Turconen Program

The program for the Turconen minicon has been announced!

If you’re coming to Turku already on Friday, you’re most welcome to the pre-con pub night at Cosmic Comic Café, starting around 8 PM!

Ready Player Finland

Ernest Cline blogs about his trip to Finland.

I returned from trip my to Finland a few days ago, but I’m still recovering from jetlag and a significant hangover. The primary piece of wisdom I brought back from Finland is that Finnish science fiction fans love to drink even more than they love to talk about science fiction.

Turku Pub Meeting Today

Yes, it’s autumn again, and the Turku pub meetings move back to Teerenpeli. Meet you there today at six! (A new issue of the Turu Mafia Zine will also be published; come and get yours.)

MemoCon in Tampere

MemoCon is a minicon in Tampere on September 29 (from 2 PM to 5 PM), organized by the Tampere section of the Finnish Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. The theme of the event is memory and history in sf.

There will be a presentation on “The memory of a scene in fantasy”, discussion about the Turconen event, and publication of the Kosmospenaali fanzine issue 2/2012 (articles for the ish would be welcome).

The event is free to attend.

More information available from Markku Soikkeli.

Worldcon Dreams in Public

A moment ago, Eemeli presented the Helsinki Worldcon bid in the Chicago Worldcon. Some people (mainly Kevin Standlee) tweeted during the Q&A session. See the story for a synopsis of what was said.

Update: Video from the business meeting with the presentation is now also online.

Worldcon Dreams

Apparently there is now a bid for a Worldcon in Helsinki in 2015. And it’s open for people who want to be pre-supporters (20 €) or friends of the bid (80 €).

Unlike the Wårldcon bid, this one isn’t a hoax but a real bid, although I don’t think anybody—not even Eemeli—really expects it to have any chance of winning. Maybe it will serve as an exercise for the future, though (I know there are at least a handful of people who really do want to organize a Worldcon in Finland, and a couple of them might even have some idea what that would really mean), or at least as a fun project.

At the moment, the bid committee consists of Eemeli Aro, Jukka Halme, and Kristoffer Lawson. Eemeli is currently at the Chicago Worldcon, so if you’re there and this interests you, I’m sure he’d be happy to discuss this further.

Kalevala Exhibition in Turku

There’s an exhibition of the art of the gorgeous Kalevala graphic novel by Kristian Huitula in Turun Sarjakuvakauppa on September. The official opening ceremony is today, 5 PM to 7 PM.

The exhibition tour continues also in libraries around Finland. If you’re interested in the book, there is an English-language edition that is available at least in Sarjakuvakauppa, as well as the publisher’s web shop and in Bookplus.