsheet #165 March 27 2001.
Swancon 2001 Competition March 30 2001.
ANZAPA 200 April 6 2001
This Fanzine Supports The Minneapolis in '73 WorldCon Bid and
the next Australian WorldCon Bid.
LETTERATURE
Garry P Dalrymple sent a detailed response to Rose
Mitchell's piece about Australian Worldcon bids.
"These are my own thoughts.If you want the Sydney Futurian's
opinions, you will have to speak to each of them. At the base
of your claim about a 'Sydney Worldcon bid' are probably the
comments I have been making about the research I conducted at
the 1999 Worldcon, where I collected just under 100 responses.
There was generous support for a future Australian Worldcon;
none of the 200 people I approached rejected the idea as
unplausible. Non-Australian respondents were supportive of a
time frame of 'more than five, less than ten', while Australian
respondents were more pessimistic, supporting a time frame of
greater than nine years. I think it is very significant that
for 'Next Australian Worldcon', Melbourne for a fourth time ,
was very much a minority choice, rating not much higher than
Perth which was an unknown city to most respondents.
Additionally, when offered as a choice of 'if so, then when?',
for Sydney or Melbourne, the result was approval for Melbourne
at an interval more than a year longer than for Sydney. If the
'Melbourne Worldcon Bid' people are serious about being seen as
a 'Not necessarily Melbourne' bid, I have seen no evidence of
it, and it seems they are denying themselves a significant
advantage by not making this point clear.
I have proposed that starting a 'Permanent Australian Worldcon
Society' (PAWS) will prove to be a more important step than
declaring a bid for 'A City' or pinning hopes six or seven
years before hand that '2000 and ?' will on the day turn out to
be a lucky or easy year to win. An organised Aust/NZ presence,
irrespective of an active bid for a stated year or city is
surely more likely to aid success than pre-supporting in
advance that a bid one city is more 'half arsed' than any other
Australian cities current bid.
Those Americans who are prepared to travel WILL give us an
Australian Worldcon at some time in the future, but the
evidence suggests that they will give it to a city other than
Melbourne a year or two earlier. I believe that the determining
factors in winning an Australian Worldcon will be visibility,
credibility and persistence. From a Sydney perspective, it
would be disastrous to have Melbourne pick a year, run and
fail, as the sole national flag carrier.
I have no objection to the next Australian Worldcon being in
Melbourne in 2007 or 2008, provided the Smofs behind Melbourne
do not drop the ball again, but instead announce a commitment
to developing the opportunities for all Aust & NZ fandom.
Anyway, I have to go off and convene a Freecon ( What !, you
have to PAY to attend SF cons in Melbourne? ). There is a test
of leadership ahead, do Melbourne SMOFs want a Worldcon enough
that they are prepared to support the idea that they may have
to help fans in other Aust / NZ cities. Isn't it about time
that Australian fans offered each other something other than
judgment."
Re Australian Worldcons, Teddy Harvia notes "If you guys Down
Under get serious about another WorldCon Bid, I have some
experience drawing echidnas and kangaroos."
OTHER STUFF
THE 2001 NEBULA BALLOT HAS BEEN RELEASED
Novels: DARWIN'S RADIO, Greg Bear (Ballantine Del Rey); A CIVIL
CAMPAIGN, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen); MIDNIGHT ROBBER, Nalo
Hopkinson (Warner Aspect); CRESCENT CITY RHAPSODY, Kathleen Ann
Goonan (Avon Eos); INFINITY BEACH, Jack McDevitt (HarperPrism);
FORESTS OF THE HEART, Charles de Lint (Tor)
Novellas: "Fortitude", Andy Duncan (Realms of Fantasy, Jun99);
"Ninety Percent of Everything", Jonathan Lethem, James Patrick
Kelly, & John Kessel (F&SF, Sep99); "Hunting the Snark", Mike
Resnick (Asimov's, Dec99); "Crocodile Rock", Lucius Shepard
(F&SF, Oct/Nov99); "Argonautica", Walter Jon Williams
(Asimov's, Oct/Nov99); "Goddesses", Linda Nagata (Sci
Fiction/SciFi.com, July 5, 2000)
Novelettes: "Daddy's World", Walter Jon Williams (Not of Woman
Born, Constance Ash, Ed., Roc, Mar99); "Stellar Harvest",
Eleanor Arnason (Asimov's, Apr99); "A Knight of Ghosts and
Shadows", Gardner Dozois (Asimov's, Oct/Nov99); "How the
Highland People Came To Be", Bruce Holland Rogers (Realms of
Fantasy, Aug99); "A Day's Work On the Moon", Mike Moscoe
(Analog, Jul/Aug00); "Generation Gap", Stanley Schmidt (Artemis
Magazine #1, Spring 2000 issue); "Jack Daw's Pack", Greer
Gilman (Century 5, Winter 2000)
Short Stories: "macs", Terry Bisson (F&SF, Oct/Nov99); "Scherzo
With Tyrannosaur", Michael Swanwick (Asimov's, Jul99); "You
Wandered Off Like a Foolish Child To Break Your Heart and
Mine," Pat York (Silver Birch, Blood Moon, Ellen Datlow & Terri
Windling, Ed., Avon, Mar99); "The Golem", Severna Park (Black
Heart, Ivory Bones, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, Eds., Avon,
Mar00); "The Fantasy Writer's Assistant", Jeffrey Ford (F&SF,
Feb00); "Flying Over Water", Ellen Klages (Lady Churchill's
Rosebud Wristlet, No. 7, October 2000)
Scripts: GALAXY QUEST, David Howard and Robert Gordon
(Dreamworks SKG, Dec99); BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, Charlie Kaufman
(Propaganda Films, Oct99); THE GREEN MILE; Frank Darabont, from
the novel by Stephen King (Castle Rock/Warner Bros, Dec99);
DOGMA, Kevin Smith (View Askew Productions, Nov99)
PRINCESS MONONOKE, Hayao Miyazaki and Neil Gaiman (Miramax
Films/Studio Ghibli, Nov99) UNBREAKABLE, M. Night Shyamalan
(Touchstone Pictures, November 2000)
THE MARK TIME AND OGLE AWARDS 2001
Presented by The American Society For Science Fiction Audio
(ASFSFA) The Mark Time Award is given each year to honor the
Best Science Fiction Audio Production of the production year
2000. The Ogle Award is for the Best Horror or Fantasy Audio
Production. A Gold and Silver Award in each category will be
presented to the winners at CONvergence 2001 Friday, July 6,
2001, in Bloomington, Minnesota.
How To Enter:
1. Print and fill out the Entry Form.
http://www.mtn.org/~jstearns/MarkTime.html)
2. Send Five (5) copies of each Audio Production you are
entering (CDs or Cassettes), the Entry Form and a check for the
$25.00 Entry Fee to: Mark Time Award, 3421 44th Ave. S.,
Minneapolis, MN 55406
3. DEADLINE for Entry: April 1, 2001
Criteria for Judging:
1. The degree to which the production fits the subjective
description "science fiction," as against "horror" or
"fantasy."
2. Use of Medium - sound design, location recording, "audio
art."
3. Writing - storyline, characterizations, dialogue.
4. Performances.
5. Direction.
6. Technical production.
Judges for the 2001 Mark Time Awards are: Richard Fish,
LodesTone Media; Meredith Ludwig, Audio Theater Producer; Brian
Price, National Audio Theater Festivals; Philip Proctor,
Firesign Theatre, actor/voice artist; Jerry Stearns, Great
Northern Radio Theatre
The Mark Time Awards are sponsored by MISFITS, the
Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Questions & Comments to jste...@mtn.org, or 612-722-2907