Don Rosa Dissertation in Jyväskylä

On Friday, Katja Kontturi will be defending her doctoral dissertation in Contemporary Culture Studies. Her subject is Don Rosa’s Disney comics as postmodern fantasy.

Tähtifantasia & Tähtivaeltaja Awards 2014

The Tähtifantasia Award is given annually to the best translated fantasy book published in Finnish during the previous year. This year’s award was announced at Finncon.

The winner of the award was the short story collection Kanelipuodit ja muita kertomuksia by Bruno Schulz, published by Basam Books. The collection includes all the short stories written by Schulz.

The jury commended the poetic, metaphorical language of Schulz that creates a wondrous reality where the living merges with the inanimate, dreams with consciousness, the mind with the outside reality. Humans are a part of the whole that is constantly changing. Schulz was mentioned to be a predecessor of the weird fiction born in the early 20th century, a style of fantasy that also comes close to horror and science fiction. His influence can be seen in the works of many new weird writers.

The award jury comprised critic Jukka Halme, critic Aleksi Kuutio, author and editor Anne Leinonen and the Risingshadow.net representative Osmo Määttä.

Another Helsinki Science Fiction Society award, the Tähtivaeltaja Award for best science fiction book published in Finnish last year, was announced earlier this year. The winner was Sokeanäkö (Blindsight) by Peter Watts, published in Finland by Gummerus.

The jury described the book as having fascinatingly strange and diverse characters, and wondrous scientific inventions. Sokeanäkö is masterfully constructed and offers startling visions about the significance of consciousness, the forming of identity, the structures of awareness, and the evolution of the human race.

The award jury was: critic Hannu Blommila, editor Toni Jerrman, critic Elli Leppä, and critic Antti Oikarinen.

Nova Competition 2014

The results of the Nova short story competition for new writers were announced at Finncon. The first prize went to Tuukka Tenhunen for his short story “Ugrilainen tapaus” (“The Ugric Incident”). The competition was organized for the 15th time this yeard, with a record amount of 198 short stories participating. The competition jury comprised author Magdalena Hai, last year’s winner Anna Malinen, book blogger Hanna Matilainen, sf writer Tarja Sipiläinen, and the editor of the Kosmoskynä zine Juri Timonen.

The top three this year was as follows:

1. Tuukka Tenhunen: Ugrilainen tapaus (200 €)
2. Anu Korpinen: Tähden hauta (100 €)
3. Taru Hautala: Jo joutui armas eilinen (50 €)

photo: Magdalena Hai

Kosmoskynä Award to Pasi Karppanen

The Finnish Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association occasionally gives a Kosmoskynä (“Cosmos Pen”) award to a person who has benefited Finnish science fiction literature in a commendable way. This year at Finncon the award was given to Pasi Karppanen for his work in reinvigorating the association in the early 2000s. He had a hand in breathing new life to the association zine Kosmoskynä, and starting new competitions and other activities. He was also the editor of the Kosmoskynä zine for several years.

Congratulations!

Atorox Award 2014

The Atorox Award for best Finnish sf short story published last year was traditionally announced at Finncon this weekend. This year’s winner is Jussi Katajala for his short story Mare Nostrum, published in the Osuuskumma eco-sf anthology Huomenna tuulet voimistuvat.

The top three this year was:

1. Jussi Katajala: Mare Nostrum (Huomenna tuulet voimistuvat, Osuuskumma)
2. Shimo Suntila: Milla ja Meri (Portti 2/2013)
3. Miikka Pörsti: Raportti. Mikä johti operaatio Tähtivaeltajan epäonnistumiseen? (Tähtivaeltaja 4/2013)

Two observations: this was the first year since 2000 with an all-male top three for Atorox. Also, this was the second year in a row that the winner was published in an Osuuskumma anthology. As Osuuskumma is only two years old, it remains to be seen whether the trend continues, but I think it’s obvious (not just from these results but when looking at published short fiction in Finland in general) that there’s been a major shift from publishing mostly in fanzines to getting a lot of new stories published in anthologies.

Congratulations to the winner and runner-ups!

Finncon Program Announced

This year’s Finncon has published their program schedule. The programming starts on Friday, July 11 with the traditional Hugo discussion at Kirjailijatalo, and continues until late Sunday afternoon. As usual, there’s quite a bit of programming in English as well as in Finnish.

Finncon 2014 Online

This year’s Finncon has launched a proper website and will be updating information there regularly starting now (the English version will also launch soon). They are also on Twitter as @finncon2014, so you can follow that for updates as well.

Lokacon

If you’re not going to Swecon this weekend, in Jyväskylä there is a minicon called Lokacon this Saturday. The guests of the con are authors Rjurik Davidson from Australia and Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen from Jyväskylä. The program consists of talks, discussion and a quiz, plus a sauna in the evening.

Finncon 2014 Announces Hotels

The website of next year’s Finncon now has some info, most importantly about hotels (only in Finnish at the moment, though).

If you’re going to Finncon next summer, you should book your room quickly—Jyväskylä is hosting a big housing fare next summer at the same time as Finncon, so there will probably be a shortage of hotel rooms in the city (and the prices are already above average for Jyväskylä).

The main con hotel is Alba, located on a beautiful spot by the water, a bit away from the city centre, but only a short walking distance (about 600 meters) from the con site. The convention price is 94 €/room/night for a standard double room, 78 €/room/night for a standard single room, and 74 €/room/night for an economy single room. Superior rooms and suites with a sauna are also available. The prices include breakfast and parking.

There are more rooms in the Rantasipi Laajavuori. It is more remote—located a few kilometres away from the con site (about 5 minutes by car)—but on the other hand, it is a spa hotel so if you want to combine some extra relaxing with the convention, it might be a good choice. Prices are 92 €/room/night for a single and 102 €/room/night for a double room, including breakfast and use of the spa and gym.

A more affordable option is Gasthaus Laajis, four kilometres from the con site. Prices are 35 €/person/night in a double room, and 30 €/person/night in a 4-person room. You can add extra beds in the rooms fro 15 €/person/night, up to 8 persons. Breakfast is included in the standard prices; for extra beds breakfast is an additional 6 €. The hostel has shared bathrooms and also facilities for preparing food.

The reservation code for the con prices is FINNCON2014. The offer is valid until May 11 for Alba and Rantasipi (but it’s doubtful there will be available rooms that long). To get the special price for Laajis you must book the room by February 1.

Besides the official convention accommodation, it’s of course possible to book your room independently. There are still some vacancies in the Jyväskylä hotels, but the prices might be higher than what you’re used to. Milton is of course the traditional hotel used by Finncon attendees. I’ve got a room booked at the Alexandra (right by the railway station). The most inexpensive option (excluding hostels) is the Omena hotel, with current prices of 70 €/room/night for a double or 90 €/room/night for a four-person room (not including breakfast).

I’ve put together a Google Map where you can see the con site and the accommodation options mentioned here.

Locacon in Jyväskylä

Lokacon is a minicon that will be held in Jyväskylä on October 20, at the Writers House. The themes are the end of the world and steampunk, and the guests are YA authors Katri Alatalo and Magdalena Hai, and comics scholar Katja Kontturi. On the preceding Friday, there will be a literature and science fiction event at the Multia library. Both events are free to attend.

R.I.P. Harry Harrison

On Wednesday, we were saddened to learn of the passing of Harry Harrison, 87. Harrison was an SFWA Grand Master, inductee of the SF Hall of Fame, and Worldcon Guest of Honor. In addition, he was a co-founder of the World SF organization (a forum where writers from the West and the East could meet discuss their work). He also had a small but significant role in the Finnish fandom.

The Finnish “First Fandom” has been named Dinosaurs, after their US counterpart. The Finnish Dinosaurs consist of founding members of the first Finnish sf-society, Turun Science Fiction Seura, and their generation, plus one person from abroad: Harry Harrison. There was a good reason behind including him among the Finnish Dinosaurs.

Harry Harrison had an influential role in the formation of the Finnish science fiction fandom. Harrison had met Finnish fen in Sweden and later in Helsinki at King-Con in 1982. During these meetings he gave valuable advice on how to organize science fiction societies and conventions; he also advised on how to avoid schisms inside fandom. Accordingly, Leena Peltonen, a translator, editor, critic and chief editor of the Aikakone fanzine, brought with her the official Dinosaur badge to Harry Harrison, when he was an author guest of the Jyväskylä Arts Festivals in July 2005.

Several of the Finnish fen met Harry in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, or Copenhagen at different cons. He is widely remembered as an approachable, kind, funny, and intelligent person with whom lengthy conversations were had, in a civilized manner over glasses of red wine. It came as quite a surprise to him when the young generation, especially the women, proved to be ardent fans of the Stainless Steel Rat.

Several of Harry Harrison’s works have been translated into Finnish:

• Aikakoneen saaga (The Technicolor Time Machine) 
• Avaruuslääkäri (Spaceship Medic) 
• Bill – Linnunradan sankari (Bill, the Galactic Hero) 
• Bill – Linnunradan sankari robottiorjien planeetalla (Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Robot Slaves)
• Kuoleman planeetta (Deathworld 1)
• Ruostumaton Teräsrotta (The Stainless Steel Rat)
• Ruostumaton Teräsrotta pelastaa maailman (The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World)
• Ruostumaton Teräsrotta presidentiksi (The Stainless Steel Rat for President)
• Ruostumaton Teräsrotta syntyy (The Stainless Steel Rat Is Born)
• Ruostumaton Teräsrotta tahtoo sinut (The Stainless Steelrat Wants You)
• Ruostumattoman Teräsrotan paluu (The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge)
• Tilaa! Tilaa! (Make Room! Make Room!)
• Bill - Linnunradan sankari mauttoman mielihyvän planeetalla (Bill, The Galactic Hero on the Planet of Tasteless Pleasures, with David Bischoff)
• Bill - Linnunradan sankari zombievampyyrien planeetalla (Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of Zombie Vampires, with Jack C. Haldeman)
• Bill - Linnunradan sankari pullotettujen aivojen planeetalla (Bill, The Galactic Hero on the Planet of Bottled Brains, with Robert Sheckley)
• Stonehenge - Atlantiksen tuho (Stonehenge: Where Atlantis Died, with Leon E. Stover)

(This post was authored together with Liisa Rantalaiho and Irma Hirsjärvi. Photos by Joanna Kurki. Bibliography from Jussi Vainikainen’s sf resource site.)

URS on Tour

The wildly active Uusrahvaanomainen spekulatiivinen fiktio (“new pulp”) movement goes on tour around Finland to celebrate the publication of their latest anthology, Huomenna ne tulevat (“Tomorrow They Come”). Members of the movement will be appearing in Helsinki, Tampere, Espoo, Turku, and Jyväskylä to advertise (and sell) the new book and talk about new pulp sf.

The tour dates are available at the link. The tour will visit Turku on two occasions: at the next pub meeting on May 3, and also at the Kirja irti event on May 26.

Sinisalo Researched

A research paper about Johanna Sinisalo’s novel Sankarit has been published by the Research Centre for Contemporary Culture in Jyväskylä. The paper by Eliisa Pitkäsalo is titled “Kalevalaiset sankarit nykymaailman menossa” (“The Kalevala Heroes in Contemporary World”) and it can be downloaded from the centre’s site (only in Finnish, though).

Vandercon

Ann and Jeff VanderMeer are visiting Finland on their European tour. They will be in Turku on April 11, with a kaffeeklatsch, a public presentation at the university, and later a meeting at a pub for some beers and chatting.

From Turku, the tour continues to Jyväskylä and Tampere on Tuesday the 12th and Wednesday the 13th, respectively, with programming in Kirjailijatalo and Metso, plus pub meetings later in the evening. On Thursday, there will be a public lecture at the University of Helsinki, plus the Helsinki pub meeting afterwards.

On Friday, Ann and Jeff are the GoHs of ESCON 2011, a minicon in Espoo with the emphasis this year on writing sf (see link for details of the program).

The main event is the Tähtivaeltaja Day minicon in Helsinki on Saturday, where Ann & Jeff will also be starring as GoHs. These minicons are always a hoot, and having such great GoHs will definitely not hurt either.

Go check out the links for the Vandercon, coming soon to a city near you, and participate! And then head to Helsinki for the next weekend for Tähtivaeltaja Day! You won’t regret it!

Home from Finncon

Back home from Finncon. Had a great time! Since I spent very little time hanging out at the actual con site or watching programming this year, these are mostly random notes and observations rather than any coherent con report. I'm sure there will be plenty of those around soon as well.

Finncon without Animecon was a success. I don’t think any of the naysayers who told us it couldn’t be done after so many years together with the anime people hold that opinion any more. The estimated attendance was around 3 500 people visiting the con site (combined total of Saturday and Sunday visitors)—on both days there were around 1 500 persons present simultaneously at moments when all the programming rooms and the hallways were full, and of course while most people were there on both days, there were a lot of people that only came on one day plus locals who visited the site during the day. In addition, there were some people at the Kirjailijatalo and quite a lot of folks at the Ilokivi (where the Wreckamovie festival took place). So the amount of unique attendees was probably around, or at least very close to, the official target of 2010 people.

The PR about the lack of Animecon could and should perhaps have been done with a bit more sensitivity. I gather some anime fans felt they were looked down and frowned upon—this wasn’t intentional, but I can see how the happy enjoyment of “we got our convention back” could be taken as a sign of animosity towards the anime crowds, even if it wasn’t meant that way. I hear there will be a stand-alone Animecon in 2012. I’m very happy that the tradition will not die out, and am sure it can be very good—based on what I’ve heard about them, the Finnish anime conventions such as Tracon and Desucon have proven that the anime people can organize terrific conventions.

The convention site was rather hot—Finnish buildings aren’t equipped for dealing with temperatures close to 30 degrees Celsius—but it didn’t seem too bad. It seemed much cooler inside to me than at a couple of previous Finncons; probably this was because there weren’t such huge crowds inside the building.

Entering the con site for the first time was a very good experience for me. My first reaction was, “Wow, this looks just like Finncons used to,” with the hallway full of people browsing the books at the vendors’ tables, chatting at the sf societies‘ tables, hanging out in the cafe—and running frantically behind the info desk. I heard quite a few people mention that for the first time in years they met new people and got better acquainted by ones they’d only met briefly before just by walking around and starting to chat with each other.

The programming got good feedback as well. The only bigger criticism—that I heard, that is—were that there were too many interesting program items going on simultaneously, that some very similar items clashed, and that one person couldn’t make the only item they were interested in when arriving by train the same day and not wanting to come the day before. To which my respective responses would be, I’m glad to hear that; yes, unfortunate but unavoidable; and, well, tough.

The Guests of Honor couldn’t have been more perfect. Both our foreign GoHs Ellen Kushner and Pat Cadigan proved just as charming, witty, and funny as we had hoped, and provided us with many interesting talks and discussions. Their days were programmed pretty full, but they never complained or disappointed. Our Finnish GoHs Sari Peltoniemi and Liisa Rantalaiho we already knew, and so knew them to be just as great guests as they indeed were. And wonderful were as well out other foreign guests, fantasy author Delia Sherman who accompanied Ellen and charmed everybody, and critic and editor Cheryl Morgan, a regular visitor of Finncons, trusted panelist and great all-around PR woman (as well as a kind-of visiting guest liaison).

The Saturday evening party was at Lozzi. The place was really hot (poor masquerade participants who had to endure the heat in their costumes during the awards ceremony), but luckily the weather was fine and the terrace was large enough for pretty much everybody not driven away by the poor selection of beers and exorbitant prices at the bar. The masquerade awards ceremony was very entertaining (the prize categories included, for example, best sucking up to the judges, and the prizes were, among others, cute toy animals and “Epic boobs”—and also “Epic man-boobs”—t-shirts). There were some very impressive costumes, especially the Farscape team (their Chiana was perfect) and the elven warrior from LOTR. All in all, despite the beer being bad and expensive, people seemed to enjoy themselves. I didn’t stay very late, but had time to meet a lot of people and have some very good conversations.

The media coverage of Finncon was pretty amazing. For starters, our GoHs got a full culture section front page in Helsingin Sanomat (the largest daily newspaper in all the Nordic countries), and there were also mentions and articles in several other papers (including a four-page one in Huvudstadsbladet), and even a couple of tv spots. So we’re very happy about that. Also, her Finnish publisher told us, Pat Cadigan’s Mielenpeli, published just a couple of days before the convention, is already going on its third printing. Win!

There was one unique aspect of Finncon this year, not directly related to this convention. There were several bids for organizing Finncon in 2012. Both Tampere and Helsinki had launched serious bids for the convention (although Tampere’s bidding and publicity was much more active at the convention and Helsinki took a somewhat more laid-back approach); Espoo and Moon had also signed up, but it is telling of their bids that Espoo promised an extra day for everyone if they won (June 31st, 2012), and Moon was the only one that had facilities ready—after all, they have a vacant base after the Moon Nazis return to conquer Earth in 2011. The results of the vote were announced at the ending ceremony, and Tampere got a deserved victory, receiving more votes than the other candidates put together. The Helsinki delegate tried to raise suspicions about the result but was swiftly manhandled out of the stage by the security personnel. (Thanks, by the way, Tampere fandom for handling the security at the convention!)

The closing ceremony went rather well, if I say so myself. I was told I’m supposed to be on stage too, and my impromptu translations of Anne’s speech got a few laughs from the audience. We thanked the GoHs and everybody who took part in organizing the convention (this year, maybe more than most, there were many to thank: whole sections of the convention such as security, sales, and publicity were mostly handled by fandom from other cities than Jyväskylä; this convention truly was a joint effort of the whole Finnish fandom) and said our goodbyes.

It was then time for the dead dog party, in the traditional sauna-by-the-lakeside. Food, sauna, swimming, beer, cigars, and relaxing after the weekend. The GoHs seemed to love the gift bags presented to them by Kati, the GoH liaison, and even had some presents for the committee. (I got the very cool anthology The Green Man that contains a short story by Delia, among many other fine writers, and fabulous illustrations by Charles Vess—thank you!)

The dead dog ended at 11 PM, but since we didn’t feel like going to bed, it was decided to have a post-dead dog party in a pub at the center of Jyväskylä. Soon the place was filled with sf folk (people from at least Finland, Sweden, and Latvia attended) and raucous merriment. I had to bail out at around 1 AM, but I heard some even continued to a post-post-party after the pub closed its doors.

I didn’t get to talk to quite as many people at the convention as I would have liked (mainly because of going to bed quite early each night), but that’s how it always goes. Was very happy to see quite a few Swedes at the convention—I hope you all had a good time! My friend Dave described a dream convention as something "where people keep talking about awesome things you didn't see because you were at something else awesome”. I think that is a very good description, and it also describes my Finncon this year very well.

See you next year in Turku!

Earlier posts on Thursday and Friday.

Finncon Beginning

It’s time for the Finnish national convention once again. This year Finncon will be held in Jyäskylä, GoHs are Ellen Kushner, Pat Cadigan, Sari Peltoniemi, and fan GoH Liisa Rantalaiho. Also appearing are American fantasy author Delia Sherman, British editor and critic Cheryl Morgan, and a whole bunch of Finnish writers and other interesting sf persons.

So far the arrangements have gone recently well. The foreign guests arrived safely and were yesterday taken to a dinner cruise in the Helsinki archipelago. Today started with a press conference (which went very well), followed by a drive to Jyväskylä, just in time for the city reception (for the Jyväskylän kesä arts festival that Finncon is part of).

After a very hot day it was very nice to go to a lakeside cabin in the vicinity of Jyväskylä (which we found, eventually, with only a couple of wrong turns) for some evening snacks, a sauna, and a swim at the lake.

Tomorrow, the convention program starts with some literature and film programming, and the convention proper takes place on Saturday and Sunday at the university main building. See you there!

Inexpensive Finncon Accommodation

The Scandic hotel chain currently has a summer offer where if you book a room for at least two consecutive nights, the prices start at 55 €/night/room. This is valid also for the Jyväskylä Scandic during Finncon (use the booking code EAR), so if you don’t have a room yet (and don’t necessarily want to stay at the officially recommended con hotels), this is a very inexpensive opportunity. The hotel is a bit farther than the Milton and Sokos hotels, but still only a very walkable distance away (this is Jyväskylä after all).

Finncon Hotel Info

The hotel booking information for this year’s Finncon is now up on the con web site (in Finnish only, but the English version is coming soon). There are several hotels available in the center of Jyväskylä with quite inexpensive prices (starting from 55 € per night for a room for up to four persons), and also some cheaper hostel options.

Some hotel prices are only available for a limited time, and since Jyväskylä is usually quite booked during the Jyväskylä Summer festival anyway, it is a good idea to reserve your room early.

Literary Evening in Jyväskylä

Tomorrow (Monday, April 12) there is a literary evening in the Jyväskylä Writers’ House (Seminaarinkatu 26 B), starting at 7 PM.

The “Readings and Discussions” evening features:

• “The Shapes of Stories: Confessions of a Structuralist”;
  Bruce Holland Rogers (author and teacher of creative writing)
• “Diaries of a drunk horse: Graves and Grapes”;
  Mohsen Emadi (Iranian poet and intellectual)

The event is free, everybody interested is welcome.

Lecture on YA Utopias in Jyväskylä

On Friday, March 26, professor Kimberley Reynolds from Newcastle University gives a guest lecture on children’s literature, especially utopias and dystopias, titled, ‘Whatever happened to “happily ever after”? Visions of the future in contemporary YA fiction.

Abstract: Once the future in children’s books was presented optimistically—as a time when scientific progress, technological innovation and the wisdom gained through experience would lead to a more just, harmonious and enjoyable life for all. Contemporary YA fiction offers quite a different view of what lies ahead for future generations. This lecture will explore how adolescent readers are being asked to think about and prepare for the future in the fictions they read and compare it to current thinking by a range of influential environmental strategists.

The lecture takes place in room C5 in the main building, 12:00–14:00.