Finncon 2009 Program

The Finncon program has been published (more or less—it has been living in a wiki, and the final version should be appearing any moment now).

Collected here is a listing of the program items that will be held in English. This should be final, but if I spot changes later on, I’ll update them here. Duration of the items is one hour unless specified otherwise.

Friday

• 15.00 Science in Science Fiction (Pannuhalli)
  How much is enough science in science fiction? And how much is TOO much? Tommy Persson (chair), Toni Jerrman, Alastair Reynolds, Johan Jönsson, J. Pekka Mäkelä
  
• 16.00 Adam Roberts Interview (Valssaamo)
• 17.00 On Writing: The GoHs are interviewed on writing (Merikaapelihalli)
• 18.?? (after the opening ceremony) George R.R. Martin GoH Speech (Merikaapelihalli)

Saturday

• 11.00 The New Breed—Modern Vampire Mythos (Pannuhalli)
  Ever since Anne Rice introduced vampire Lestat to the unsuspecting audience, the children of the night have transformed from blood-thirsty Balkan nobility into something a bit more… sexier and about as blood-thirsty. Tanja Sihvonen (chair), George R.R. Martin, Tarja Rainio, Päivi Väätänen
  
• 14.00–15.30 George R.R. Martin GoH Interview (Merikaapelihalli)
• 15.00 Alastair Reynolds Speaks and Reads (Valssaamo)
• 16.00 Hugo 2009 Discussion (Turbiinisali)
  The panel of experts say what they think about the current crop of the Hugo Award nominees. Marianna Leikomaa (chair), Ben Roimola, Tommy Persson, Cheryl Morgan, Adam Roberts
  
• 17.00–18.30 Adam Roberts Speech (Turbiinisali)
• 18.00 Alastair Reynolds GoH Interview (Pannuhalli)

Sunday

• 11.00 Journey into Space (Turbiinisali)
  Have space, will travel. A serious discussion about possibilities, fantasies and realites of the space travel. Alastair Reynolds, Antti Oikarinen
  
• 12.00 Big Is Better But Small Is Beautiful (Pannuhalli)
  Does fantasy have to be big and epic? Is there room for something less grandeur? General preconception of fantasy still tends to veer toward the door stopping bulky pseudo medieval mammoth, but that is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Jukka Halme (chair), George R.R. Martin, Johan Anglemark, Markku Soikkeli, Cheryl Morgan
  
• 13.00–15.00 Researchers’ Field-Trips to SF (Watti-Kela)
  SF Research in Finland: A Report from the FINFAR Meeting. Merja Polvinen; The Rise of Post-Pulp: Jack Vance's Dying Earth Series. Mika Loponen; others TBA
• 14.00 Book Talk (Turbiinisali)
  What to read when all the translated books have been read? Jukka Halme (chair), Cheryl Morgan, Hannu Blommila, Marianna Leikomaa
  
• 15.00 Book Then, Book Now, Book in the Future (Valssaamo)
  Book is a book, except when it’s not. The future of book is the question: will there still be books as we know them now? Is the electronic version The Way or is there a third alternative? Jukka Halme (chair), Tommy Persson, Johan Jönsson, Alastair Reynolds, Juhani Hinkkanen
  
• 16.00 Doctor Who (Valssaamo)
  Travel with the Timelord through time and space. Kristoffer Lawson.
  
• 17.00 George R.R. Martin Reading (Merikaapelihalli)

In addition there will also be kaffeeklatch sessions with the GoHs—inquire at the info desk if you want some face time with them at the convention.

Update July 7: Minor corrections to program participants
Update July 1: Researchers’s Field-Trips to SF added (Sunday)

Eurocon 2011 Web Site Opens

The Stockholm Eurocon 2011 now has a real web site open. There’s preliminary info (in English) about the event there, plus instructions on how to join the convention (membership is 35 €/£30).

(I’m the Finnish agent for the convention, so if you prefer, you can also pay the membership fee to me.)

Fan News from Denmark

Knud Larn, the Danish fan many know from Snorfcons and the Copenhagen Eurocon, has started Fan News Denmark, a newsblog about Danish fandom, in English.

Tie Wins Tähtivaeltaja Award

The Helsinki Science Fiction Society has awarded Cormac McCarthy’s novel Tie (Road, 2006) the Tähtivaeltaja award for the best science fiction book published in Finnish in 2008.

The jury appreciated the novel’s strong emotional experience that makes the reader fear for the characters, the fragility of the characters, and the desperate world view that has sense of wonder and haunts the reader after finishing the book, as well as the compact style and magnificent language. There are multiple levels and themes in the book: it is a story of hope—albeit a very weak hope—but can also be read as a metaphorical description of the Western culture and its inhumanity, as well as a symbol of life that wanders through ashes to pass the torch to the next generation.

The jury consisted of critic Hannu Blommila, editor Toni Jerrman, critic Elli Leppä, and journalist Vesa Sisättö.

Fandom on Radio

The YleX radio station talks about sf and fandom on Thursday June 18, at 11:20. The program will also be available in Yle Areena after that.

Suomenlinna Picnic

The annual fandom picnic to Suomenlinna will be held on Saturday July 4. Meeting at around noon near the restaurant Walhalla.

Finnish Sf Film Funding

This from the Iron Sky blog: The Finnish Film Foundation has decided to give 800 000 € worth of funding to Iron Sky. Yay! Other projects getting funding include a film adaptation of Risto Isomäki’s Sands of Sarasvati, and also something called Zombie Cruise, “a film about zombies on the Finnish–Swedish ferry”. (Obviously the makers have just watched the people on the morning after the cruise and got the idea from there.)

Pub Meeting Tomorrow

The barbecue mafia planned for this week has unfortunately been cancelled due to illness. My alternative suggestion is to go to the normal meeting place, Bar Bremer. Tomorrow at six, that is. Barbecuing will be tried again next month. More info on that later.

Update: after discussion on the TSFS mailing list, the restaurant Kultainen Hirvi was decided as the meeting place for tomorrow.