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Call of the Weird CALL OF THE WEIRD MAGDALENA HAI • J. S. MERESMAA • VIIVI HYVÖNEN table of contents Introduction Short Stories Anne Leinonen: Magdalena Hai: SEDUCTIVELY WEIRD ........................3 FAIRYLAND ......................................12 J.S. Meresmaa: FOREVER, AS ALWAYS .....................26 Features Viivi Hyvönen: Anne Leinonen: THE MONKEY AND MAGDALENA HAI THE NEW MOON (excerpt) ...............40 Steampunk and Cryptozoological Investigations ............4 Anne Leinonen: Cover illustration J.S. MERESMAA Eliza Jäppinen (First published in Tähtivaeltaja Fantasy of Power and Love .................18 magazine 4/2015) Anne Leinonen: Illustrations VIIVI HYVÖNEN Jouko Ruokosenmäki .......... 12, 26, 32, 40 The Power of Words ...........................32 Photographs Piritta Häkälä .........................................4 Minna Jerrman ......................... 18, 21, 22 Outi Puhakka ...................................9, 11 FINNISH WEIRD IN ENGLISH ...........50 Ki Ruusuvuori .........................................7 Terhi Sinikorpi ........................................3 CONTRIBUTORS ..............................51 Sami Tirkkonen ....................................37 Editor-in-Chief: Press: Toni Jerrman Kopio Niini, Tampere, Finland [email protected] Finnish Weird 4: ISBN 978-952-68709-0-8 (nid.) Call of the Weird Layout: ISBN 978-952-68709-1-5 (PDF) 2017 M. Pietikäinen ISBN 978-952-68709-2-2 (EPUB) www.finnishweird.net Sub-editor: 2017 © copyright each Free PDF, EPUB downloads J. Robert Tupasela individual writer, translator, artist, photographer Publisher: Web design: Helsinki Science Fiction Society Teemu Ahonen Thanks to: Itämerenkatu 22 B 21 Worldcon 75, Finncon, and all the 00180 Helsinki Advertising sales: lovely contributors who volunteered Finland Vesa Sisättö their time for free. You rule! seductively weird s Finland celebrates 100 years of independ- ence this year, Finnish science fiction and Afantasy literature is in outstanding shape. In the year 2000, Johanna Sinisalo’s Finlandia Prize for her novel Troll: A Love Story (published as Not Before Sundown in the UK) was something that the sceptics could write off as just a momentary anomaly in a field dominated by realism. History has proven them wrong. Since then, the Finlandia Prize has been awarded to many works that could fall under the umbrella of speculative fic- tion. Attitudes have changed both in publishing hous- es and among readers. The grassroots are thriving, launching the careers of many unique sf/f voices, and many mainstream authors have adopted the tools of speculative fiction in their own work. The trailblazers of Finnish fandom, both professionals and passion- ate amateurs, have created opportunities and spread the word about Finnish Weird. The border between realism and fantasy has blurred. It is this desire to explore the borderlands be- at home writing epic fantasy novels and short sto- tween reality and fiction and a dose of northern mel- ries. Hai and Meresmaa are also both members of the ancholy that are the wellspring of our unique Finnish Osuuskumma publishing cooperative. Osuuskumma form of weird literature. Finnish speculative fiction is is broadening the Finnish publishing field, giving the not a solitary island, but an integrated part of the writers themselves the opportunity to call the shots. mainstream. Part of the reason for this is probably The publishing scene is changing shape, and writ- that we never developed commercial markets for peo- ers are slowly becoming something like renaissance ple wanting to publish nothing but genre fiction. We artists. In Osuuskumma, they form a collective like a have had to infiltrate, adapt and fight for room in the many-headed hydra. In addition to their main craft of mainstream. It is this underdog experience that has writing, each author has some other skill to bring to taught Finnish Weird to react to current events and the shared table. The end result is a publishing house be sensitive to various social issues. that is not afraid to seek out new voices and perspec- This magazine follows previous issues of Finnish tives while also maintaining high standards. Weird, being the fourth of its name. The past ten The third author presented in this issue is Viivi years has seen a major boost for Finnish speculative Hyvönen, who began her career in the 1990s. Her fiction. New names have burst onto the scene and third novel, The Monkey and the New Moon is a multi- veterans, too, have found the passion to explore real- faceted, mind-blowing science fiction detective novel, ity from new angles. whose private detective, an intelligent monkey named Magdalena Hai is one of this decade’s new arrivals. Hanuman, delves deep into humanity. She brought steampunk to Finland by writing our first Finnish Weird is calling out to international read- proper steampunk work. Her Henry and Gigi YA series ers, waiting for the opportunity to seduce you! is a bildungsroman set in an alternate Europe. Hai has also gained recognition by winning the Atorox prize for the best Finnish science fiction or fantasy short sto- ry and the Estonian Stalker short story award. anne leinonen J. S. Meresmaa is known for her fantasy works, particularly her Mifonki fantasy novels, which places Author, editor and organizer power and love on center stage. Meresmaa is equally 3 4 magdalena hai STEAMPUNK AND CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS agdalena Hai arrived on the Finnish spec- “I realized I enjoyed making things up more ulative fiction scene in the 2010s. She has than research,” Hai characterizes her choice with Mbeen called the queen of Finnish steam- a laugh. punk, the author who brought steampunk to Finn- “I’ve always spun stories about my environment, ish literature. it’s a very strong feature of my personality. When I These are big boots to fill, and Magdalena has was younger, I used to draw people I knew as fan- not only filled them but taken seven-league strides. tastic creatures. One boyfriend was a gnome being She has written for children, young adults, and born from the bog, another was a Roman soldier. In adults, and the first part of her Gigi and Henry trilo- a way, this is how I saw them: to me, the story por- gy was the first Finnish steampunk novel to be pub- trayed something essential about them as people. lished in hardback. In addition, Hai’s short story This is probably why I always take my own stories “The Beautiful Boy” won the Atorox prize as the very seriously and write with my heart’s blood. I al- best Finnish science fiction or fantasy story in 2015. ways aim to tell a story that reaches something real through the magical, metaphorical, and symbolic.” Magdalena Hai is a pen name that was born GEEKINESS AS A WAY OF LIFE in 2010, when the website “Kryptozoologisia tut- The seeds for Hai’s life as a writer were sown al- kimuksia” [“Cryptozoological Investigations”] was ready in early childhood: she admits to having first published online. The website was inspired by been a nerdy child. Her childhood games of spies the cryptozoological scams of the early 20th centu- and snow leopards came so alive in her imagina- ry, the tales of the Loch Ness monster, the Cotting- tion that she could almost believe in them. Soon ley fairy pictures, and the Book of Imaginary Beings young Hai shifted her interests from the make- (1957) by Jorge Luis Borges. believe things of childhood “I was drawn to the world towards the fantastic sides and atmosphere of the first of the real world. Her inter- decades of the 20th centu- est shifted to science and ry. The first Magdalena Hai science fiction, and curiosi- photos have the vibe of a ty drove her to seek miracles 1920s archaeologist on a in the world. dig. Steampunk did not en- Hai has always felt the ter the picture until later.” need to create something. On the website, the cryp- To begin with, she found an tozoologist began to report outlet in crafting, drawing, strange phenomena and photography, and sewing. observations in the form of She did not start to write small stories. The site bal- until adulthood, at the age anced on the boundary of of 28. A university education fact and fiction, and it in- provided her with the skills cluded deliberately poorly to research information and edited photos of supernatu- handle large bodies of mate- ral creatures, toy dinosaurs, rial, but she never aimed to and a troll named Börtti. become a scientist. However, the project soon 5 grew beyond the limits of a est in history and my hobby of smokescreen allowing the per- sewing costumes also made me son behind the pen name to in- a steampunker.” teract online. Having found a common “The cryptozoologist Mag- name for her random inter- dalena Hai shared many fea- ests, it was also easy for her to tures with me, but she was a start looking at movies and lit- fictional character at the same erature in a new way. Hai lists time,” Hai says. many works important to her. One reason for starting up “The Difference Engine (1990) a website was that Hai found by William Gibson and Bruce it very hard to let others read Sterling must have been the her writing. The Internet was book that finally converted a suitably anonymous way to me. Other influential works in- publish her stories. At the same clude China Miéville’s Perdido time, the person behind the Street Station (2000) and Mark pen name grew to be a writer. Hodder’s The Strange Affair of “When I wrote a fictional story once every two the Spring-Heeled Jack (2010).” weeks, writing became a routine, because I was com- In steampunk, Hai was most drawn to mixing and mitted to producing text. In the beginning, clicking breaking boundaries. In works of fiction, the por- the Send button made me so nervous that I felt like trayal of the 19th century might be very detailed and throwing up. It was hard to give anything of myself accurate, but suddenly the story would break down up to public view,” Hai describes her difficulties start- and something strange would happen.
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