Free Tainaron Ebook Today

To support the Helsinki Worldcon bid, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s Cheeky Frawg Books if offering a free ebook edition of Leena Krohn’s short novel Tainaron, for today only (until midnight EST, ie. 7 AM Wednesday morning Finnish time). More info on Jeff’s site.

Rabbit Back Out

The Rabbit Back Literature Society is the excellent debut novel by the Finnish author Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. It’s a literary mystery set in a small town where there is a secret society of writers with mysterious rituals and a strange past. The English translation of the novel will be out in November from Pushkin Press. Check it out—I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.

Regina in Turku

Regina Wang, an sf researcher and fan from China whom some of you have already met at Finncon or the Roadside picnic, is visiting Europe and will be in Turku this weekend to meet local fen. There will be a fandom meet up at Terrakoti on Saturday (the 17th), starting at 6. In traditional Terrakoti fashion, the event is BYOD and potluck.

More info about the event can be found on Facebook.

Words Without Borders

Heard via Jeff: Words Without Borders, a site that seeks to promote contemporary international literature, seeks contributors for a Finnish issue.

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from Seattle!

I'm writing to update you on the upcoming Words Without Borders Finnish issue, to be published in summer of 2014.

I am still eagerly collecting potential pieces by contemporary Finnish authors for the issue.

We're requesting short samples of 300 to 500 words from which the pieces for publication will be chosen and complete translations will be commissioned. I'm hoping to have numerous pieces to send to WWB by October to allow plenty of time for everyone to complete their translations by June of next year. I've received a few pieces already, but many more are needed.

If you have a story you would like to submit, send it along. If you have already sent a piece, thank you! Perhaps you have some more in a desk drawer, or on your wish list? It's a good opportunity to promote your favorite authors, your own work, and Finnish literature in general.

There will be a small fee paid to both translator and author for any stories published in the magazine.

WWB prefers pieces of less than 3000 words (in English translation), and all of the stories must have never been published in English before, online or off.

Let me know if you have any questions or would like to submit something. Multiple submissions are welcome.

All the best,

Lola

More information is available from Lola Rogers.

Crowdfunding Mysteries

Editors Jyrki Pitkä and Tuomas Saloranta are crowdfunding an anthology of occult detective stories, Murhamystiikkaa – okkulttisia etsivätarinoita. The goal is to raise enough funds to publish the anthology of 12 stories as paper and ebook editions. The minimum goal covers the printing and other mandatory costs, but the goal is to raise enough money to pay the writers and the editors. I hope they make it! More info about the writers, budget, and perqs on the project page.

Guests Speak About Finncon

It’s always a pleasure to read what the guests of your convention have to say about the event, and the GoHs of this year’s Finncon have been very good in this regard; they have all written something about the convention (and have good things to say, which is of course also very nice of them). So go on and check out what Aliette de Bodard, Peter Watts, and J. Pekka Mäkelä had to say.

Other foreign guests have also chimed in: here are reports by Stefan Ekman, Caitlin Sweet, and Cheryl Morgan. And there are plenty of links on the Finncon site to other reports as well.

Speaking of GoH reports, Tricia Sullivan has also written a two-part report about Åcon 6 where she was a GoH this year: part 1, part 2. I’m very glad to see she also enjoyed her stay in Finland.

Bruce Sterling in Turku Tomorrow

The Aboagora seminar (combining art and science) takes place in Turku this week. The keynote speaker for tomorrow’s public lecture is sf author Bruce Sterling. The theme of the day is Virtual worlds, and Sterling’s speech begins at 11. So if you’re interested in hearing him, head to the Sibelius museum then!