Novacon 55 Guest of Honour:
UNA McCORMACK

Dr Una McCormack is a  New York Times and USA Today bestselling science fiction writer of more than twenty novels, plus many audio dramas and short stories.

Una is well known for her TV tie-in work. She has published more than a dozen novels set in franchises such as  Doctor Who,  Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Discovery. Her audio work with Big Finish has been set in licensed properties such as Doctor Who, Torchwood, Blake’s 7 and Star Cops. In 2025 her Doctor Who novel Caged won the BSFA award for Best Fiction for Younger Readers, and her Star Trek: Strange New Worlds novel Asylum won the Scribe Award for Best Original Speculative Novel. Her shorter-form science fiction has appeared in anthologies edited by Gardner Dozois and Ian Whates. Her story ‘Taking Flight’ (2017) was shortlisted for the BSFA award for short fiction, and her novel  Star Trek: Discovery – The Way to the Stars for a Dragon Con Award. In 2017, she was a judge for the Arthur C Clarke Award; in 2019 she delivered the Guest of Honour speech to the Tolkien Society AGM.

In a previous life as a university lecturer, Una taught creative writing for many years. She supervised creative writing PhDs (including a novel set in the MCU), and continues to mentor writers, particularly helping people working on their first novel-length project. She has run creative writing seminars and events at many institutions, including CERN.

Novacon 55 – the venue:
The Palace Hotel, Buxton

Located in Buxton, Derbyshire, and a one-minute walk from the train station, this grand Victorian hotel is light and airy with high ceilings and some impressive decor. And possibly a ghost.

As usual the convention will play host to a wide range of exciting guest panels, busy dealer’s room and vibrant art show.

Information about making hotel reservations is now up on our Hotel page.

Latest news & updates:

Progress Report 2 for Novacon 2026 is now available! Download it here (pdf).

Information about hotel reservations is now up on our Hotel page.

Dr Christine Davidson will be our Science Guest at Novacon 55! She is a Reader in Analytical Geochemistry at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. She is also very involved with the fandom community as she runs the Satellite convention in Glasgow, co-Area Head for the Science & Technology Programme track at Glasgow 2024 Worldcon, and received the Doc Weir Memorial Award in 2025.

Progress Report 1 for Novacon 2026 is now available! Download it here (pdf).