68th World Science Fiction Convention
Encyclopedia
The 68th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon
), Aussiecon Four, was held 2-6 September 2010, in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne
, Victoria
, Australia
, the location selected by the members of Denvention 3
.
Guests of honour were author Kim Stanley Robinson
, fan Robin Johnson, and artist Shaun Tan
. The co-chairs were Perry Middlemiss and Rose Mitchell.
s, named after Hugo Gernsback
, are given every year for the best science fiction
or fantasy
works and achievements of the previous year. The 2010 Hugo Award statue base was designed by Nick Stathopoulos with laser etching by Lewis Morley and incorporating the Aussiecon 4 logo by Grant Gittus.
, Illinois
, as the host city for the 70th World Science Fiction Convention
, Chicon 7, to be held in 2012 in an uncontested election. With only 526 ballots cast, this election had the lowest turnout since records began to be kept in 1974. The voting breakdown was 447 votes for Chicago, 20 ballots expressed no preference, and there were 59 write-in votes for various sites.
Worldcon
Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention held each year since 1939 . It is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society...
), Aussiecon Four, was held 2-6 September 2010, in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the location selected by the members of Denvention 3
66th World Science Fiction Convention
The 66th World Science Fiction Convention , also known as Denvention 3, was hosted in Denver, Colorado, USA on 6–10 August 2008, at the Colorado Convention Center and . The organizing committee was chaired by Kent Bloom...
.
Guests of honour were author Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the fifteen years of research...
, fan Robin Johnson, and artist Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan is the illustrator and author of award-winning children's books such as The Red Tree, The Lost Thing and The Arrival...
. The co-chairs were Perry Middlemiss and Rose Mitchell.
Hugo Awards
The Hugo AwardHugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
s, named after Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...
, are given every year for the best science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
or fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
works and achievements of the previous year. The 2010 Hugo Award statue base was designed by Nick Stathopoulos with laser etching by Lewis Morley and incorporating the Aussiecon 4 logo by Grant Gittus.
- Best NovelHugo Award for Best NovelThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: (tie) The City & The CityThe City & the CityThe City & the City is a fantasy/weird fiction novel by British author China Miéville. It was published by Macmillan on 15 May 2009. In the US it was published by Del Rey Books on 26 May 2009. Also in 2009, a signed, limited edition of 500 numbered and 26 lettered copies was published in the US by...
by China MiévilleChina MiévilleChina Tom Miéville is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" , and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party...
and The Windup GirlThe Windup GirlThe Windup Girl is a biopunk science fiction novel written by Paolo Bacigalupi and published in September 2009. It was named as the ninth best fiction book of 2009 by TIME magazine, and as the best science fiction book of the year in the Reference and User Services Association's 2010 Reading List...
by Paolo BacigalupiPaolo BacigalupiPaolo Tadini Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer.He has won the Hugo, Nebula, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and was nominated for the National Book Award... - Best NovellaHugo Award for Best NovellaThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: "Palimpsest" by Charles StrossCharles StrossCharles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. He was born in Leeds.Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera... - Best NoveletteHugo Award for Best NoveletteThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: "The Island" by Peter Watts - Best Short StoryHugo Award for Best Short StoryThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: "Bridesicle" by Will McIntoshWill McIntoshWill McIntosh is a Hugo-Award-winning science fiction author. He has published dozens of short stories in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Daily Science Fiction, and Interzone. His stories are also frequently reprinted in different "Year's Best" anthologies... - Best Related Book: This is Me, Jack Vance! (Or, More Properly, This is "I" by Jack VanceJack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
- Best Graphic StoryHugo Award for Best Graphic StoryThe Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: Girl GeniusGirl GeniusGirl Genius is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company, Studio Foglio LLC under the imprint Airship Entertainment...
, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm, written by KajaKaja FoglioKaja Foglio is a Seattle-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and has continued to co-win two Hugo Awards the following years.-Early life and education:Born in...
and Phil FoglioPhil FoglioPhilip "Phil" Foglio is an American cartoonist and comic book artist best known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy work.-Early life and career:...
, art by Phil Foglio, colours by Cheyenne Wright - Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: MoonMoon (film)Moon is a 2009 British science fiction drama film about a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Earth's moon. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones. Sam Rockwell stars as the employee Sam Bell, and...
, screenplay by Nathan Parker; story by Duncan JonesDuncan JonesDuncan Zowie Haywood Jones , also known as Zowie Bowie is an English film director, best known for directing the science fiction films Moon and Source Code .-Childhood and family life:...
; directed by Duncan Jones (Liberty Films) - Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
"The Waters of Mars", written by Russell T Davies & Phil FordPhil Ford (writer)Phil Ford is a British television writer. He was the head writer for the second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, broadcast in 2008, and wrote "The Waters of Mars", one of the 2009 special episodes of Doctor Who, with Russell T Davies.-Television:...
; directed by Graeme HarperGraeme HarperGraeme Harper is a British television director. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he is the only person to have directed episodes of both the original run and revived run of the programme...
(BBC WalesBBC WalesBBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
) - Best Professional Editor, Long Form: Patrick Nielsen HaydenPatrick Nielsen HaydenPatrick James Nielsen Hayden , is an American science fiction editor, fan, fanzine publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and blogger. He is a World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award winner , and is an editor and the Manager of Science Fiction at Tor Books...
- Best Professional Editor, Short Form: Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
- Best Professional ArtistHugo Award for Best Professional ArtistThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: Shaun TanShaun TanShaun Tan is the illustrator and author of award-winning children's books such as The Red Tree, The Lost Thing and The Arrival... - Best SemiprozineHugo Award for Best SemiprozineThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: Clarkesworld, edited by Neil ClarkeNeil Clarke (editor)Neil Clarke is a Hugo Award-winning and World Fantasy Award-nominated American editor and publisher. He is the owner of Wyrm Publishing and the publisher/editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, an online science fiction/fantasy magazine....
, Sean WallaceSean WallaceSean A. Wallace is an American science fiction and fantasy editor and publisher.-Career:Wallace began publishing fiction in 1997, when he launched Cosmos Books, with Philip Harbottle. Their début title, Fantasy Annual, was an anthology of British authors including E.C. Tubb, John Russell Fearn,...
, and Cheryl Morgan - Best Fan WriterHugo Award for Best Fan WriterThe Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: Frederik PohlFrederik PohlFrederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem... - Best FanzineHugo Award for Best FanzineThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: StarShipSofaStarShipSofaStarShipSofa is a Hugo-Award-winning science fiction podcast from the UK hosted and edited by Tony C. Smith. It was the first ever podcast to be both nominated for and win a Hugo Award. StarShipSofa was also nominated for Best Fan Podcast in the 2007 Parsec Awards...
, edited by Tony C. Smith - Best Fan ArtistHugo Award for Best Fan ArtistThe Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
: Brad W. FosterBrad W. FosterBrad W. Foster is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer and publisher. He is a fixture at the Hugo Awards, where he holds the record for most awards for "Best Fan Artist." As of 2011, since 1984 he has been nominated 23 times, and won 8...
Future site selection
The members of Aussiecon 4 selected ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, as the host city for the 70th World Science Fiction Convention
70th World Science Fiction Convention
The 70th World Science Fiction Convention , also known as Chicon 7, will be held in Chicago, Illinois, August 30-September 3, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The convention committee is chaired by Dave McCarty....
, Chicon 7, to be held in 2012 in an uncontested election. With only 526 ballots cast, this election had the lowest turnout since records began to be kept in 1974. The voting breakdown was 447 votes for Chicago, 20 ballots expressed no preference, and there were 59 write-in votes for various sites.