Conflux Speculative Fiction Conventions

26/05/2026

Conflux 20 will take place this year from 2-5th October at the Mercure Hotel, Braddon .

This year's theme is Beyond the Abyss & the committee would like your input:

https://www.conflux.org.au/programme-survey.html

Hope to catch a few of you at Swancon 50 in Perth this weekend!

13/05/2026

Voting for the 2026 DITMAR awards closes at midnight this Sunday 17 May. Members (including supporting members) of the Continuum, Conflux or Swancon conventions 2022-2026 are eligible to vote. Shortlist here: https://swancon50.sf.org.au/awards/
Scroll down & click the big yellow button to vote.

18/04/2026

This year's Natcon returns to Perth!

14/04/2026

The Ditmar subcommittee are pleased to announce that voting for the Australian SF ("Ditmar") Award for 2026 is now open and will remain open until one minute before midnight Melbourne time on Sunday 17th May 2026 (ie. 11.59pm, GMT+10).
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DITMAR BALLOT 2026

Best New Talent
KA Burgess
Fionn MacPherson
Scott Steensma
Greg Foyster
Meg Wright / Red Wallflower
Emmi Khor
Adam Richard
Roanne Lau
Jeff Clulow

Short Story
‘A Shortcut via the New Tunnel, M-ate’, CH Pearce, (Never Say Die, CSFG)
‘Bitter Skin’, Kaaron Warren (Night and Day, Saga)
‘Phantom Loop’, S L Johnson [with Gio Clairval] (Tales from the Crosstimbers, Crosstimbers Publications LLC)
‘Scorpion Girl’, Janeen Webb (Scorpion Girl, PS Publishing)
‘The Girlfriend Experience’, CZ Tacks (Lightspeed Magazine)
‘Through These Moments, Darkly’, Samantha Murray, (Clarkesworld)

Novella/Novelette
‘The Hidden God’, Tim Napper (Asimov's March/April)
‘Cinder House’, Freya Marske
‘The Cold House’, AG Slatter
‘A Second Coming’, Janeen Webb
‘Drowning in the Dark’, Matt Tighe

Novel
The Crimson Road, AG Slatter (Titan Books)
Veil, Jeff Clulow, (Third Eye Press)
Honeyeater, Kathleen Jennings (Pan Macmillan)
Upon a Starlit Tide, Kell Woods (Harper Collins)
When Dark Waters Burn, Zena Shapter (Midnight Sun Publishing)

Collected Work
Drowning in the Dark and Other Stories, Matt Tighe (IFWG)
This Dark Architect and Other Grim Tales, Pamela Jeffs (Four Ink Press)
Songs of Shadow, Words of Woe, Matthew R Davis (JournalStone)
The Leper's Garden and Other Contagions , Jeff Clulow (Third Eye Press)
Scorpion Girl and Other Stories, Janeen Webb (PS Publishing)

Professional Artwork
Honeyeater internal art, Kathleen Jennings
Never Say Die cover, Maddison Lee
The Ship's Big Steaming Log: the Book of Bladderwrack, Adam Browne
Rebels & Rainbows cover, C.H. Pearce

Fan Art
Gideon the Ninth fan art, Annalise Jensen
Brave New Wardrobe, Conflux 19 art show, Kaaron Warren
Instagram art, Elise Miller

Far Writer
Leigh Edmonds, Ornithopter
Jan MacNally reviews, Ethel the Aardvark fanzine (MSFC)
Ian Mond reviews, Substack
Rob Masters, writings on aus.social
Claire Fitzpatrick, ‘Frankenstein in Pop-Culture’ (Aurealis)

Fan Publication
Aurealis Awards: Behind the Curtain podcast, Alexandra Pierce
Going Prose podcast, A.D. Ellicott and C.Z. Tacks
Recent Reads book reviews blog, Leanbh Pearson
The Narratives Library, Karena Wynn-Moylan
Terry Talks Movies, Youtube, Terry Frost

The William Atheling Jr Award
Eugen Bacon, ‘Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: Finding the Self in Other’, Strange Horizons
Ian Mond for review in Locus
Story Thinking and the Real-world Applications of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing by Helen Marshall, Kim Wilkins & Lisa Bennett
‘The Horror of Australian Literary Censorship’, Louise Zedda Sampson, in Midnight Echo #20
‘When ‘EAT THE RICH’ Is Not Enough: Horror Meets Late-Stage Capitalism’, Kirstyn McDermott, Ruadán Books
‘Almost a Witch’, Freyja Stokes, Speculative Insight
Stephen Herczeg, ‘The Lost World: its influence on modern science fiction’, Steel True Blade Straight 2025/26, Belanger Books
Stephen Herczeg, ‘August Derleth and the rise of the Cthulhu Mythos’, The Pontine Dossier Millenium Edition 2025, Belanger Books
Russell Blackford, ‘Mass Appeal: Stephen Dedman’s Genre Alchemy’, Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, issue 57
Russell Blackford, ‘Remembering Damien Broderick: A starlit mind in the cosmos of ideas’, SF Commentary 120
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https://form.jotform.com/261022117635851

Voting for the Ditmar Awards is conducted in accordance with the rules
specified at http://wiki.sf.org.au/index.php/Ditmar_rules. Voting in all award categories is by the optional preferential system, and each eligible individual may vote only once.

Voting in the Ditmar Awards has traditionally been open to members of the previous year's Natcon. In light of changes to the Natcon schedule, voting is now open to members (including supporting members) of the Continuum, Conflux or Swancon conventions from 2022-2026.

Your ballot should include your name and email address as they would have appeared in your Convention registration. If you have any questions or have difficulty using the online form, please email [email protected]

Please click the link to complete this form.

30/03/2026

DITMAR nominations close at midnight tonight, AEST:

https://form.jotform.com/260567334914865

15/03/2026

A friendly reminder that Ditmar nominations are open & will remain so until 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time, Monday 30 March, 2026.

The 2026 Ditmar Awards are open to work first published in the 2025 calendar year.

Nominations will be accepted from natural persons active in fandom, and from full or supporting members of Swancon 50 - the 2026 Natcon to be held in Perth. https://www.swancon.com.au/

You may nominate as many times in as many categories as you like, although you may only nominate a particular person or work once. You may wish to use the 2025 Aurealis entries list as a reminder of eligible published works but please note it is unlikely to be complete. https://aurealisawards.org/entries/

Click below to submit a 2026 Ditmar Awards nomination:
https://form.jotform.com/260567334914865

The Awards will be presented at this year’s Natcon: Swancon 50
29 May – 1 June 2026 at The Pagoda South Perth
https://swancon50.sf.org.au/

01/03/2026

Ahoy there, Aussie speculative fiction peeps,

The 2026 Ditmar Awards are open to work first published in the 2025 calendar year.

Eligibility to nominate
Nominations will be accepted from natural persons active in fandom, and from full or supporting members of Swancon 50 - the 2026 Natcon to be held in Perth. https://www.swancon.com.au/

You may nominate as many times in as many categories as you
like, although you may only nominate a particular person or work once. You may wish to use the 2025 Aurealis entries list as a reminder of eligible published works but please note it is unlikely to be complete.

https://aurealisawards.org/entries/

Nominations close 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time Monday 30 March 2026.

Click below to submit a 2026 Ditmar Awards nomination:
https://form.jotform.com/260567334914865

24/01/2026

Save the date

14/01/2026

The funeral for Karen will be held on Friday the 23rd of January at 2pm AEST at Cairns Crematorium and Funeral Home, 79/85 Foster Rd, Mount Sheridan, QLD 4868.

An online streaming option has been confirmed and the link will be sent through as soon as we receive it. If you would like the online link please email or text Alistair, as we will not be sharing this online.

Family, friends, and community very much welcome. You are welcome to share this notice with anyone who had a connection with Karen, and who would like to attend to remember and celebrate her life.

If you are attending in person, please wear colourful patterns or blue shades. After the service you are also welcome to attend the wake (location close by the funeral home), for afternoon tea and to reflect, remember, and share stories with the family and loved ones.

Your best contact for the funeral and any other matters is Karen's oldest child, Alistair Ott - [email protected] - 0428 270 007

Mandaang guwu

The Family

01/01/2026

Dear Conflux community,

With permission from Karen's sons, I am sharing this terrible news:

Please respect that this notice acknowledges the passing of Wiradjuri woman and mother, we use her name and face here in agreement as her children.

Acknowledgment of the Passing of Karen Joy Herkes Ott
It is with deep sorrow and grief that we give notice that Karen Joy Herkes Ott is no longer with us. Karen passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday the 30th of December 2025 in her home in Woree, Cairns, Australia. Karen was the beloved eldest daughter of Joanne Herkes and sister of Chris Herkes and Angeline Duncan. She leaves her two children, Alistair and Luke Ott, and they hope she is now alongside her dear late husband and their father, Dietmar Ott.

Karen was a proud Wiradjuri woman, an incredible loving mother and matriarch, a storyteller, a person who always gave back to her communities tenfold. Through her volunteer work with many different communities, her storytelling with young people, and her lifelong passion for healing and giving, she touched the lives of so many people. She truely was a kind and compassionate person, and she will be deeply missed by her family. As her children navigate Sorry Business, without her as their mother, teacher, and primary connection to their culture, they ask that you tread softly and with kindness on this Land as she would do.
As this is so sudden, we don’t have further information on the proceedings to share yet but we wished to let her friends and extended community know. A formal notice and hybrid funeral service will be announced when it is time. With both an in person service and an online option for those who are unable to attend in person. Her family welcome any and all friendly faces who would like to pay their respects either in person or online to attend the funeral. Further information will be provided soon, if you would like to keep in touch regarding the funeral notice please email her children Alistair and Luke on [email protected] and [email protected]