Atorox Nominees 2010 Announced

Turku Science Fiction Society has announced the nominees for the 2010 Atorox award for best Finnish sf short story published last year. The annual grumbling about how all the wrong ones got on the list and the right ones left out may now commence.

The nominees list is as follows:

• Laika Ahlstedt: Lapsenryöstö (Kosmoskynä 3–4/08)
• Anne Alasirniö: Tehtävä (Usva 1/09)
• Harri Erkki: Mummo kuoli saunan lauteille (Usva 4/09)
• Rimma Erkko: Puhtaus on puoli ruokaa (Tuhansien zombien maa/Turbator)
• Boris Hurtta: Vaitonainen sanansaattaja (Usva 3/09)
• Kristiina Huttunen: Siunattu (Spin 3/09)
• Tomi Jänkälä: Keskikesällä Harri (Usva 4/09)
• Tomi Jänkälä: Kuori (Alienisti 23)
• Tomi Jänkälä: Veden vangit (Usva 2/09)
• Jussi Katajala: Lemminkäisen kuolema (Tuhansien zombien maa/Turbator)
• Mika-Petri Lauronen: Mäyränä nummia tonkii (Portti 1/09)
• Anne Leinonen: Pienen rasian jumala (Portti 1/09)
• JK Miettinen: Kun herään (Tähtivaeltaja 3/09)
• J. Pekka Mäkelä: Kolmekymmentä vuotta (Tähtivaeltaja 1/09)
• Timo Männikkö: Miekkaa mahtavampi (Portti 2/09)
• Heikki Nevala: Jousenjänne (Usva 4/09)
• Heikki Nevala: Koneesta sinä olet syntyvä (Portti 4/09)
• Heikki Nevala: Muodonmuutos (Tuhansien zombien maa/Turbator)
• Heikki Nevala: Salamanteri (Usva 2/09)
• Leila Paananen: Saaren perintö (Usva 1/09)
• Marika Riikonen: Terveisiä älylliseltä elämältä (Tähtivaeltaja 4/09)
• Solja Saarto: Mestari Hoettenin oppipoika (Usva 4/09)
• Timo Saarto: Poika ja tinasotamies (Kosmoskynä 3–4/08)
• Petri Salin: Requiem sudelle (Portti 1/09)
• Tuomas Saloranta: Äidin talossa (Tuhansien zombien maa/Turbator)
• Johannes Sohlman: Lenkkipolulla (Tuhansien zombien maa/Turbator)
• Susi Vaasjoki: Tähdenniemi (Usva 4/09)

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.

PhD Dissertation on Children’s Fantasy in Jyväskylä

Sanna Lehtonen defends her English thesis “Invisible Girls and Old Young Women: Fantastic Bodily Transformations and Gender in Children’s Fantasy Novels by Diana Wynne Jones and Susan Price” in the Jyväskylä University humanities faculty on Saturday March 27 (Blomstedtin sali, Villa Rana, 12:00).

Turku Pub Meeting Today

The monthly sf pub meeting is today, Teerenpeli at six as usual. Welcome!

New Address for Espoo Pub Meetings

The Espoo sf pub meetings are moving. The new meeting place is the restaurant Harakanpesä at Leipurinkuja 2. The Espoo fen meet every last Monday of the month.

New Short Story Collection by Tiina Raevaara

Tiina Raevaara (who took the second place in the 2009 Atorox awards) has a short story collection, En tunne sinua vierelläni, out this Friday.

Tähtifantasia 2010 Nominees

The nominees for the Tähtifantasia award for best translated fantasy published in Finnish last year have been announced.

The nominees are:

• Joe Abercrombie: Ase itse (The Blade Itself, Kirjava)
• Jorge Luis Borges: Kuvitteellisten olentojen kirja (El libro de los seres imaginarios, Teos)
• Joe Hill: Bobby Conroy palaa kuolleista ja muita kertomuksia (20th Century Ghosts, Tammi)
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Lavinia (Lavinia, WSOY)
• Haruki Murakami: Kafka rannalla (Kafka on the Shore, Tammi)

The winner will be announced at Finncon in July. The jury for the award comprises critic Jukka Halme, critic Aleksi Kuutio, writer and editor Anne Leinonen and Risingshadow.net representative Osmo Määttä. The award is given by the Helsinki Science Fiction Society, and previous winners are Jeff VanderMeer, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Ellen Kushner.