Svenskatalande Bättre Fandom?

Another mafia evening tonight. There is one thing I think is unique to the Turku fandom gatherings (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong): We have a fandom that speaks both domestic languages. Tonight, once again, there was a lively discussion about movies and sf books worth reading that was held in a mix of Finnish and Swedish. There were participants that speak Swedish as their first language, and naturally, Finnish speakers also. And everyone was able to speak their own language and yet understand what the others were saying. Quite extraordinary, when you think about it.

Among other things: almost got a new member for Interaction (still a bit of work to do, but getting there). And we had an interesting discussion about Mike Mignola and Hellboy comics with Juha. There was also some talk about sf and the Atorox prize; we’ll see what that will amount to eventually.

Finnish Smoffing

On Saturday, findom activists once again gathered in Tampere for the annual co-operation meeting to see friends and plan fannish activities for the next year.


The meeting was held for the third time in the sauna cabin of Tampereen talviuimarit (“Tampere winterswimmers”). A very nice place by the lakeside just outside the center of Tampere.

These meetings usually aren’t very long or bureaucratic, and follow a certain pattern. Everybody tells briefly what they’ve been doing and what they are planning for the year. We also discuss some projecs that involve fen from more than one city, such as Finncons (the next one is 2006 in Helsinki), talk about dates for events (like the Roadside Picnic on the summer), and so on. This time, we also did some planning for the Finnish room party at Interaction. Most importantly, we found a coordinator for the project (go Saija) and funding for the space (go HSFS), so things look good.


After the official meeting, there was some entertainment (filking and—how should I put it—an extremely fannish fantasy movie by the Smial Morel of Tampere). And of course, drinking beer with friends.


The organizing group, Spektre, celebrated their 42-month-anniversary and were given some appropriate gifts, accordingly.


It was really cold outside, but what would the gathering be without some grilled sausages (shown here) or a good cigar with Jukkahoo (not shown here, obviously), even if you may end up losing a toe or two to frostbite?


The descent into Moria… or in this case, the big hole in the ice (hence the “winterswimmers”).


Even with the extremely hot sauna, you’d have to be a bit crazy to go swimming in the almost frozen water. (I’ve tried, so I know what I’m talking about. It’s an experience of a lifetime—at least in the sense that once in a lifetime is definitely enough.) Then again, fandom never has had a shortage of people who are a bit crazy.

Anyway, a productive “mini-smofcon” and a fun relaxcon in one package. Thank you, Spektre!

Sf Scrapbook: Leila in Aamuset

Yesterday’s Aamuset has an article about Turku fandom’s Leila Paananen. It’s about her writing and, of course, the Portti short story competition and her winning story, Häivähdys sitruunaa. So, when can we expect the novel mentioned in the article…?

PS If you happen to be reading this, and are in the Turku region, the pub meetings mentioned are not only for members of TSFS, as one could understand from the article, but everyone is welcome.

Fannish activities

There was a new attendance record in today’s mafia: 18 persons were present, among them some really old faces not seen in fandom in a while. (If you happen to read this, that wasn’t a comment on your current appearance…)

The mafia meetings are gradually getting an identity of their own. The latest issue of Spin was on display today (140 pages, yay!), and the attendees were given a copy of Tutka’s 10-year-anniversary publication. Also, there was bookcrossing and a fanzine made especially for the occasion (Turu Mafia Zine—don’t tell me there aren’t any fanzines in Finland any more…).

These gatherings are also very handy for organizing things with people you don’t usually see—at least all at once. In this case, giving out the books we ordered together to all participants. And arranging rides to the Finnish sf societies’ co-operation meeting (the national smofcon of sorts).

PS A piece of unrelated news: last Friday, there was a PhD dissertation defence about Finnish trolls in Åbo Akademi. To be more exact, Camilla Asplund Ingemark has researched the world of trolls according to the beliefs in the folklore of Swedish-speaking Finns. Helsingin Sanomat has more on the subject. And Enhörningen, of course.

Meet a Finnish Sf Book

Not many Finnish sf books get translated (not that there are that many to start with). Besides the most obvious choice, and probably easiest to find, Troll by Johanna Sinisalo, another one you should perhaps take a look at—should you be interested in Finnish sf—is Leena Krohn’s Tainaron.

Jeff VanderMeer speaks quite highly of Tainaron on his blog:

I recently read Leena Krohn’s Tainaron, a brilliant short novel in the form of a series of letters home from an anonymous narrator visiting a city populated by intelligent, human-sized insects. It’s Kafkaesque territory, although Krohn’s vision is somehow more emotional and evocative than most of Kafka.——I just flat-out love this novel.——This is an important author who should be more widely known in the United States.

If your local bookseller doesn’t carry the book, you can get it from Amazon (US or UK).

Update: Tainaron also appears on Jeff VanderMeer’s Best of the Year list on Locus online.

Tutka Ten Years

Tutka celebrated its 10th anniversary today with good food and company at the Viking restaurant Harald which, appropriately, played such music as the soundtracks from The Return of the King and Conan the Barbarian. That prompted us to get creative and imagine what the sequel to The Lord of the Rings would be, done Hollywood style. The less said about that the better, probably. Here’s to another ten years!


Dining and reminiscing (and taking photos).

Brave New Babek Nabel

Babek Nabel, the Finnish sf fandom’s news and discussion forum, had a significant facelift at the turn of the year. In addition to a much nicer web interface, you now get decent web feeds of the front page news and the discussion forum. There still are some kinks to be worked out, but overall, the system is working quite ok.

Babek Nabel is the place to go to if you want to reach the core Finnish fandom, with lively discussion on various topics, and quite good news coverage of interesting topics. The site is in Finnish, but since practically all Finnish fen speak English, you can just post a question in English too, if you need to ask something or contact someone in the Finnish fandom.