SwanCon is a science fiction convention held in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is Australia's longest-running science fiction convention, and probably the longest-running in the southern hemisphere. It was founded in 1975 by

Grant Stone Grant Stone is an Australian librarian. He was the founder of Swancon. He was a radio presenter on the radio station RTRFM of the ''Faster Than Light Radio Show'', as well as being the main force in the Murdoch University library special collec ...

, with the first convention held in 1976, and has been run annually since. It is generally run by different committees of volunteers each year, and committees bid for the right to run the convention two years in advance. In recent years it has been run as a project of the Western Australian Science Fiction Foundation (WASFF), with that year's committee reporting to the WASFF board. The convention is frequently run at Easter, but has been run at other times, though typically in the first half of the year, and is generally held in a hotel. It generally attracts 250–300 attendees. It will normally have guests attending including at least one international author, and international guests have included

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

, Bob Shaw, Anne McAffrey, Terry Pratchett,

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the ''Mistborn'' series and ''The ...

, Charles Stross, and

David Zindell David Zindell (born November 28, 1952) is an American writer known for science fiction and fantasy epics. Writing career Zindell's first published story was "The Dreamer's Sleep" in ''Fantasy Book'' in 1984. His novelette ''Shanidar'', which sh ...

. Australian guests have included John Birmingham,

Marianne de Pierres Marianne de Pierres (born 1961) is an Australian science fiction author. Born in Western Australia, she finished her undergraduate studies at Curtin University in Perth and later studied a Postgraduate Certificate of Arts in Writing, Editing and P ...

, Kim Wilkins and Kate Forsyth.Lay, Duncan. (31 March 2013) "Read Them or Weep". ''The Sunday Times'', Perth, Australia. p68. SwanCon first hosted the

Australian National Science Fiction Convention The Australian National Science Fiction Convention or Natcon is an annual science fiction convention. Each convention is run by a different committee unaffiliated with any national fannish body. Bids for running the Natcon are voted on by attende ...

in 1980, and has done so relatively regularly since. In 2011, SwanCon hosted the 50th

, including guests Ellen Datlow,

Justina Robson Justina Robson (born 11 June 1968 in Leeds, England) is a science fiction author from Leeds, England. Biography and publishing history Justina Robson was born in Leeds on 11 June 1968, and studied philosophy and linguistics at the University o ...

and Sean Williams."Fans of science fiction and fantasy are set to descend upon the Hyatt Hotel in Perth this week for the 50th anniversary of a national convention" (19 April 2011). ''Guardian Express'', Perth, Australia. p3.

Tin Duck Awards

The Tin Duck Awards are the Western Australian science fiction achievement awards. They are given out annually at SwanCon and voted on by members of the convention. They were first presented in 1980 at SwanCon 5. The Tin Duck design, after which the Awards were named, was by Rob McGough.Strong, Caroline. 'SwanCon 7 Program Book' , p. 10
Transcription by Anna Hepworth, Australian SF History 2012
Retrieved April 30, 2013

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Swancon Homepage

Swancon history page
on th
Australian sf information site
Recurring events established in 1975 Science fiction conventions in Australia