Finncon Parity?

Since quite a few people nowadays seem to be interested in such things: there are no panel parity or other such gender equality programs in effect in Finncons, but I’ve previously claimed the con is pretty equal, or in fact has more women participating in program items than men. I thought I’d do a quick count to see if my assumption was correct.

As counted from the published program book, this year’s Finncon program participants included 73 women and 69 men (not all program items listed all participants, and there may have been changes, but this was as close as I could get from online documentation). 

Oh, and looking at an earlier Finncon in 2010 (2011 was combined with Animecon, and I think looking at a science fiction convention is more interesting; also 2010 was an interesting year for me since I was one of the organizers), there were 71 women and 58 men in the program. So I don’t think my quip that if we were to strive for panel parity, we’d have to drop quite a few interesting women from the program was totally unfounded.

Looking more closely at this year’s figures, one can make some other observations, though. In the science programming, there were 10 men to only 2 women participating in the program items. So that might be something to pay attention to in the future. On the other hand, in the program items where writers discussed writing sf, there were 32 women and 11 men. So I think it’s fair to say that women writers aren’t discriminated against at Finncon (not that I’ve heard such claims in Finnish conventions).

Atorox Award to Pasi Jääskeläinen

The 2012 Atorox award for best Finnish sf short story published last year was announced at Finncon. The winner is Kirje Lethelle (“A Letter to Lethe”) by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (published in the anthology Valhe & Viettelys). The top three this year were:

1. Kirje Lethelle by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Valhe & Viettelys)
2. Uralin sininen by Tomi Jänkälä (Spin 4/2010)
3. Kuulen laulun kaukaisen by Petri Laine and Anne Leinonen (Portti 2/2011)

This was the 30th time the award was given. There were 22 stories in the long list.

R.I.P. Polaris

Found on Facebook today, a notification by ex-chair Mixu Lauronen: the Oulu sf society Polaris has been officially terminated. The society was founded on December 10, 2001, and the termination date is July 10.

The society has been inactive for years, but in its day it used to, among other things, publish the zine Mytago, and give out the Lumimies award, given for various fandom-related activities.

Peter Watts to Finland in 2013

Next year’s Finncon in Helsinki has added the acclaimed Canadian author Peter Watts to its Guests of Honor.

Peter Watts has won, among others, the Hugo and Shirley Jackson awards. His novel Blindsight will be published in Finnish in 2013.

Discworld Play in Turku

The Jo-Jo Theater in turku will put up a play “Vartiosto Valmiina Palvelukseen” based on the Terry Pratchett book by the same name (orig. Men at Arms) and the Stephen Briggs play adaptation of it.

The play is translated by Kristian Aho and directed by Kauno Takarautio, and it will premiere on October 12.

Finncon 2012 Program Announced

The Finncon 2012 program has been published on the convention web site. Go take a look!

Tähtivaeltaja Award to Hannu Rajaniemi

The Tähtivaeltaja Award for best science fiction book published in Finnish last year was given to Kvanttivaras (The Quantum Thief) by Hannu Rajaniemi on June 20.

The jury commended the book for successfully bringing together scientific ideas, engaging entertainment and literary quality. The combination of a detective story, roguish main character and hard science fiction offers an exhilarating amount of sfnal concepts and nods to its literary fore bearers (such as Arsene Lupin). The novel ponders the human identity and its boundaries within its many layers of memory and intrigue. The Quantum Thief is a rare combination of intelligence and entertainment.

The Tähtivaeltaja Award is administered by the Helsinki Science Fiction Society. The jury comprised critic Hannu Blommila, editor Toni Jerrman, critic Elli Leppä, and critic Antti Oikarinen.