THE UK'S LONGEST ESTABLISHED REGIONAL SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION
The History of Novacon
The first Novacon was intended by the then Aston Science Fiction Group as a one-off event to complement the long-established Eastercon, but its success prompted the newly-resurrected Birmingham Science Fiction Group to assume the reins and organise a Novacon every autumn since.
The table below details past venues and guests; a more in-depth guide, including committee members and pre-convention membership figures, will be published in the programme book. You can see the archive websites for Novacon 36 onwards by following the link in the convention number.
| Number | Year | Venue | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham | James White | |
| 2 | 1972 | Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham | Doreen Rogers |
| 3 | 1973 | Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham | Ken Bulmer |
| 4 | 1974 | Imperial Centre Hotel, Birmingham | Ken Slater |
| 5 | 1975 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Dan Morgan |
| 6 | 1976 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | David Kyle |
| 7 | 1977 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | John Brunner |
| 8 | 1978 | Holiday Inn, Birmingham | Anne McCaffrey |
| 9 | 1979 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Christopher Priest |
| 10 | 1980 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Brian W Aldiss |
| 11 | 1981 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Bob Shaw |
| 12 | 1982 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Harry Harrison |
| 13 | 1983 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Lisa Tuttle |
| 14 | 1984 | Grand Hotel, Birmingham | Robert Holdstock |
| 15 | 1985 | De Vere Hotel, Coventry | David Langford, James White |
| 16 | 1986 | De Vere Hotel, Coventry | Chris Evans, E C Tubb |
| 17 | 1987 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Iain M Banks |
| 18 | 1988 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Garry Kilworth |
| 19 | 1989 | Excelsior Hotel, Solihull | Geoff Ryman |
| 20 | 1990 | Excelsior Hotel, Solihull | Dr Jack Cohen |
| 21 | 1991 | Forte Post House, Solihull (formerly the Excelsior Hotel) | Colin Greenland |
| 22 | 1992 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Storm Constantine |
| 23 | 1993 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Stephen Baxter |
| 24 | 1994 | Royal Angus Hotel, Birmingham | Graham Joyce |
| 25 | 1995 | Chamberlain Hotel, Birmingham | Brian W Aldiss, Harry Harrison, Bob Shaw, Special Guest: Iain M Banks |
| 26 | 1996 | Ibis Hotel, Birmingham | David Gemmell |
| 27 | 1997 | Abbey Hotel, Malvern | Peter F Hamilton |
| 28 | 1998 | Britannia Hotel, Birmingham | Paul J McAuley |
| 29 | 1999 | Britannia Hotel, Birmingham | Ian Stewart |
| 30 | 2000 | Britannia Hotel, Birmingham | Christopher Priest, Special Guest: Rog Peyton, Guest Artist: David A Hardy |
| 31 | 2001 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Gwynneth Jones |
| 32 | 2002 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Ian McDonald |
| 33 | 2003 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Jon Courtenay Grimwood |
| 34 | 2004 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Ian Watson |
| 35 | 2005 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Alastair Reynolds |
| 36 | 2006 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Ken MacLeod |
| 37 | 2007 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Charles Stross |
| 38 | 2008 | Quality Hotel, Bentley | Ian R MacLeod and Vernon Brown |
| 39 | 2009 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Justina Robson |
| 40 | 2010 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Iain M Banks, Special Guest: Brian Aldiss |
| 41 | 2011 | Park Inn, Nottingham | John Meaney |
| 42 | 2012 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Jaine Fenn |
| 43 | 2013 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Jo Walton |
| 44 | 2014 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Kari Sperring, Science Guest: John Gribbin |
| 45 | 2015 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Anne and Stan Nicholls |
| 46 | 2016 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Juliet McKenna |
| 47 | 2017 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Adrian Tchaikovsky |
| 48 | 2018 | Park Inn, Nottingham | Chris Beckett |
| 49 | 2019 | Nottingham Sherwood Hotel | Mike Carey |