Finland

Finncon Wrap

~ Cheryl ~ 5 Comments

I’ll be doing a full convention report on Finncon (and the DWJ conference) later, but I wanted to take time out now to make a few final comments and thank people who needed to be thanked. So, thank you very much to:

  • Otto and Paula for being such generous and graceful hosts
  • Jukka, Eemeli and Topi for chairing the biggest and most successful Finncon I have seen
  • Merja for running a very enjoyable academic session (and for the copy of her doctoral thesis)
  • Irma for being as wonderful as ever, for the tiara, and for the bottle of pine tar liqueur (which made it home safely this year, possibly due to an absence of thirsty Sean Williams books in my suitcase)
  • Aleksi for loyally preserving some of my HangerOne Chipotle vodka for two years so I could drink it again
  • The Finnish filkers for performing one of my songs so beautifully
  • Everyone who entered the CosPlay and Masquerade, or came in costume
  • All of my fellow judges for both CosPlay and Masquerade
  • George, Al and Adam for being such great guests
  • FluffCthulhu for accepting our sacrifices and ensuring that it rained in Cardiff but not in Helsinki

Two things stand out about the event. The first is that Adam Roberts totally charmed the Finns (see comments on his blog for examples). I have occasionally heard people say, “Oh, there’s no point in my going to X because none of my books are translated there.” Adam has comprehensively proved that idea wrong.

Secondly there is the sheer size of the event. As I have said before, it is extremely difficult to get accurate figures on the attendance of free events, but the estimate of 15,000 that was being bandied about on Sunday doesn’t seem unrealistic to me. Previous Finncons have appeared to have very large attendances in too-small venues. This one had a much bigger venue, excellent media coverage, and a seemingly endless stream of teenage kids going in and out. Every program item I attended was standing room only, and only one of those (the individual CosPlay) was anime-related.

Future Finncons will have to be smaller. I’ll talk more about that later. But this one was phenomenal, and I’m very proud to have played a small part in its success.

Finncon Live Tweets

~ Cheryl

The following window will draw in tweets from myself and a bunch of Finnish fans who I know are at Finncon. As the convention has good free wi-fi I hope to be able to log in and answer questions at some times during the weekend, but I won’t be online constantly.

Press Success

~ Cheryl

The Finncon media machine has produced its usual good coverage. We have almost a whole page in the most important Finnish newspaper today, including a long interview with George. They also did a “what’s on at the con” section, in which I get a name check as I’m on a panel with George. And of course the coverage repeatedly mentions that entry is free so everyone should come along.

I have more academic papers to review this morning. Opening ceremonies at the con are this afternoon.

International Mind Meld – Part II

~ Cheryl

The second part of Karen Burnham’s excellent SF Signal Mind Meld feature on non-anglophone SF is now online. It includes material by several of my friends, and also by a bunch of people I’d love to get to meet. Apparently there’s more to come next week as well.

It occurs to me that this is one of those areas in which the Mind Meld format works really well. The topic is so vast that no one person can have more than the briefest glimpse of the whole. However, read together, all of these individual glimpses help us get a idea of just how much is going on that we can’t read.

And talking of things we can’t read, I discover from Tero that the Al Reynolds story in the latest issue of Tähtivaeltaja is actually an exclusive. It is in Finnish, so most of you won’t be able to read it, but if you are a Reynolds completist then you need to get it because there is no English version. No, even Al doesn’t have a copy in English. Details here.

See what can happen when you get drunk in a bar with a bunch of Finns…

My Finncon Schedule

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

With thanks to Tero, I am now able to let you know what I’ll be up to at Finncon.

Saturday

16.00 Hugo 2009 Discussion (Turbiinisali)
The panel of experts say what they think about the current crop of the Hugo Award nominees. Marianna Leikomaa (chair), Ben Roimola, Tommy Persson, Cheryl Morgan, Adam Roberts

Sunday

12.00 Big Is Better But Small Is Beautiful (Pannuhalli)
Does fantasy have to be big and epic? Is there room for something less grandeur? General preconception of fantasy still tends to veer toward the door stopping bulky pseudo medieval mammoth, but that is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Jukka Halme (chair), George R.R. Martin, Johan Anglemark, Markku Soikkeli, Cheryl Morgan

14.00 Book Talk (Turbiinisali)
What to read when all the translated books have been read? Jukka Halme (chair), Cheryl Morgan, Hannu Blommila, Marianna Leikomaa

There may be some involvement in the masquerade and cosplay as well, if previous years are anything to go by.

News from Finland

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

Two interesting pieces of news from Tero’s blog.

Firstly Senja Hirsjärvi is this year’s Nordic Fan Fund delegate. Yay!!! As such she represents the second generation of the Hirsjärvi family to win the honor. I suspect that she won’t be the last either.

In addition here is a post about some of the sponsorship deals that this year’s Finncon has negotiated. I continue to be in awe of their fund-raising abilities.

New Finnish Graphic Novel

~ Cheryl

Joe Gordon writes to tell me about this review of a new graphic novel by a Finnish cartoonist. Amanda Vähämäki’s The Bun Field sounds to be more like Shaun Tan than like Watchmen, but that’s OK by me. Anything that is described as being inspired by “the old, dark woods of fairy tale” is worth a look. (And it appears to be written in English.)

Congratulations, Dr. Irma

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

There was a big party in Finland yesterday, because my good friend Irma “Ipa” Hirsjärvi has finally received her doctorate. She is now a doctor of philosophy in the area of Fannish Studies. Finnish fandom was on hand to mark the day in their own special way, including something called Dr. Ipa’s Sing-along Blog. Liisa Rantalaiho, who is one of the mainstays of the Finnish filk community, tells me that they used my Abba filk, suitably re-purposed for the occasion:

There’s one solution I have found, and it is indeed very sound, Best for all:
I’ll make this fandom work for me, my research topic it will be.
What a ball!
I’ll write papers and I’ll go
To Liverpool or Orlando,
A dissertation’s my desire, but when it’s done I won’t retire:
Study study study, always study
That is always on
Study study study, love to study
Our great fandom!
Aha-ahaaa all the things I shall do
But next year I must be working
On another con…

Wish I had been there to see it.

When her hangover has recovered Irma will be on her way to ICFA. I can’t be there either, but I know that a bunch of people who read this will be. I am relying on you to provide suitable celebrations.

Success for Sarasvati

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Heads up, Finland! Just in case you don’t follow his excellent blog, I thought I’d better pass on the word that my pal Joe Gordon has picked The Sands of Sarasvati as one of the best graphic novels of 2008. And Joe is a guy who reads an awful lot of comics and graphic novels each year, so this is high praise indeed.

Now I need to get him to read Oblivion High…

Risto in English

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

My good friends Tero and Jukka are guest-blogging at Jeff VanderMeer’s Ecstatic Days this week. In one of today’s posts Tero reveals that Risto Isomäki’s novel, The Sands of Sarasvati, has been translated to an English-language graphic novel. As Tero notes, Risto is great on the SFnal big idea. He also knows his environmental science very well. I’m hoping I can get hold of a copy of this. And someone should get a copy to Joe Gordon a.s.a.p..

New Tähtivaeltaja

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

The new issue of Tähtivaeltaja arrived today. It looks so good. I wish I could read Finnish.

Anyway, no Finncon report, but it does contain a long interview with the excellent Ms Mandu duo (hi Joc & Nina!) and one of the supporting images is the cover of Oblivion High Vol 2. Yay!

The issue also contains an article on the all time top 25 manga titles, and a Tom Disch retrospective.

Finncon Shout-Outs

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

While I’m thinking about Finncon stuff, I want to make quick mention of some of the people I met there.

Firstly there are Johanna Koljonen and Nina von Rüdiger. These ladies are, collectively, Ms. Mandu, purveyors of fine Finnish feminist manga. I suspect that you’ll be hearing a lot more about them from me. In the meantime, here’s Nina’s web site.

Secondly there is Tanya Tynjälä who is a Peruvian science fiction writer living in Finland. I’m delighted to find someone who knows the Latin American SF scene very well, and I hope to meet a lot of new people with Tanya’s help. Her web site is in Spanish, French and Finnish.

Update: Language list corrected as per Jukka below.

Finncon Photos

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

I have finally managed to get my photos for Finncon online. They’ll make more sense when the con report goes up, but at least they’ll get you started. There are lots of anime costumes, some of them quite spectacular. Also several photos Harald – the Viking restaurant – and of Tampere Cathedral.

Note to John Coulthart – having checked the guide book, it appears that the only painting by Magnus Enckell is the altar fresco (which does indeed include men holding hands, though they are dead). The main fresco is by Hugo Simberg, who also painted the magnificent “Garden of Death”.
Continue reading →

Finncon Report Status

~ Cheryl

The con report is written, but I need to check some spellings of Finnish names and process the photos before I post it. In the meantime, you can find the filk songs for this year’s Guests of Honor (and some previous years) online here. (Thanks Liisa!)

On My Way

~ Cheryl

I’m flying back to the UK today, and hoping that the train lines out west are not flooded. Finland’s weather is still superb. Otto tells me that they are laying on a partial solar eclipse today as a thank you present. I’ll be in the airport at the time, but Farah, Edward and Charles should be in Turku and will get a better view.

Catching Up

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

I am currently back in Helsinki. Many thanks to Otto and Paula for the tour of next year’s Finncon site and finding the excellent Thai restaurant. Since we got back to the apartment I have been deeply anti-social as I have had hundreds of blog posts and emails to wade through. I think I am pretty much done by now, though very little has been responded to. I wrote about 2500 words of con report on the train from Tampere, but I’m only up to Saturday night.

This morning I got to see Tampere cathedral, complete with its fresco of naked children. I have pictures but I’m not sure whether I should post them in case my web site starts getting blocked. I also finally got to see the Lenin museum, which was very Soviet and serious, but had managed to find one photo of Lenin smiling. Many thanks to Irma for the guided tour.

Tomorrow I fly back to London. The weather forecast for Darkest Somerset appears to be torrential rain for at least the next three days. Finland has been warm and sunny all the time I have been here. Go figure.

Mr. Dog, He Dead

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

Finncon is over, I have just come back from the dead dog party, which once again was held at a sauna out in the countryside. The lake water was a bit cold tonight so I didn’t swim much, but the sauna was great and the whisky I brought seemed to go down well.

In the car on the way back to the hotel Charles Vess was telling us about the Totoro Forest Project. Apparently there’s an exhibition coming to the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco in September. I hope to get to see it at some point over the winter.

Also we had a very Finnish experience. Just gone midnight we were rolling into Tampere and Marianna said, “let’s take the scenic route”, because of course there was still enough light to do so.

There will be a proper con report later. Hopefully I’ll get it written on the train back to Helsinki tomorrow.

Gone Viking

~ Cheryl ~ 4 Comments

Goat’s cheese, roe deer, tar ice cream – all washed down with Harald’s fine cinnamon beer. It is a tough life being a viking, but someone has to do it. There will be photos – including Charles Vess entering into the spirit of the occasion. Sadly laying waste to England is hard work and even vikings have to sleep. Good night.

Finncon – In Progress

~ Cheryl

Hello, I am back at the hotel, footsore but happy. I have survived 5 hours consecutive programming, and am looking forward to my reward – dinner at Harald, the local Viking restaurant. I don’t have much time to blog, and anyway I have been in cosplay and panels all day so I haven’t seen much of what is going on outside of those events. Fortunately for you, Tero has been posting lots of good material. Go ye here for lots of things I need to put on SFAW when I get the time, and other reports as well.