DarwinCon in Tampere in April

From the announcement on the FSFWA blog:

DarwinCon, a minicon in Tampere on Saturday, April 18. Topic: evolution theory in science fiction, how evolution is understood in sf, is there a similar conflict between nature and culture in fantastical and alternate histories, is there a better “winner species” than the Shrike? A movie (“Mongol” from Kazakhstan) will also be shown.

The Kosmospenaali fanzine will be published at the event and accepts submissions until April 14.

Free admission.

Terrakoti Spring Party

In case you’re not going to be in Jyväskylä next weekend, the Turku sf clubhouse Terrakoti has a spring party on Saturday, combined with the 4-year anniversary of the shadow mafia meetings. No admission, bring something for the party buffet (and your own drinks). Pajama party theme.

Details on the TSFS site

Dr. Fandom

Next Saturday, Irma Hirsjärvi will defend her PhD Dissertation at the University of Jyväskylä. The topic of the thesis is the Finnish sf fandom, called ”Faniuden siirtymiä” (“Mediations of Fandom”). Fandom is invited to witness the occasion in Villa Rana, the Blomstedt hall, at noon. There will be coffee and cake later. The opponent is professor emerita Liisa Rantalaiho.

Congratulations to Ipa for a mighty achievement!

(PS If anybody going from the Turku area needs a ride there and back on Sunday, contact me.)

Sinisalo Interview

The Finnish sf site Risingshadow has published an interview with Johanna Sinisalo on their English site. Johanna talks about her Nebula nomination for Baby Doll:

It’s a tremendous honour, one of the top achievements of my whole life. When I was an aspiring writer and an active Worldcon-attending sf fan, I remember dreaming of a Nebula or Hugo nomination—but then I said to myself that it is futile to dream of something that far out and impossible…

Update 2009-04-26: There’s also a guest blog post by Johanna on the Nebula awards site.

Planetarium Excursion on Saturday

Some Turku fen are going to check out the new planetarium at the Tuorla Observatorium on Saturday, March 6. The planetarium show is at 4 PM, and the price is 5 € per person.

Everybody is welcome to come along. If you’re interested, contact Harri Miekka. Also, if you need a ride there or have questions, come to the Turku pub meeting tomorrow to discuss the trip.

Pub Meeting Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the first Thursday of March, which means you’re all welcome to meet and chat about science fiction at Bar Bremer after six (the pub seems to be more crowded nowadays, so it’s advisable to be there not too late).

Symposium on the Grotesque in Tampere

On Friday March 6 there will be a free seminar at the University of Tampere. From the description:

The symposium focuses on a common theme named in the title: How are ideas of the “grotesque” and the “unnatural” manifested in literary materials and visual representations from different ages, and how can these concepts be approached as phenomena of a particularly linguistic nature? What is the significance of this kind of work, and in what ways does it enhance our critical understanding? The initiative explores questions such as these and seeks to attract responses from a wide variety of theoretical angles:

• the horrifying, mysterious, abnormal, or subversive in literature
• horror, mystery, gothic, and sci-fi literatures as generic fictions
• studying the form of strange or broken bodies and natures
• the grotesque and the unnatural as aesthetic experience (and vice versa)
• the grotesque and the unnatural as linguistic discourse (and vice versa)
• tradition and change of the concepts in and as translation