Åcon 5 Ready to Go

The Guest of Honour Catherynne M. Valente has arrived in Turku safe and sound. All is ready for Åcon to start tomorrow!

If you’re not able to attend and want to follow what’s going on at the convention, the best way is probably on Twitter. There should be some updates on the convention web site during the weekend as well.

The convention program book has been published in an electronic version; you can download it from the web site in epub format.

PS If you arrive in Turku already today and want to meet people, the word on the street is that some Åconites will gather at Cosmic Comic Café today (probably around 7 PM).

Åcon 5 Filling Up

Åcon 5 (an English-speaking sf convention in Mariehamn in May, GoH Cat Valente) is going to be the biggest yet. So far, 85 people have signed up for the convention. Åcon has a membership cap of 100 which might be filled for the first time. So if you’ve been thinking of attending but haven’t done anything about it yet, you should sign up now.

Also, the hotel room quota is all but gone. We’re looking into getting the rest of the hotel included in our quote, and also checking out alternative accommodation options (including Kaptensgårdarna across the street), but if you want to secure a room at the convention hotel, acting quickly wouldn’t really be a bad idea.

Åcon 5 Hotel & Travel Info Online

The ferry travel and hotel booking info (and prices) have been posted on the Åcon 5 web site. Go take a look and book your trip and stay now!

Åcon 5 Announces GoH

Next year’s Åcon Guest of Honor has been announced:

Catherynne M. Valente is an American writer, critic and editor. She has written several novels as well as short stories and poetry, and has won, among others, the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Rhysling Award, the Mythopoeic Award, and the Andre Norton Award for her work. Her novel Palimpsest was a Hugo and Locus Award nominee and won the Lambda Literary Award in 2010. Her latest book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, debuted at number 8 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Her critical work has appeared in the International Journal of the Humanities as well as in the essay anthology Chicks Dig Time Lords. Since last year, she is also the fiction and poetry editor of Apex Magazine.

The latest issue of Tähtivaeltaja (1/2011) has a Finnish translation of the short story A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica

Åcon 5 will take place in Mariehamn on May 17–20, 2012. (Still a year to go, alas!)