A starry backdrop behind dark mountains

Save Our Con: on Continuum Speculative Fiction Convention and its uncertain future

I’m aware my recent posts have displayed a certain, um… patchiness. Part of that has been down to the simple fact that the last few weeks have been a frenzy of looking for, applying for, and then abruptly moving everything we own into, a new home. Ah, rental life.

The other big part of my recent distraction has been the ramping up of preparations for Continuum Speculative Fiction Convention in June.

If you don’t know what Continuum is, read on. But if you’re already familiar with Melbourne’s own spec fic convention, I have an even more important message for you.

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Group photo on stage of all participants in the 2017 Hugo Awards

Making sense of spec fic awards: the Hugo & Locus Awards

Following on from last week, this is part 2/2 of my explainer on the major speculative fiction awards that are relevant to Australian SF authors like yours truly.

This week, I get into the two major international awards, the Hugo and the Locus – what they are and how to get involved in nominations/voting.

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2019 awards eligibility

It turns out that while I was researching and writing up my big awards explainer post last week, Mother of Invention editor (and excellent writer in her own right) Rivqa Rafael was writing her own post listing all the awards MoI is currently eligible for. This led me to the double realisation that a) burying my own eligibility in the middle of my big explainer post was probably counter-productive and b) there’s a whole ‘nother award I didn’t even know about that I should have included.

I still have a lot to learn about this “writer” gig…

So! To I’m going to do a write-up shortly of the Locus Award, and make a second post this week covering that and the Hugos (expanded and split out from last week’s post to prevent it getting just too unwieldy). And in the meantime, separated out from the original post and now with added Locus, here is my list of eligible works for the 2019 awards:

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Trophies for the 2015 Aurealis awards

Making sense of spec fic awards: the Ditmar & Aurealis Awards

Between the Aurealis, the Ditmars, the Locus, and the Hugos, award season is well and truly here in the world of speculative fiction.

So why should you care?

If you’re a writer or other creator, you’ve probably already answered that question. We are, for the most part, an insecure breed, forever convinced that our work just isn’t that good.

Creators also spend a lot of time isolated from their audience, holed up at their computer or easel without easy access to the reactions of the wider world. For my part, all it takes to set fireworks off in my head is a reader getting in touch to tell me they liked my story. To be shortlisted for an actual award, let alone to win one? Validation and joy unimaginable!!

If you’re a reader (or viewer) of spec fic and related works, why should you care? Well, first because paying attention to awards gives you a chance to find great works of SF that you might otherwise miss. If something has made it to one of the finalists’ list in a category you enjoy, chances are it’s worth checking out.

Second, because nominating/voting in awards gives you a chance to share your own opinion on what’s worth checking out, and reward the works you’ve really enjoyed.

And third, because you could help spark that feeling of happy, disbelieving wonder in an author, artist or creator whose work you love.

This year, just saying, that creator could even be me…

Ahem. Anyway.

Since I’ve always found the different awards systems a bit confusing, and I can’t be the only one, I’ve written a concise and (hopefully) straightforward guide to the defining features of the two major Australian spec fic awards, the Ditmar and the Aurealis, as well (in a later post) as the two major international awards, the Locus and the Hugo – and how to take part in nominating/voting for them.

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