Australian science fiction grew in 1960s and became a notable field around 1980s. Most Australian science-fiction writers are writing for the international market.
David G. Hartwell noted that while there is perhaps "nothing essentially Australian about Australian science-fiction", many Australian science-fiction (and fantasy and horror) writers are in fact international English language writers, and their work is commonly published worldwide. This is further explainable by the fact that the Australian inner market is small (with Australian population being only 22 million), and sales abroad are crucial to most Australian writers.[1][2]
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Early (pre-Second World War) Australian science fiction was often what today one could consider racist and xenophobic, fueled by contemporary worries about invasion and foreigners. But by the 1950s, just as the genre in the United States and pretty much anywhere else, it became influenced by the issues of technological progress and globalization. 1952 marked the year of first regular Australian science fiction conventions. Australian science-fiction became a notable field of world's science-fiction literature around 1960s. In 1966 the monthly Australian Science-Fiction Review was first published; in 1969 it was joined by SF Commentary. That year also the Ditmar Awards were established, awarded in multiple categories. The first Australian World Science Fiction Convention (Aussiecon) was held in 1975 in Melbourne; that year also Paul Collins begun publishing the science fiction magazine Void. The number of authors and publications grew, particularly with the field of short fiction becoming established by mid 1980s, with the first professional Australian science fiction magazine being published that decade (Omega Science Digest); in the 1990s it was joined by Aurealis: The Australian Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Journal of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy.
Donald H. Tuck, an amateur scholar from Tasmania, wrote the first major encyclopedia of science fiction, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, in three parts (1974, 1978, 1983), receiving the 1984 Hugo Award for his contribution.[3] Another Australian, Peter Nicholls, was awarded a Hugo in 1980[4] and shared one in 1994[5] (for a revised version) of a similar critical review of the world's sf, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
Notable Australian science fiction and fantasy writers include:
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