Aphelion Publications was a short-lived science-fiction magazine established by Peter McNamara following the 1985 Aussiecon 2 convention. The idea for the press came about in response to a conversation between McNamara and American writer Jack Chalker, in which Chalker recounted the many pleasures he had gained from his days in small press publishing.
The first issue appeared in the summer of 1985/86, but by the publication of issue number five at the end of the following year, the harsh economic reality of news-stand distribution become too much, and McNamara was forced to temporarily cease publications. In 1989, McNamara and his wife Marion re-established the press as a paperback publisher after securing national distribution through bookshops. Aphelion's first two books, George Turner's A Pursuit of Miracles and Terry Dowling's Adventures of Tom Rynosseros, were both launched at the 1990 Natcon in Melbourne. The company later expanded its distribution network to include the USA, UK, and Canada.
Aphelion went on to publish more than thirteen books, including Sean Williams and Shane Dix's The Dying Light. It also published the anthology Alien Shores and co-published Forever Shores: Fiction of the Fantastic (2003) with Wakefield Press. Both were edited by Peter McNamara and Margaret Winch. Among the other authors published by the press were Sean McMullen, Ian McAuley Hails, and Damien Broderick.
