Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2010 The Sir Julius Vogel Awards for 2010 have been announced. The results are available here.

Hachette SF And Fantasy Discussion Page The Realm is an official Science Fiction and Fantasy Facebook fan page set up by Hachette New Zealand to talk about all their great authors. It's just getting started, but in the coming weeks and months they'll have lots of things to post including promotions, freebies, reviews, publishing and event announcements, and sneak peeks to up-coming books with chapter samplers online!

Speculative Fiction By New Zealand Writers -- Book Launch Imagine worlds where strange creatures roam the hills of Miramar, desperate survivors cling to the remains of a submerged country, and the residents of Gisborne reluctantly serve alien masters. Those are just some of the visions painted in a new volume of speculative fiction by kiwi writers to be launched later this month. Published by Wellington-based small press Random Static, A Foreign Country: New Zealand Speculative Fiction features work by best-selling author Juliet Marillier; poet, musician, and writer Bill Direen; and several Sir Julius Vogel Award winners, prominent writers, and talented newcomers. Popular and award-winning Australian author Sean Williams, who will be in Wellington at the time of the launch, was impressed by his sneak preview, describing the anthology as "richly populated with the frightening and the fabulous, the thrilling and the thoughtful, the inspiring and the inspired." Co-editor Anna Caro hopes the works in the collection will both provide points of familiarity to readers, and take their imagination to new places. "Many of the stories are set in New Zealand, present or future, and portray worlds which are both instantly recognisable and nothing like the country we currently live in. This anthology showcases some of the remarkable range of New Zealand's world-class speculative fiction writers." A Foreign Country will be launched at 6pm on Friday 27 August at Au Contraire, the 31st National Science Fiction Convention (Quality Hotel, Cuba St, Wellington). A Foreign Country can be ordered online from Random Static. The cover art can be seen here. A Foreign Country ISBN: 978-0-473-16916-9

Notice of SFFANZ AGM - 29th August 2010 UPDATE - The SFFANZ AGM will be held at 11.00am on Sunday 29th August 2010 at Au Contraire. Note the new start time. Please click here to download a pdf file (236K) containing the formal notice of the AGM and the agenda. At the request of the Au Contraire committee, the bids and voting for the 2011 and 2012 National Conventions will be held at the closing ceremony of the convention. We encourage people who are intending to bid for the 2012 convention to publicise their bid during Au Contraire. It is possible that some people may not be able to attend the closing ceremony. These people can leave proxy votes with any SFFANZ committee member.

Come And Celebrate SpecFicNZ's Launch Ever feel like you are writing from a deserted island? Come and meet other writers who write what you write, live where you live, and are determined to put New Zealand on the world's speculative fiction map. Join us for the official launch of New Zealand's new SF/F/H writer's association at Au Contraire in Wellington on Saturday, August 28th 2010 from 6pm-7pm. Among other things, we will be revealing our new website and membership benefits. Attendance or Membership at the Con is not required to attend this event. However, we would appreciate your RSVP via the Facebook Event Page so that we can have some idea of numbers. And don't be shy in showing up even if you forget to RSVP. We'd love to see you there.

Science Fiction Comedy Series Super Awesome Mega Battle Tank is a science fiction comedy film series in 13 episodes. It has been written and directed by Bill O'Byrne and concerns the adventures of an inept three-man team from the Kiwi Space Patrol on a mission to recover a stolen New Zealand battle tank. You can read more about it at this site.

Winner Of SpecFicNZ Logo Contest Announced SpecFicNZ is happy to officially announce the winner of our recent logo contest, Glynis Jolly of Crossville, Tennessee, USA. The simple, marbled sphere with SpecFicNZacross it wowed us with its simplicity and versatility. Seen above on a backdrop of night sky it looks fabulous as our newsletter header, and we are already experimenting with it in a variety of colors and on other backgrounds. SpecFicNZwould like to formally thank all those who entered our contest. The competition was stiff, but the logo Glynis designed had the appearanceof a new looming planet, which is just what we hope New Zealand speculative fiction will be - a new, imminent world dominating the radar of both Kiwi and international publishers. You may be wondering just who Glynis is, and what motivated her to enter a logo contest for a New Zealand writers association? Ripley Pattoninterviewed her to find out just that, and you can read more on her website.

A New Award For Unpublished Writers Of Teen Fiction Storylines Trust and HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand are proud to announce an exciting new annual award on the children's literary scene - the Storylines Tessa Duder Award for unpublished writers of fiction for young adults, named in honour of one of New Zealand's best writers for young adults. Unpublished writers looking for an opportunity to emulate the outstanding writing careers of Kiwi authors such as William Taylor, Kate De Goldi, Bernard Beckett or Tessa Duder herself will be excited by this new initiative. The award has been set up in recognition of Tessa's outstanding contribution to children's literature, both in terms of publishing output and her tireless work in the area of children's literacy, particularly as one of the founding members of the Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust. Full details and criteria for entry will be listed on the Storylines Tessa Duder Award page.

LIANZA Prestigious Children's Book Awards Finalists The Library and Information Association Of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) has announced the finalists for the Prestigious Children's Book Awards for 2010. Some of the finalistsare also Sir Julius Vogel Award finalists. See this link for more information. Many congratulations to the finalists from SFFANZ.

NZ Post Children's Book Awards The winners of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards have been announced. See this link for details. Some of the award winners are also Sir Julius Vogel Award finalists. See this link for more information. Many congratulations to the Children's Book Award winners from SFFANZ.

Interview With Nalini Singh Here are two links to an interview with Nalini Singh on Women on Air, Plains 96.9 FM. The first takes you to the website and gives you the option to listen online or download the file in MP3 format. (Press the "play" button to start listening). The second should take you directly to the the mp3 version, which will then commence playing.

Hugo and Campbell Voter Packet Ready For Download Aussiecon 4 has released an electronic 2010 Hugo Voter Packet containing full-length works and samples from 2010 Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer nominees. The packet is available for download by Aussiecon 4 members to help inform them about the works under consideration before voting. The works in the Hugo Voter Packet are made available to voters through the efforts of the nominees and their publishers. Aussiecon 4 is grateful for their participation and willingness to share with its members. Remember to vote, and please support these creators! Their work is available in bookstores and online. The Hugo voting process for works published or otherwise released in 2009 is open to supporting and attending members of Aussiecon 4, the 2010 World Science Fiction Convention. In order to participate you must purchase a supporting or attending Aussiecon 4 membership by 31 July 2010 23:59 PDT. Click here for details

Sir Julius Vogel Award Nominations 2010 The nominations for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for 2010 are available here.

The 32nd New Zealand National SF Convention in 2011 Following a poll of SFFANZ/Conscription members, it has been decided that New Zealand's 32nd National Science Fiction Convention will be ConText to be held at the Airport Centra hotel in Auckland over Queen's Birthday weekend 2011. Catherine Asaro has been asked to be the guest of honour and Lynelle Howell has been asked to be the fan guest of honour. 38% of those polled responded, and every single response was in favour of the convention. The decision will be ratified at the next SFFANZ AGM. ConText is being organised by Alan Parker. Contact Details: Web Site:    http://context.sf.org.nz/ Email:    enquiries@context.sf.org.nz Postal Address:   PO Box 74-013   Market Rd   Auckland 1543   New Zealand Phone:    +64-9-9629806

Hugo Award Nominations For 2010 The Hugo award nominees for 2010 are available here.

Sir Julius Vogel Award There is an excellent article about the Sir Julius Vogel awards at The World SF News Blog. It discusses the history of the award and has some speculations about its future. The article was written by Ripley Patton.

World SF Convention - Aussiecon4 September 2010 Click On the logo above for more information about the World SF Convention next year. Click here to download a PDF press release.

Contact us by email at: enquiries@sffanz.sf.org.nz