COSMOS Pen 2/06 4,50 €

COSMOS pen 2/06 4,50 €

FOR WRITERS OF SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

FINNISH SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS ASSOCIATION cosmOS pen 2/2006 ISSN: 0785–2517. content 82. issue, 23. volume 4 issues per year http://kosmoskyna.net Editor-in-chief Pasi Karppanen 3 Prologue [email protected] 4 Pasi Karppanen: Sidestream of Mainstream – Publisher Finnish Science Fiction A Look at Current Finnish sf/f Writers Association 9 Pasi Karppanen: The Finnish fandom – All Terrakoti / STk ry. You Need to Know About It Yo-talo A, 2 krs. Rehtorinpellonkatu 4 20500 Turku 20 Johanna Sinisalo: Happy Days – Johanna FINLAND Sinisalo’s Tiptree Award Speech http://tieteiskirjoittajat.utu.fi/ 22 Hannu Rajaniemi: The Island of Cut-Throats – [email protected] A Finnish Writer in The United Kingdom FSFWA is a national Finnish or- ganization for science fiction 26 Anne Leinonen: Recipe for a Bad Short Story and fantasy writers. It was foun- ded in 1984 to raise the standard 30 Cosmos Pen’s Ten Questions for a Writer - of Finnish science fiction and fan- Johanna Sinisalo in Perspective tasy to promote Finnish scien- ce fiction and fantasy both ab- road and in Finland. 32 Short story – Jaana Wessman: Raphael’s Angel

Cosmos Pen 2/2006 - Kosmoskynä English Special 2006. ISSN: 0785–2517. Editor-in-chief: Pasi Karppanen, pasi. [email protected]. Editorial staff and contributors in this issue: Anne Leinonen, Hannu Rajaniemi, Liisa Rantalaiho. Illustrations: Jonna Lylykangas and Johanna Tamminen (cover), Pasi Karppanen (p. 6, 11, 18, 21) Tomi Junnila (p. 12), Tero Ykspetäjä (p. 23), Ninni Aalto (p. 26) Aatu Poutanen (p. 28), Eriika Ahopelto (p. 31) , Ulla Nissi- nen and Johanna Tamminen (p. 32). Layout: Pasi Karppanen. Printed in Digipaino, Turku. ”Every word written is a victory against death.” -Michel Butor Prologue

This issue is Cosmos Pen’s English spe- even short-listed for British Fantasy realism dominates overwhelmingly cial, made for the Finncon 2006. Its Award. the literary scene, and even though aim is to present the Finnish fandom Leena Krohn is a Finnish long- she already was a very successful and sf/f to readers both home and standing writer of fantastic fiction. short story writer, it was stunning abroad. The previous English special The recent English translation of her news that her first novel had won the was published in 2003, for the Finn- novel Tainaron: Mail from Another Finlandia award. And so has the con- con-Eurocon, and the first one in City was also short-listed for the 2005 tinuing international success of her 1990, for the Worldcon in Brighton. World Fantasy Award in the novelette novel been ever since. The organized Finnish fandom category and for International Horror Johanna Sinisalo is also featu- is still relatively young, only in its Guild Award in the category of long red elsewhere in Cosmos Pen, as the early thirties. It has also the tradi- fiction. writer interviewed in the “Cosmos tion of being characteristically non- Last but not least in the world con- Pen’s Ten Questions for a Writer”. The commercial and based on volunteer quest of the Finnish sf/f is the antho- series has been published in Cosmos work. The Finnish cons, grown with logy The Dedalus Book of Finnish Pen since 2003. Its idea is to present the years to mass events of several Fantasy, edited by Johanna Sinisalo, domestic short story writers to the thousand visitors, are free. The Fin- which came out at the end of 2005. public. Get to know what she counts nish field of sf/f fanzines also func- As the name implies, its idea is to as her literary influences, has she tions on the same principles. present Finnish fantastic fiction from ever come across a literary brother Partly for this reason there is no the end of 1800 to the present to the or sister, and where and when would commercial field of sf/f magazines Anglo-American audience. she travel if she had a time machine? in Finland. In many aspects the lite- Each of these alone is but a small Hannu Rajaniemi on the other rary Finnish sf/f is still taking its baby step, but together they form a whole hand tells in his article about the field steps. This has brought about some that anybody would have thought of publishing in Great Britain. Even if interesting phenomena, at present impossible even a few years ago. the publishing world in out there is of very visible in the literary field. Lite- The articles in this issue are bound a different magnitude, there are also rary equivalent of a baby’s tantrum? overlap to some extent, but each of surprising similarities in the Scottish In the last few years, however, them offers its own viewpoint on the and Finnish sf/f circles. there has been startling positive subject. The readers of the previous As a sample of the regular con- development in the field of domestic English Special of Cosmos Pen may tents of Cosmos Pen we offer the sf/f, especially concerning its increa- also find the material partly familiar, “Recipe for a Bad Short Story” by sing recognition and visibility inter- since some articles are updated ver- Anne Leinonen. It is a collection of nationally. Part of the story is the suc- sions of the previous ones. some typical stumbling blocks found cess of Johanna Sinisalo’s novel Not The article ”Sidestream of Main- in the Nova short story contest. The Before Sundown (Troll – A Love stream” reviews the present state article is useful reading for any aspi- Story in the U.S.) In its wake evident of Finnish sf/f, its roots and current ring writer, whatever the language or international interest has emerged trends. At present, there are many nationality. about Finnish sf/f. talented sf/f writers in Finland, but Short fiction in this issue is repre- Recently the texts of domestic sf/f it seems that there is a tendency in sented by Jaana Wessman’s ”Rapha- writers have been increasingly pub- the field to link up with mainstream el’s Angel”, from the Baltastica Con- lished beyond the borders of Finland. literature rather than with the sf/f test, organized in connection with The short stories from such writers as genre. the Finncon-Eurocon in 2003. The Johanna Sinisalo, Anne Leinonen and ”The Finnish Fandom” on the first cross-Baltic sf/f writing contest Pasi Jääskeläinen have been transla- other hand gives an overview of the produced several good quality short ted to English, French, German and Finnish Fandom, or Finndom as its stories. Unfortunately, the results Estonian. also called, the various clubs, fanzi- have not reached the fanzine publi- Another success story is Hannu nes, awards and other activities. The city they deserve. Rajaniemi, a Finnish writer living in previous version of the article served I wish to thank all the writers of Scotland. His short story ”Deux ex as the basis for the article by Jukka this issue. Massive thanks especially Homine” was published in the ant- Halme, “The World of Finndom”, pub- to Liisa Rantalaiho who translated a hology Nova Scotia in 2005. It was lished in Emerald City #109 in 2004. major part of the articles, including also included in two high quality One viewpoint on the subject is this editorial. sf/f anthologies, Year’s Best SF #11 given by Johanna Sinisalo’s ”Happy I hope you enjoy the ride. Keep edited by David Hartwell and Year’s Days”, her award speech in Gaylaxi- watching the skies! Best Science Fiction #23 edited by con 2005, where she received the Gardner Dozois. The short story was James Tiptree Jr. award. In Finland, Pasi Karppanen

Cosmos PEN 2/06 3 SIDESTREAM OF

MAINSTREAM

a LOOK AT CURRENT FINNISH sf/f

Pasi Karppanen

If you ask whether sf/f is written in Finland, the answer is clear. Of course it is. But scratch the topic a little, and you’ll encounter considerable problems of definition. This article aims to give a short and openly subjective review of the current Finnish sf/f writing and the trends among the writers. The article is an updated version of the one published in the Cosmos Pen’s previous English Special, from the year 2003.

Domestic science fiction and fan- During the last years, a group of books, without knowing its conven- tasy as a genre in Finland is still sear- writers has emerged in Finland who tions or history. The tradition of rea- ching for itself. Now perhaps more have been inspired by the current lism has always been very strong in than ever. Around 20 - 30 domestic fantasy boom all over the world and Finland and therefore this trick has sf/f books are published annually. decided to exploit the marketing become quite popular and many The majority of that number, howe- niche by mass producing their own, well-known domestic authors have ver, consists of children’s and juvenile mostly juvenile fantasy books. Unfor- experimented with the genre. literature. At the worst, only one or tunately, they are not good adverti- Mostly these experiments have two so called ”real”, serious domestic sement for fantasy literature. been rather primitive, according to sf/f books are published each year. And quantity does not make up sf/f criteria. The mainstream critics The difference is enormous com- for quality. During the last few years have, however, been bowled over by pared to the whole publishing field. there has been light at the end of admiration. Since they have no infor- In translation sf/f literature gets pub- the tunnel. Increasingly, the domes- mation of how worn-out the ideas lished in many times that amount. tic sf/f writers manage to get their have been, they see those as daring Also compared with the annual work published. Many of the writers, avant-garde literary experiments. domestic mainstream prose, sf/f is however, seem to actively avoid the Something like that lay also just a fraction. stigma of a science fiction or fantasy behind when well-known sf/f short Children’s and juvenile literature writer. story writer Johanna Sinisalo publis- and on the other hand, science fic- hed her first novel Ennen päivän- tion and fantasy seem to be closely Mainstream and sf/f laskua ei voi (Not Before Sundown) related. Seems what is “forbidden” in (2000) and it winning the Finlandia the Finnish mainstream prose is allo- Until recently, the main problem of award. The event itself was unprece- wed in children’s books. If sf/f is rare the sf/f published in Finland has been dented for Finnish sf/f, just conside- in Finnish adult prose, in children’s that the most part of it is produced, ring its publicity value. Finlandia is literature the sf/f elements are almost not by sf/f but by mainstream wri- the foremost Finnish literary award the norm. ters. They use it as just a spice in their and the situation might well be

4 cosmos pen 2/06 of them showing clear promise. The major part of Isomäki’s published works, however, is non-fiction and connected to his background as an activist in the environmental move- ment. The same aspect is discernible in both The Awakening and Sands of Sarasvati. The Awakening was accused of being a cardboard-like, popularised description of a possible ecocatastrophe. Yet even those sf elements were enough to elevate it to the notice of Finnish media. Sands of Sarasvati, as well, was short-listed for Finlandia award. For some authors science fiction even seems to be some kind of a red rag. Ilkka Remes, the Finnish counter- part to Tom Clancy and the success compared to Ursula K. Le Guin unex- story of the late 1990’s, got clearly lism, and he has seemed uncomfor- pectedly winning the Nobel literary scared about the sf/f reputation of table about the fact his books are price! his first book, Pääkallokehrääjä classified as ”fantasy’” He appears to Sinisalo herself has even said that (Death’s-head hawk moth). see fantastic literature only as fairy- she doesn’t consider her book to be The novel is a political thriller tales, such as Narnia or Lord of the science fiction at all. She merely tried taking place in an alternative Finland, Rings, though it of course is a very to write a mainstream work with where it’s become part of the Soviet much wider field. speculative elements on the back- Union because of different events in It seems that science fiction and ground. This is true and considered the Second World War. Remes him- fantasy have definite commercial as science fiction, the speculative self denied that his book would be potential that has not yet been pro- element in Sinisalo’s novel is thin. But anything even remotely approaching perly exploited, at least not by the for the mainstream public an idea of sf/f and since then he has kept his domestic writers. Or let us say that trolls as a species of big game was distance to the genre. the will and the skill to produce it enough to raise it up from the mass. Another author, although with a have not yet met. In fact the best Because of the award and Sinisalo very different kind of literary expres- domestic sf/f today is not found in herself, also domestic science fiction sion, is Jyrki Vainonen, who also book length prose, but on the pages received a huge amount of positive has been noted among the Finnish of genre magazines and fanzines. publicity during the Finlandia year. fandom for his short story collec- There we also find the most interes- Elsewhere in this Cosmos Pen, tions and novels. Vainonen himself ting work of the genre, the best wri- Sinisalo tells more about the recep- says that his work represents surrea- ters, and therefore also the greatest tion of her book. She seems to have hopes for future. touched on something essential with her book, and has become a The Finnish field of sf/f fanzines real success story for the Finnish sf/f, not only inside the country but also Characteristic for the Finnish sf/ internationally. f field is the total lack of commer- There are other examples of the cial magazines. There have naturally use of sf/f effects and the indiscri- been several attempts during the mination of the mainstream public, last couple of decades to start a com- such as the books Herääminen (The mercial sf/f magazine, but they have Awakening) and Sarasvatin hiek- always failed. kaa (Sands of Sarasvati) by Risto Instead, around ten good qua- Isomäki. Both are accounts of eco- lity fanzines are published in the catastrophes. The Awakening is a country. Truth to tell, a fanzine is a description of a run-away hothouse somewhat misleading expression, effect, while Sands of Sarasvati is for the best of them are on full pro- about mega-tsunamis. zine level and quality-wise they hold Isomäki himself in no novice in their own against any commercial sf/f science fiction. Before The Awake- magazine. ning he had published a collection The most successful, at least the of short stories and two novels, all most widespread Finnish sf/f maga-

Cosmos PEN 2/06 5 zine is Portti (Gateway), published by What may seem surprising from writer guidance here, but at least it is the Tampere Science Fiction Society. a foreign viewpoint is that in Portti’s a step towards the right direction. In twenty years it has developed to case the writers get no other pay for a sf/f magazine of over a hundred their stories except the prizes given Trends in domestic sf/f pages and printed on glossy paper. out in the contest (for honorary men- The magazine is probably the most tions that’s only some tens of euros). Short story form sf/f has rather acti- direct ”gateway” to domestic sf/f for The practice like in the USA, for vely been written in Finland for most of those unfamiliar with the instance, where writers actually get several decades now and the field genre. One could say Portti comes paid (for the number of words in the of domestic writers has during the closest to filling the market niche of story) is completely unknown in Fin- while acquired its own special cha- a possible commercial sf magazine. land. racter. Portti acquires the major part A new effort alongside the Portti One very typical feature of the of its material from the short story contest is the Nova short story con- domestic sf/f is apparent in its relati- contest it organizes yearly. Just as test, which is a co-operation project on to the distinction between science the magazine, the contest, too, has between the Finnish Science Fic- fiction and fantasy. To be exact, a expanded in twenty years. Nowa- tion Writers’ Association and Turku major part of the current domestic days its main prize is 2000 euros. Science Fiction Society. The prizes sf/f is neither science fiction nor fan- Over two hundred short sto- are nowhere near the level of Portti, tasy, at least not in the most tradi- ries are sent to the contest each but in spite of that, the contest has tional meaning. Naturally there are year and it is by now undoubtedly in a few years expanded to almost cases where one can definitely place the most important literary con- the same level, at least as far as the the story on one or the other side of test in the field of domestic sf/f. number of submissions. the fence, but most texts are rather Although Portti’s good results The goal of the Nova contest is to placed in some indefinite ”grey area” in the domestic sf/f field are unde- encourage new writers and above all between the pure genres. niable, it dominates the domestic offer to writers the chance for feed- This broadmindedness does not writing field almost too completely. back Portti cannot give. Everybody always extend beyond the active Many fans and writers know the who has sent a text receives a feed- fandom, though. Young readers of Portti contest, but not the other sf/f back from the jury if they so wish. fantasy, it seems, are just as catego-

fanzines. One cannot yet speak about editorial rical in their opinions as elsewhere © Pasi Karppanen Pasi ©

Anne Salminen and Tero Niemi got their second Atorox award in 2005 with the short story ”A Trip to Reforma”.

6 cosmos pen 2/06 in the world. For many of them, the domestic sf/f of which most have publishing contracts remains too word fantasy equates with the series been visible through the Portti con- big. of post-tolkien quest novels. test. One interesting feature is how In a way, one can well understand Inside the field of fandom, howe- the stories reflect the Finnish society. the writers’ hesitation. As mentioned ver, the spectrum is much wider and For instance, when Finland experien- already, in practice all current writers encourages experimentation with ced a harsh economic depression in who publish short stories in Finland genres. There’s one especially inter- the early 1990’s, it was later reflected are fan writers. There is no one in Fin- esting type of story that has develo- in the stories. In the beginning of the land writing sf/f professionally, and ped in the field of Finnish sf/f. These decade, Finland also experienced its the writers have to do their writing stories are mostly placed in Finnish own small scale ”new wave”. somewhere betwixt their ordinary everyday reality, where mysterious jobs, during their free time and at the events and elements start to appear. Visions of future cost of their family life. They are not science fiction, neither Reasons can also be sought in are they fantasy or horror. Today there are a great number of wri- the general publishing situation. A This type has very much been in ters on the domestic field who would foreign name on a genre book cover evidence in the Portti contest and it have both the abilities and realistic always sells better than a Finnish one would be interesting to know how chances for a wider breakthrough in and the majority of domestic pub- much it is due to the jury’s conscious literature. In a sense, the same deve- lishing houses concentrate in prac- or unconscious guidance through lopment was probably expected by tice only on translated science fiction rewarding a certain type of stories, many already in the 1980’s, during and fantasy. There’s also the unfor- how much writing such ”fantastic” the ”first generation” of the Finnish tunate aspect of domestic fanzines stories of everyday reality simply fandom. Some works were indeed that makes it difficult for the writers fits with the Finnish national charac- written by the names of the domes- to become more widely known. The ter. At least the definite minor key tic fandom at that time, but a broa- fanzine readers and the wider public and melancholy that are generally der appearance of the field did not of sf/f readers are basically two diffe- characteristic for Finnish sf/f may then take place. rent audiences. easily be accounted for by the Scan- In a way that is understandable. On the other hand, there is the dinavian character. Sf/f as genre was by that time so core of domestic fandom that fol- The one feature of domestic sf/f new and the general knowledge of lows actively both translated sf/f and that one certainly can blame the the field so thin that it would have the genre at large and also reads the Portti contest for is that stories have been unfair to expect a whole new domestic fanzines and the short sto- become longer and longer during literary generation from a group ries published in them. The wider the years. The stories currently writ- of few fan writers. During the last buying public, however, reads mostly ten in Finland and especially those decade, however, within the bosom translated sf/f, mainly because well placed in the Portti contest are of fandom, a large group of writers domestic works are not to be found actually no longer short stories, but have grown up, and they possess a on the book shop and library shel- rather novelettes and novellas. That completely different readiness for a ves. These readers have never heard longer stories have ended up in the literary breakthrough. of most of the domestic short story first place time after time has contri- Also the work done by the domes- writers. buted to the vicious cycle. tic fandom to increase the general For this public, the domestic pro- In fact there are some who say appreciation of the genre has created duction of the genre is represented that the Portti contest should no a completely different situation than by juvenile mass production so it is longer be called a short story con- the one two decades earlier. If these no wonder that the domestic sf/f test at all, but rather a ”contest of writers, however, dare not leave the does not have a very good reputa- miniature prose”. Most of the longer safe ”duck pond” of short story sf/f, tion among them. The division bet- stories already have a clear novel- this generation will encounter the ween the two publics is quite visible like structure and indeed, many see same blind alley as the former. and thus far there is no sign of it get- them as substitutes for novels when Reasons for why the breakthrough ting broken. the writers are in a situation where has not happened yet, or why it did There may be, however, some sf/f manuscripts being accepted by a not happen during the earlier gene- light at the end of tunnel. During commercial publisher feels a utopia. ration, are various. the last couple of years several wri- In recent years, perhaps because One is the already mentioned lack ters who have started among the of changes in the jury, or the criti- of commercial sf/f magazines. Since fandom have made their debut on que in the fanzines, the situation has there are no commercial magazi- the Finnish literary field, either with somewhat changed, and also con- nes and the whole field is oriented a collection of short stories or with siderably shorter stories have been towards contests, the whole idea of a novel. In a few years, more domes- among the winners. The mammoth earning money by writing is alien to tic science fiction and fantasy has disease seems to be receding, at least the writers. Thus, the leap from a fan been seen than during several ear- in the Portti contest. writer sending one’s texts year after lier decades put together. The situa- During the last decade there have year to the Portti contest, to a profes- tion thus looks promising and gives been several smaller trends in the sional writer fighting for grants and reason for hope.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 7 the writers within the fandom field. In recent years speculative fiction has appeared as a general term for science fiction, fantasy and horror, and some people’s vocabulary it has replaced the term science fiction altogether. The webzine Usva (The Mist) founded by Anne Leinonen is an explicit supporter of the term spe- culative fiction. A few years ago Helsingin Sano- mat – the largest Finnish daily news- paper – published a rather contro- versial article, where several writers, Johanna Sinisalo included, publicly disclaimed the label of a science fic- tion writer and announced them- selves to be writers of speculative The most recent examples date fiction. The reasons are certainly readers of science fiction and fan- from the current year. Anne Leino- well-understandable. Many of these tasy. nen, a successful participant in many writers had for years fought against One can see this in the marke- Portti contests and an active fan has prejudice, acting as quixotic preach- ting of the books. Oftentimes it’s recently published her own short ers for the excellence of sf/f, very quite a task to search for domestic story collection Valkeita lankoja likely in vain. sf/f among the mainstream. Johanna (White Threads). Pasi Jääskeläinen Johanna Sinisalo herself has Sinisalos’s first novel was never mar- is another fandom-rewarded writer stated she’s had enough of all that. keted as science fiction of fantasy. who’s long and eagerly awaited first According to her, when an average Neither was her short story collec- novel Lumikko ja yhdeksän muuta mainstream reader hears the words tion Kädettömät kuninkaat (Hand- (Weasel and Nine Others) was also science fiction, ”...one can actually see less Kings) even though most of the published in 2006. how in the persons brain three metre stories in it had been originally pub- One of the recent genre events walls fall into place”. No argument for lished in Finnish sf/f zines. has been the short story collection the possible excellence of a book will Any references to sf/f were also Nimbus ja tähdet (Nimbus and the pass through those walls. missing from The Nimbus and the Stars) by Tero Niemi and Anne Salmi- Some, however, have been puzz- Stars. What is interesting here is that nen, two collaborative writers who led and even irritated by the sprea- Niemi and Salminen, among the few made a comet-like appearance into ding of the term speculative fiction. publishing domestic writers, have the genre publicity through the There’s been rather audible grumb- stated that they write science fic- Portti novel contest. ling about its artificiality, inexactness, tion, not speculative fiction. One is and altogether limited appropriate- tempted to ask, that while we need The battle of the masses ness. What is this “speculative fiction” not force mainstream under the label that everybody is talking about? Is of science fiction, why can’t we even At times, there have been some the idea to sell science fiction out to call science fiction by its name? voices among the fandom saying mainstream, in exchange for possible In fact, it seems that lately even that one should not even try to create literary credibility? speculative fiction as a term has a special niche of domestic science There’s a grain of truth there. Else- gotten a rival and a launcing of a new fiction or fantasy literature, since that where in this Cosmos Pen, Johanna literary movement is taking place as would only mean its conscious iso- Sinisalo mentions the uncommonly we speak. Whether the ”reaalifantas- lation, out of the reach of domestic strong position of realistic fiction tikot”, manage to sell their credo to mainstream readers. in Finland. In the light of this it may the buying public, only time will tell. Instead of this there should be a indeed be that the only way for the What the near future is like? Is continuum of literature, with ”specu- sf/f writers to gain access to the there an impending storm in the lite- lative elements of differing degrees”, mainstream and weaken the strong- rary teacup, or are the deep under- where sf/f would be a natural part of hold of realism, would be ”to dis- currents of sf/f simply changing the rest of domestic literature. Such guise” one’s work as mainstream lite- their direction under the calm sur- a situation might also be benefi- rature. face? Your guess is as good as mine. cial in that the writers would have a On the other hand, while the wri- Right now, it seems, the Finnish chance to create a literary career and ters are wooing one group of the genre literature drifts somewhere be appreciated by the other domes- audience – the mainstream readers, in the hazy waters between sf/f and tic authors. able to digest a modest amount of mainstream. In fact, this seems to be the strong- speculative elements in novels – they est of current trends, at least among turn their back to another group, the Translated by Liisa Rantalaiho.

8 cosmos pen 2/06 THE FINNISH FANDOM all you need to know about it

Pasi Karppanen

What is this crazy Finnish fandom that seems to be bursting with energy, keeps organizing free cons, and now and then is even coaxed to organize the Worldcon? This article aims for an overview of the Finnish fandom. It is originally based on Ben Roimola’s “Short Look at Finnish Fandom” from 1995. A previous version of the article, updated by Pasi Karppanen and Shimo Suntila, was published in Cosmos Pen’s previous English special in 2003.

The origins of Finnish fandom unofficial sf/f, anime and role playing ning and made Finnish fandom what clubs and zines. it is today. The first signs of a phenomenon Finnish fandom has all the charac- Another thing that should be called fandom can be seen in Fin- teristics of fandom everywhere else. mentioned when speaking of Fin- land during 1950’s. However, it took There are societies, zines, awards, nish fandom is that there has never over two decades before fandom as cons, gatherings and all the other been that big a difference between we know it started to emerge. The things that together make up the science fiction and fantasy. Every- reasons for this are various. In 1950’s thing that’s called fandom. On the body of course understands the dif- Finland was barely getting back on other hand, there are also couple of ferences between genres, but basi- its feet, economical resources were features in Finnish fandom that make cally the fans and writers of science limited and urbanisation was only it somewhat different from other fiction and fantasy, as far as Finnish beginning. This meant there were no countries. fandom is concerned at least, have real chances of an organized fandom never been separate groups but a to get born. What makes it what it is part of one big, more or less happy The first Finnish science fiction family. convention was organized by the One thing that has always been cha- This is in a great extent due to Students’ Union at Turku University racteristic for Finnish Fandom has the circumstances in which Fin- in 1969, but fandom as we know it been its ability to work together. The nish fandom was born. In late 70’s wasn’t born until the Turku Science thing is, there has never been a ”Fin- and early 80’s both genres were Fiction Society was founded in 1976. nish Science Fiction Association” nor just as marginal and the fans of sf/f It started to publish its fanzine, Spin will there most likely ever be. The Fin- naturally teamed up. Therefore one in 1977, which marks the birth of a nish fandom is a collection of many should remember that although the first Finnish sf/f zine. different sf/f societies spread all over societies mentioned in this article are Presently there are almost twenty the country, all with their own cha- called science fiction societies, most sf/f clubs spread around the country racteristics and history. Together they of them are science fiction and fan- and a dozen more-or-less regularly form a tight little community that has tasy societies. The same thing applies published zines, plus numerous pulled together from the very begin- to fanzines as well.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 9 Probably because of this, the cur- ”The Finncon brand”, so to speak, from them, however, there are much rent generation of writers – again, was created in the first Finncons held smaller and informal gatherings for when it comes to fandom at least – in Helsinki in late 80’s and early 90’s. the fandom. Parties of all sorts, video are a rather heterogeneous group. The Finncons are supposed to be big evenings. summer picnics and so The same people write science fic- events, without entrance fee and forth. In most of the towns with an tion and fantasy and in some cases concentrate on literature. So far most, sf/f club there are also monthly, in drawing the line between genres if not all, guests of honour have been some cases even weekly meetings of is very difficult, if not impossible. writers instead of television figures. fandom. In fact, many writers consider the There’s of course a simple explana- These meetings, or ”mafias’”as they whole subject of drawing lines bet- tion for that. For the price of a world are also called, usually take place in a ween genres restricting and comple- class author the most you could get bar or a cafe. Whereas most parties, tely unnecessary. from the world of audiovisual sci-fi is video evenings and so on are mostly The third thing one should men- ”the third storm trooper from right”. for people who already are more or tion when speaking of Finnish Still, the main reason is the fandom’s less ”inside” the fandom, mafias are fandom are the Finnish sf/f magazi- desire to concentrate on literature. free and open to everyone. This is nes. The fact is there isn’t one single This has proved to be a very well- usually the best place to get to know commercial sf/f magazine published working formula and so far all Finn- the local fandom if you have just in Finland. There have been many cons have been successes. Over the moved to town. attempts to publish one, but sooner years Finncons have gotten bigger, or later, for one reason or other, they bigger and bigger, becoming a Book fairs and smaller cons have been cancelled. major cultural event in Finland. For a In their place, however, there’s a number of years now the number of Another important venue for fandom wide range of flourishing, professio- attendees have been in thousands. to make sf/f known are the national nal looking fan-, semi- and prozines. In 1995 Finncon was for the first book fairs. Currently there are two Many of them are very slick, printed time held outside Helsinki, in the of them. The first of them was the on glossy paper and looking just as town of Jyväskylä. From there on the Turku Book Fair held each fall. From good as any professional sf/f maga- task of arranging Finncon has rota- the very beginning Turku Science Fic- zine with a content to match. The ted from town to town. In 1999 for tion Society has had a booth at the zines such as Portti, Tähtivaeltaja, example Finncon was the first time fair and has also arranged sf/f rela- Spin, Finnzine and Kosmoskynä are in Turku. ted programme during the fair. This even for sale at big bookstores. One of the secrets behind Finn- has proven to be a great way to make con’s success is the one mentioned science fiction and fantasy known Finncons earlier, Finnish fandom’s ability to outside fandom. work together. Finland is, after all, a A few years back Turku Book Fair The first logical step to start pre- small country and it is small wonder got a rival of sorts, the Helsinki senting the Finnish fandom would Finncons are such big events. That is Book Fair, which quickly became probably be the Finncon, the most why Finncons have always been Fin- the bigger of the two. Most of the important Finnish national con. Finn- nish fandom’s joint effort. The main big publishing houses are now not cons are big events, have been so responsibility has of course always at Turku but at the Helsinki Book from the very beginning. been on the town that arranges the Fair. The people at Helsinki fandom In most respects the Finncons are con, but they wouldn’t be possible have also co-operated from the very like any other big con in Europe or without everyone doing their share. beginning with the fair organization. USA, with lots of programme going Naturally, Finncons wouldn’t be For a number of years now Helsinki on simultaneously, panels, lectures possible without money, and over fandom has had their own booth and other program items, guest of the years the Finnish con organi- at the fair and the ”Science Fiction honour’s giving speeches and auto- zers have gotten very good at gathe- Sunday” as a part of the official pro- graph sessions. On Saturday night ring funds from government grants gramme. there’s the official con party with a and looking for sponsors and other In Helsinki, there’s also the Täh- masquerade contest. co-operation partners. For example tivaeltajapäivät (Star Rover Day). The one thing that sets the Finn- Finncon X, the tenth Finncon, held in Details of the first Star Rover Days cons apart from foreign cons, howe- Turku in 2003, was also Baltcon and are shrouded in mystery, but in cur- ver, is that they are free. Yes, that’s Eurocon. In 2004 Finncon was held in rent scale it has been arranged at right. There’s no entrance fee what- Jyväskylä together with Animecon, least twice, in 2002 and 2005. In the soever to them. Since Finncon ‘89, making it a huge as well. In 2006 it’ is Finnish scale, Star Rover Day could one of the main principles of the Helsinki’s turn again. probably be called a ”mini-con”, the Finncon has been that everyone inte- number of attendees being only a rested should be able to attend. This Other happenings couple of hundreds instead of thou- way any passer-by can just pop in to sands and the whole event lasting see what’s going on and with any Finncons are for masses. They are only one day. luck find the con interesting – and so big-scale events, the fandom’s show- On the other hand, compared to a new sf/f fan is born. case to the world of mundanes. Apart the cons held in many neighbouring

10 cosmos pen 2/06 countries there’s no reason why Star and Nova, which both have roots in Co-ordination is the key Rover Day couldn’t be called a full- Turku (more on both later). In 2002 bred con. It has already fulfilled all the Turku fandom wanted to arrange One interesting tradition one should the criteria of one. a separate award ceremony for them also remember to mention when On both occasions there have and thus, Atonova was born. speaking about Finnish fandom, are been big world-class guests of Atonova is not, nor it does have the annual co-operation meetings. In honour (in 2002 Alistair Reynolds and any plans of becoming an actual con. these meetings representatives from Ray Loriga, in 2005 M. John Harrison), For the lack of better expression one all the societies recount the past year panels all through the day and a con could call it a ”literary sf/f afternoon”. and tell about their plans for the party afterwards. For many Finnish Although there’s been press present coming year. The main reason for fans grown up with the Finncons, each time, the atmosphere in Ato- this is the sheer number of Finnish Star Rover Days have been even a nova has always been rather inti- sf/f societies. The meetings are arran- revelation of sorts, the first small con mate. Considering the sheer size of ged to help plan future projects, to they’ve attended! Finncons, Atonova is a refreshingly spread information and to prevent Another small con is the TamFan, small-scale Finnish sf/f happening. booking future events on same wee- which has been arranged semi-annu- For the fantasy oriented, there kends. ally for nearly a decade now. Like the is also the Fantasy Feast, arranged For a number of years now the name suggests, it is held in Tampere also by Turku Science Fiction Society. meetings have taken place in a cabin and is concentrated in fantasy. Like Basically, it’s a weekend spent in in Tampere, with sauna and pub Star Rover Day, it’s only a day long, Sauvo, where the City of Turku has a night afterwards. In other words they but in other respects a full-bred mini- youth camp centre by the sea. People are much more than mere meetings, con. come there dressed in medievalish but a chance for the people active in A relative newcomer in the family or otherwise fantasy oriented out- fandom to meet each other, without of Finnish sf/f happenings is the fits to participate in different kinds of the hassle of a con to take care of. Atonova, which has now been held games and activities, to sit by a fire to One rather unique form of co-ope- thrice in Turku. The name is combined sing, to dance, to eat and generally to ration within the fandom are also the

of two separate sf/f awards, Atorox have a good time. Science fiction researcher meetings. © Pasi Karppanen Pasi ©

M. John Harrison reading ”Light” during Star Rover Day after party.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 11 By now already several Finnish uni- versities have students doing their thesis research on science fiction and fantasy. The researcher meetings are Junnila Tomi © oriented to these students, and they aim on the one hand to share know- ledge and experience among resear- chers, on the other hand to prevent overlapping research. The meetings are often organised in connection or immediately before Finncon or some other big event.

Finnish sf/f awards

Every fandom has its own awards, its versions of the Hugos, Nebulas and so on. Finnish fandom is no excep- tion. The most important Finnish sf/f award is undoubtedly the Atorox award that has been presented annually by the Turku Science Fiction Society since 1983. The name of the award is a tribute to the author Aarne Haapakoski and his classic robot Atorox who appeared in numerous novels in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Atorox is awarded to the best Fin- nish science fiction or fantasy short story published the previous year. The winner is decided by a vote of jury that is comprised of jurors from all the Finnish sf/f clubs. It is usually presented at Finncon or some other major sf related happening. The Tähtivaeltaja award (Star Rover award) is presented annually Atorox, named after the robot character created by Aarne Haapakoski, is to the best sf book (novel or short- the most coveted Finnish sf/f award. story collection) published in Finland the previous year. The book doesn’t is decided by a jury and the award and Cosmos Pen awards, but with a have to be an original Finnish work, is presented by the Helsinki Science focus in fantasy. It is being presented it could also be a translation, which Fiction Society. The first Tähtivaeltaja annually to a Finnish fantasy novel it usually is. In 2001 it was for the first award was given in 1986. and its purpose is to encourage pub- time awarded to a Finnish book, the The Kosmoskynä award (Cosmos lishers to publish better fantasy. short story collection Missä junat Pen award) is presented by The Fin- The Portti award (Gateway award) kääntyvät (Where the Trains Turn) nish Science Fiction Writers Associa- isn’t an award as such, but more like a by Pasi Jääskeläinen. tion. The award is the recognition of poll. It’s probably the closest Finnish The aim of the award is to encou- excellence in the field of sf/f in Fin- equivalent to Locus award (whereas rage publishers to publish better sf/f. land. Last time it was presented in the Atorox is sort of a ‘Finnish Hugo’). Especially during the last few years, 2001 to the Finlandia award winner It is given annually in a score of diffe- the awarded books have tended to Johanna Sinisalo for all the PR work rent categories: best domestic short be sf/f on a somewhat marginal side. she has done over the years for Fin- story, best domestic book, best trans- Or, as it has also been pointed out, nish sf/f. lated book and so on. The winners more literally ambitious sf/f. The Kuvastaja award (Mirror- are decided by a vote and all readers In 2003 for example, it was pre- mere award) presented annually by of the Portti magazine are eligible to sented to Ray Loriga’s novel Tokio the Finnish Tolkien Association is so vote. Unfortunately, its importance is Doesn’t Love Us Anymore (Tokio ya far the latest addition to the Finnish nowadays next to nothing due to the no nos quiere) and the year before sf/f award family. It was presented for small number of voters. that to Jonathan Lethem’s novel Gun, the first time in 2001. The award has Another award with a multitude with occasional music. The winner elements from both the Star Rover of different categories is the Lumi-

12 cosmos pen 2/06 mies award (Snowman award) pre- sible. Like everywhere else, Finnish the zines publish short stories (both sented by the Oulu Science Fiction fanzines started out very modestly, domestic and translated), news, Society Polaris. This is the most fan- with only a few xeroxed pages. reviews, articles, illustrations, comics nish of all the mentioned awards with Over the years, the field of Fin- etc., and are published with four different categories each year. There nish zines has undergone quite a issues a year. have been categories like ”Huma- metamorphosis. Some of the fanzi- Most Finnish clubs have their own noid of the Year”, ”Chauvinist SF Act nes have become bigger and bigger, pages on the Internet as well. Unfor- of the Year” and ”Disappearance of some have maintained their fannish tunately they are mainly in Finnish, the Year” and so on. appearance, some have disappeared but usually there’s a summary page The last one could be presented altogether. Those departed have for non-Finnish speakers as well. One to the Snowman award itself though been left out from the following. good place to start surfing is Jussi (and has been at least once) since This means omitting clubs and Vainikainen’s excellent ”Scientifiction the prize hasn’t been presented for zines like Tähtiallianssi (The Star links” that can be found at the url a number of years now. Some years Alliance) and its zine Vapaa Galaksi http://kotisivu.mtv3.fi/jussiv/sf/suo- ago there were rumours circling (Free Galaxy), both shutting down misf.html. that Oulu University sf/f club (more their engines at the moment. Tähtial- on that later) planned adopting the lianssi was a Star Wars club and one Snowman award, as Oulu Science of the many projects of Shimo Suntila Fiction Society has disappeared from from the Turku fandom. The club was the map of Finnish fandom. OYSFK born in the general Star Wars boom Portti hasn’t presented the award yet, around the time of the movie Phan- though. tom menace. At present, we are wai- Tampere Science Fiction Another similar fannish award, ting for the final issue of Free Galaxy. Society not-to-be-taken-so-seriously, is the Arcturus, also one of Suntila’s Editor Raimo Nikkonen Jet Ace Logan award, presented projects, and its Arczine are taking a http://www.sci.fi/~portti/ by a group of people in Helsinki time out as well. The idea of Arczine fandom, also called the infamous was not to be a regular zine, but a Tampere Science Fiction Society’s Mundane collective. It has been pre- series of special publications. A few of Portti (Gateway) is undoubtedly the sented twice now, both times during those did appear, among them Scifis- biggest and most successful Finnish Star Rover Day’s after party. It is tin malja (The Goblet of the Scifist), a sf/f zine. It is a professional-looking, given, and I quote, ”to the most idio- collection of filks. The second Arczine printed on glossy paper, colour on tic attempt to conquer the Earth” and was the end point of a Suntila’s mad the cover and even on some of the ”to the most stupendous way to foil dash of seven zines for the Finncon inside pages. About 130 pages, pub- that plan”. X and was aptly named The Seventh lished since 1982. In 2002 it was given to the movie Zine. It contained Michael Swanwick’s The Tampere Science Fiction Reign of Fire (an army of dragons short story Dirty Little War. Swan- Society also arranges an annual with only one male) and to Will Smith wick was one of the con’s guests of sf/f short story competition, un- (for his achievements in such films as honour, and the idea of the zine was doubtedly the most important Fin- The Independence Day and Men In to donate it to Swanwick, for him to nish sf/f writing competition, with Black movies). In 2005 the winners give out to people he chose. big cash-prizes. The winner gets 2000 were the aliens in new War of the For the time being at least, Arctu- euros and 2200 euros is split bet- Worlds movie and Mel Gibson in M. rus’ engines have been shut down, ween the runners-up. The competi- Night Shyamalan’s Signs (stopping after its founder and driving force tion has been arranged since 1986 the world conquest with a glass of behind everything, Shimo Sun- and the prizes have become bigger water). tila decided to take a vacation from and bigger. Over 200 short stories are Another award presented by more fandom and recharge his batteries. submitted to the competition annu- or less the same people in Helsinki The biggest Finnish fanzines pub- ally. fandom is the Tuestin award (Bracer lished currently look more like actual One can’t deny the fact that Portti award). It’s given for Special Behind- sf/f magazines than fanzines. In some is the most successful Finnish sf/f the-Scenes work for Finnish Fandom. cases the society itself has more or zine. On the other hand it tends to The award’s idea is to remind you less disappeared and all that’s been be an island of sorts and one could about the existence of people you left is the magazine it publishes. This argue whether it is a part of fandom don’t see basking in the spotlight, is the case especially with Tampere anymore. Portti’s competition also but whose work fandom couldn’t do Science Fiction Society’s Portti (Gate- dominates rather heavily the short without. way). The same can be said with story writing scene. Up to the last some reservation about the Helsinki years the stories published in Portti, Finnish sf/f zines and clubs Science Fiction Society and its Star and the winners of Portti’s compe- Rover magazine. tition especially, also tend to domi- In many cases drawing the line bet- The following list contains the nate the yearly Atorox poll. ween zine and club in Finland is Finnish zines and clubs that pub- Portti, sorry to say, also has rather nowadays very difficult, if not impos- lish them. Unless otherwise stated, terrible web pages.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 13 beating in speed even its foreign counterparts. For an sf/f publication Tähtivael- taja is also a rather fleshy zine.

Spin Turku Science Fiction Society Editor Johanna Ahonen http://www.tsfs.fi/spin/

Founded in 1976, the Turku Science Fiction Society is the oldest of the Finnish sf/f clubs. TSFS’s Spin is also the oldest of the Finnish sf/f zines. It has been published since 1977 and has had its ups and downs over the are the Finncons of 1999 and 2003 Tähtivaeltaja years. in Turku. In recent years, however, it Helsinki Science Fiction During the late 1990’s, under the seems that the wind has gone away Society editorship of Shimo Suntila, there from society’s sails. Currently TSFS’s Editor Toni Jerrman was a radical raise in the profile and crew is in dire need of fresh forces. http://www.tahtivaeltaja.com/ the quality of the zine. Currently it can Because of its long history TSFS is be counted among the ”big three” of also in many ways one of the corner Helsinki Science Fiction Society is Finnish sf/f zines. Nowadays Spin is a stones of Finnish fandom. It pre- one of the main forces behind the professional looking zine, printed on sents the Atorox award, arranges Finncons and the presenter of the glossy paper, about 80 pages, with the Fantasy Feast and organizes the Tähtivaeltaja award. For many fans, colour covers. sf/f coverage at the Turku Book Fair. however, the society is more known TSFS is also one of the exceptions Worth mention is also the extensive through its magazine, Tähtivaeltaja where the society manages to put sf/f library of TSFS, with almost two (Star Rover). out a professional looking zine and thousand books. Tähtivaeltaja is professional-loo- act as an actual working club as well. king sf/f magazine, printed on glossy One of the reasons for that is the paper, cover in colour, and about 100 more or less complete blood transfu- pages, published since 1982. From sion it underwent in late 90’s, as the the very beginning it has been the old guard stepped aside and the new Finnzine Finnish sf/f magazine with most generation of fans took over. edge. One main element in Tähti- For many years TSFS was probably Editor Pekka Supinen vaeltaja and the Helsinki ”mafia” in the most active and energetic sf/f http://finnzine.com general has always been a fascina- society in Finland. One proof of this tion with black leather and studs and Finnzine is one of the few Finnish one must admit that in the early days zines that has no ”town based” sf/f Tähtivaeltaja looked almost as much society behind it. It was born in 1991 a punk zine than an sf/f one. as a Finnish news zine, with a motto Although the zine has mellowed ”Science Fiction now!” Finnzine’s first a bit over the years and become a issues were very amateurish, but it ”real magazine” it hasn’t lost it’s edge too started soon to look like ”a real altogether and for many fans Tähti- magazine”, much of this is thanks vaeltaja is still the best sf zine in Fin- to the layout and the graphic look. land. Especially in the early days, the Finnzine is about 40 pages, covers in branch of sf Tähtivaeltaja took spe- black and white on coloured paper. cial care of was comics. In fact, many Finnzine has remained a news nowadays well known artists started zine, with a strong emphasis on their career in Tähtivaeltaja. audiovisual sf/f. The zine’s trademark In recent years especially Tähti- are articles about new sf/f movies vaeltaja has also done valuable work with lots of pictures. by presenting in its articles new and On the other hand, it publishes upcoming trends and writers in the a fair share of domestic short fic- field of sf/f for Finnish readers, often tion and one of its specialities are

14 cosmos pen 2/06 long, multi-part sf/f sagas. It is also in 2007. One of the secrets behind one of the few Finnish zines that has the Jyväskylä Finncons is that 42 has published sf/f poetry. There are also managed to create working ties with columns for literary sf /f in Finnzine the summer festival Jyväskylän Kesä. and the events in Finnish fandom are 42 also has its zine Alienisti (Alie- also well covered in it. nist) that is being published about once a year, with the new issue out usually for the Finncon. The zine is about the same size as Finnzine and Kosmoskynä (A4) and although it Kosmoskynä can’t compete material-wise with some of the bigger zines, it’s a good Finnish Science Fiction Writers example on suiting the activity to the Association resources. Editor Pasi Karppanen http://kosmoskyna.net

FSFWA’s Kosmoskynä (Cosmos Pen) has been published from 1984 and Usva in 80’s it was, according to many, the the Finnish short stories published best Finnish sf /f zine. It too has had annually in zines. Editor Anne Leinonen its ups and downs over the years. Like TSFS, also FSFWA is one of http://usvazine.net Kosmoskynä’s current appearance those exceptions where the zine is a good example about the process and the society that puts it out are Usva (Mist) is currently the youngest which many Finnish sf/f zines have equally important. FSFWA has a wide of Finnish sf/f zines. It’s also the first undergone during the last decade. range of activities for writers, such as Finnish sf/f zine that’s published in e- During the editorship of Anne Leino- cost-free feedback service for mem- zine format, to be downloaded wit- nen it evolved from a small writer’s bers, writing courses and so on. hout cost as PDF. zine into a high class literary journal. FSFWA also has close ties to TSFS Usva has taken on the bold chal- Kosmoskynä has had numerous and for example the Nova short story lenge of trying to bridge the gap bet- editor-in-chiefs over the years and writing competition is one of their co- ween mainstream and sf/f readers. each run with a new editor has given operation projects. During the recent Some of the short stories published the zine a very distinctive look. On years FSFWA has had various co-ope- in it are sf/f only marginally and can the other hand, being a writers’ zine ration projects with other Finnish sf/f be placed in the hazy area somew- Kosmoskynä has always concent- societies as well. One could say that here between sf/f and mainstream rated on writing and especially in currently FSFWA is undoubtedly the prose. recent years, in domestic sf/f in gene- most networked society in the Fin- Usva is edited by Anne Leinonen, ral. There are columns and articles on nish fandom. Kosmoskynä’s former editor and a writing, interviews of novelists, infor- successful author in her own right. mation about writing competitions Only time will tell what becomes of and writer guides. It also reviews all Usva.

Alienisti Jyvaskyla Science Fiction Society “42” Editor Kati Mäki-Kuutti http://www.cc.jyu.fi/yhd/42/ alienisti/

Jyvaskyla Science Fiction Society 42 is one of those societies that have more activity around the actual society rather than the zine. It burs- ted into fandom at the early 90’s and has done a lot since that. 42 was for example the main orga- niser behind the Finncons in 1995 and 2001. It also organized the Finn- con ‘04 in Jyväskylä and will do so

Cosmos PEN 2/06 15 it is not solely for Tolkien-fans but for Finnish fantasy fans in general. Cur- rently The Finnish Tolkien Society is the only society in Finland that is devoted purely to fantasy. The society puts out not one but two zines: Legolas and Hobittilan Sanomat (Hobbiton Times). Of the two, Legolas is the actual zine, Hobbi- ton Times more like a members bul- letin. Both of them look much like the zine Marvin (see next). They are A5 in size, Legolas about 40 pages, Hobbi- ton Times 20 or less, black and white only. Legolas is also the older of the two, published since 1991, nowadays with four issues per year. Just as the society, Legolas has never concentrated solely on Tol- Enhörningen kien but in fantasy in general. During For many years it was done by a the last year, there has been more different group of people each time Editor Ben Roimola domestic and even foreign fiction so you never knew what to expect. http://www.enhorningen.net/ on the pages of Legolas and a raise Every issue had a different theme, in the overall quality of the articles as including such as pornography, reli- Enhörningen (”The Unicorn”) is the well. Legolas is, however, still one of gion, swords, turkeys, concrete, hot fanzine of the Swedish speaking the ”little zines” and it has very little chocolate and so on. There have been Finnish fandom. It was established chance to compete with bigger ones issues like ”von Märviken” with lots of in 1987 by Ben Roimola, publishing for example in the Atorox poll. ufo-related stories, for example an short stories, articles and literary The Tolkien society is a great erotic sf story from ”Emmanuel Arse”, and audio-visual reviews. Enhörnin- example of a club that puts more ”Gentlemen’s War-Marvin” and pulp- gen publishes both original Swe- emphasis on other activities than styled Marvin special ”Stupendous dish short stories and Finnish (and putting out a fancy zine. It has lots of Stories”. foreign) short stories translated to activities of which most are concent- The Helsinki University Science Swedish. rated around Helsinki. It also has a lot Fiction Club is also one of the main Enhörningen has also excellent of subdivisions called smials all over forces behind the Finncons in Hel- web pages and one could say they Finland, some of which are as active sinki. You pronounce HYSFK ”Goo- are the Finnish fandom’s best show- as the actual society. The Finnish Tol- GooMuck”. Don’t ask. case to the Swedish speaking world. kien society also presents the Kuvas- It also serves a wider national public taja (Mirrormere) award for the best with news and reviews. domestic fantasy book published the previous year.

Escape Espoo Science Fiction and Legolas / Fantasy Society Hobittilan Sanomat Marvin – the Lehti No permanent editorship http://www.esc-ape.net/ The Finnish Tolkien Society Helsinki University Science Editors: Oskari Ratinen Fiction Club Espoo Science Fiction and Fantasy (Legolas) and Anu Polkki Editor Teemu Ahonen Society, ESC for short, is one of the (Hobittilan Sanomat) http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/ newcomers. Espoo is one of the lar- http://www. hysfk/ gest cities in Finland, but due its clo- suomentolkienseura.fi seness to the capital many don’t Of all the zines in Finland, Marvin see it more than a Helsinki’s suburb. The Finnish Tolkien Society was foun- (Marvin – the Zine) is probably the ESC’s goal seems to be changing that ded long before the current fantasy one that looks most like an actual conception and showing that even boom or the movie versions of The fanzine. It’s xeroxed-looking, about Espoo can have its own unique brand Lord of the Rings, all the way back 30 pages long and in A5 size, usu- of fandom. in 1991. Although Tolkien has a pro- ally filled with lots of weird inside Many of the first issues of ESC’s minent role in the society’s activities, humour and other baffling bits. zine Escape have had an ”Espoo-

16 cosmos pen 2/06 a group of fans in Helsinki and avai- lable only through the local ‘mafia’ gatherings. The issues of the zine are therefore sought after collectibles and owning a first-owner copy is a sign of real fanhood. Mundane has been dormant for a number of years now.

Turu Mafia Zine Editor Tero Ykspetäjä

Turu Mafia Zine (Turku Mafia Zine) has more or less the same principle ethnic” viewpoint. One of the articles as Mundane. You can’t subscribe to it clubs like ”Ye Olde Cavaliers Scien- for example stated that ”Living in anywhere, but have to be present at tifiction Boozing Guild” and ”The Espoo is like living in Mars”. Escape Turku mafia to receive your copy. Grumpy Bald Sci-fi Fans Association”. looks much like Marvin, but is even The main difference between the Again, don’t ask. more fannish in appearance. One two zines is that Turu Mafia Zine is reason for that may be that many of much more comprehensible and the fans behind Marvin and HYSFK easier to understand for a non-insi- are active in ESC as well. der. It consists mainly of news and In 2005 ESC also organised a small other bits and pieces you can actu- mini-con before Star Rover Day in ally use. The Science Fiction Culture Helsinki. The con was aptly named Another thing that sets the zines Cabinet at the University of Escon and was targeted to secon- apart is naturally the age. Whereas Turku dary school teenagers. There has also Mundane belongs to the mythical been talk about the next Escon in a past of Finnish fandom, the first issue http://www.utu.fi/tutka/ few years time. of Turu Mafia Zine was published in fall 2004. Turku University sf/f Club, Tutka Zine’s editor Tero Ykspetäjä is (Radar) for short, is the second sf/f also rather active in documenting club in Turku and was founded in the events of Finnish Fandom in his the beginning of 1995. Its idea was excellent Partial Recall blog. to offer an alternative to TSFS, since Mundane some people felt it had already become too heavy and bureaucratic. http://www.helsinki. Other sf/f clubs For a number of years it organized fi/~mtkivela/mundane/ extremely popular video evenings, mundane.htm Besides the aforementioned, there with pre-shows of sf/f series that are several clubs in Finland which do were not yet known to the masses in Mundane was the yellow paper of not publish their own zine. Many of Finland, most popular of them per- the Finnish fandom and represents them are younger and were born in haps the Babylon 5. With the gro- the other end of the fine line of the 90’s, some even later than that. wing Internet market and downlo- glossy Finnish semiprozines. It was As with the zines, there have been ading the series’ from the net, the made by a group of people from the numerous obscure sf/f societies video evenings lost their popularity. Helsinki fandom and looked exactly over the years. In the mythic history For some years now, Tutka has the way some people think a fan- of Finnish fandom especially there been laying low. Recently, however, zine does, rather crude with only few were many weird little societies and it has started to gather new energy xeroxed pages. zines that would make a subject for and there’s hope it will some day rise The articles it consisted of were an article of its own. Such departed to its former glory. At present, the full of inside humour and there- ones have been left out from this strategy of Tutka is to function more fore were most likely incomprehen- review. Only those are included that like a club and encourage its mem- sible for people outside the fandom. actually show signs of life. bers to be more than just rank-and- Unique with Mundane was also the One might say that starting socie- file fans. fact that you couldn’t subscribe to ties is one of the favourite activities of One of its founding members, it anywhere. It was put together by Finnish fandom. Currently there are and society’s current president Tero

Cosmos PEN 2/06 17 Ykspetäjä, is also active in other bran- At present, Spektre and the Tam- the active force sf/f-wise in Northern ches of fandom as well, on local as pere fandom seem to be the most Finland. It published its Mytago well as national level. Tutka also likely candidate for the next light on (Mythago) fanzine and was the pre- has an irregular line of publications the Finnish sf/f skies. Stay tuned. senter of the hilarious Lumimies called Kabinettikertomuksia (Cabi- (Snowman) award. net Stories). Over the years Mytago’s issues became more and more rare and now it seems the Oulu University Science Fiction and Fantasy Club Oulu University Science has taken its place. Being a new- Fiction and Fantasy Club comer nothing much can be said Spektre about it. OYSFK arranges video eve- http://www.student.oulu. nings and other fun stuff. http://spektre.fi/ fi/~oysfk/ Due to geographical reasons OYSFK is a loner in the north, but it Spektre, short for ”Speculative fic- For a number of years, the Oulu has working ties with the rest of the tion in Tampere”, represents the Science Fiction Society, Polaris was fandom. second generation of fandom in Tampere. There has of course been fandom activity in Tampere as long as fandom has been around but unfor- tunately the Tampere fandom split more or less in two in a very early stage. Another part grouped around Karppanen Pasi © Portti, another around Aikakone. Aikakone (Time machine) is a part of Finnish sf/f history. It was origi- nally URSA Astronomical Society’s zine, founded in 1981. In 1991 Aika- kone society continued publishing the magazine, and behind it were some of the early giants in Finnish fandom. The zine became bigger and more professional-looking and for a number of years, Aikakone was undoubtedly one of the best Finnish sf/f zines, if not the best. Unfortunately in mid 1990’s Aika- kone began to have trouble getting new issues out on time due to finan- cial difficulties and eventually it was cancelled. Everything was not lost, however, for it left as its heritage excellent electronic archives. With Spektre around, there’s hope the old scars would be forgotten. The start at least has looked promising. Spektre has functioned now a few years. Like OYSFK, it arranges mafias, video evenings and other informal gatherings, but has no plans whatso- ever of publishing a zine. In that time, however, Spektre has played an active role in the fandom. It has hosted the fandom’s annual co-operation meeting several times. Spektre also revived a few years ago the swell tradition of the Viikinsaari ”Roadside picnic”, a summer meeting The gathering of fandoms. Tero Ykspetäjä (Turku) and Jukka Halme (Hel- of the fandom, with a boat trip to a sinki) at Viikinsaari picnc in Tampere, discussing about the expedition to nearby island. traverse the Northwest Passage

18 cosmos pen 2/06 Joensuu Science Fiction is done through the web, a concept Risingshadow on the other hand Society that itself would have been pure sf might very well be the place where when the fandom was born. the future of Finnish fandom is. Most http://www.scifi-seura.tk Considering Finland’s reputa- of the members there seem to be tion as being in the forefront of new young fantasy fans and the discus- Like ESC, The Joensuu Science Fiction technology, it’s surprising that com- sion that takes place there is very Society is also one of the newcomers. pared with many other countries, active. It also has excellent bulle- It was founded in 2004 and much of there have been only very few sf/f tin boards for sf/f related news and the JSFS’s activity circle around the webzines. Most Finnish sf/f societies upcoming ”mafias”. The interface society’s discussion forum on the and zines have their own web pages, in Risingshadow is also much nicer net. but in almost every case they exist than in Babek Nabel. JSFS has ”mafias” twice a month merely to promote the actual zine, And naturally, there are many, and like most young sf/f societies it not as an independent media. many others. There is a discussion arranges video evenings and other One explanation for that are the forum for fantasy fans called Green fun stuff. So far it hasn’t had very much historical reasons. During the course Dragon, several forums for sf/f wri- contact with rest of the fandom, but of the last thirty years, Finnish fan- ters, for example FSFWA’s Net Colos- hopefully that will change some day. and prozines have taken the role seum and Deathwriters.com and webzines have in countries where many more. As far as activeness fandom was born more recently. is concerned, there seems to be a Had the Finnish fandom also been strong next generation of sf/f fans born later, not thirty years ago, there growing up in Finland. would probably be much more sf/f Spock’s Hut related webzines. In conclusion In the last years even this seems http://www.tky.hut.fi/~shut/ to have changed. When the previous So there you have it, the Finnish version of this article was published fandom in all its glory. This was of Spock’s Hut, located in Helsinki, in 2003, there were just a couple of course only one view on it and some- is one of the sf/f societies in Fin- sf/f discussion forums in Finland. body else might have given a diffe- land almost solely concentrated on Since that time their number has rent picture altogether. audiovisual sf/f. Like the name imp- practically exploded, after the neces- The only way to get an absolutely lies, SHUT was originally founded as sary software has become accessible accurate view is of course getting a Star Trek club and its zine Outpost to everyone. to know the Finnish fandom perso- was something like a Trek version However in many cases the life nally. And that is easiest to do by visi- of Free Galaxy (although founded cycle of a discussion forum has been ting one of the Finnish cons. If you much earlier). quite short. Many forums that have missed Eurocon 2003, why don’t you Although most of the articles in started looking very flourishing visit some of the Baltcons or Euro- Outpost did concentrate on Trek rela- have disappeared quietly. Especially cons after that. You didn’t think 2003 ted issues, the society itself wasn’t writer forums have multiplied rapidly would be the last time, did you? simply for fans with pointy ears. The and it is very propable they end up last news told that the the society only competing with each other. This Partly translated by Liisa Rantalaiho had directed its interest in other means it is very difficult to estimate major branches of tv sci-fi as well. which all of the forums currently on At the moment it seems the the web will survive. society’s engines are running only As far as websites acting as an Sites of interest on half or rather, impulse power and independent media, Babek Nabel Finncon there hasn’t been a new issue of Out- (”Free Thought”, known affectionally http://www.finncon.org/ post in ages. Declaring someone also as ”Leban Kebab”) is probably dead is risky business, though, espe- the closest one. It was started in 2001 Finnish SF FAQ cially with Star Trek involved. by the fans in Helsinki as a fandom http://www.tsfs.fi/sffaq/ discussion forum that would work Finnish Science Fiction Resources better than several separate mailing http://kotisivu.mtv3.fi/jussiv/sf/suomisf. Finnish sf/f webzines and related lists. html sites Babek Nabel was originally known as Avoin Kirja (”Open book”) but was Links for sci-fi writers http://koti.mbnet.fi/pasenka/links/links. When the first version of this forced to change its name in 2002 htm article was written back in 1995 Inter- due to copyright reasons. During net itself was only beginning to take the time it has been on-line, Babek The World of Finndom form. Since then the net and world in Nabel has indeed seemed to achieve http://www.emcit.com/emcit109. general has changed considerably. its goal. Nowadays a big part of the shtml#Finland Now most exchange of informa- general fandom discussion takes Partial Recall tion between Finnish sf/f societies place there. http://partialrecall.blogspot.com/

Cosmos PEN 2/06 19 HAPPY DAYS johanna sinisalo’s tiptree award speech

Johanna Sinisalo

Dear ladies, gentlemen and all the rest. That I’m standing here now is for me a piece of the most speculative fiction ever. For you to understand the sheer thrill and extreme feelings I’m experiencing, you must know a little bit about science fiction and Finland.

In Finland, sf fandom is very young. domestic writers to take the next structures. If there is a relationship I’m in my forties and I’m practi- logical step: to create a national prize between a man and a woman, the cally one of those who established for the best short story of the year. power balance and the shifts in it are fandom there. I recall that the whole Thus far, I have received that prize seen as sex-related. But when both Finnish fandom was basically organi- seven times. Perhaps we really need persons in the relationship are of the sed by just a couple of dozen people, more writers. same sex, you can see much more so it really felt we all actually knew I have worked in advertising and clearly the power structure between each other. in the late nineties I began to write them. Of course that wasn’t so – there for television on the side. Soon I rea- And, of course, it was interesting were thousands of non-active fans lised that I really have not enough to write about the otherness from the - but we formed some kind of task capacity for them both. I quit my angle that being a part of a minority force, and in a couple of years there daily job and started a career of a full- is the norm of the main characters, were several sf and fantasy magazi- time writer. the heterosexuals, and white chauvi- nes in Finland. They published the That time I had published thirtyso- nist pigs are this time “the others”. usual stuff, reviews and articles and mething short stories, so the next Well, I haven’t told you yet that interviews and such, but also short logical step was to write a novel. That if realism is the mainstream type of stories. At first, they were transla- became Not Before Sundown, here literature in most western countries, tions, but then the domestic stories known as Troll - A Love Story, which in Finland it definitely is the only type started to get into print. I wrote on three themes: the clash that counts. And so, you can imagine I started to write sf short stories between culture and nature, the the reaction when this particular troll in the early eighties, and they got problem of otherness, and, above all, gay book won the Finlandia Prize, a very good reception. It must be about human power structures. which is the most prestigious literary said that there was an easy explana- When it was finally published, no prize in Finland and could be com- tion for my early success: there were one called it “the novel about power pared to the Booker Prize in Anglo- so few domestic writers that there structures”, they called it “the troll Saxon countries. The biggest news- really was no competition. Because novel” or, even more interestingly, paper in Finland published an article people were telling me I was good – “the gay novel”. No one asked me with a headline: “the wrong book that means, Finland good, not really why I wrote about power structures. won”. Talk about problems of other- 24 carat good – I went on writing and A couple of people wanted to know ness. getting my works published. why I wrote about trolls. Everybody But then came the translations. Eventually the Finnish fans, who wanted to know why I wrote about Not Before Sundown has been had attended international cons and gay men. translated this far into 8 languages, brought ideas and new traditions Luckily, I had an answer right including Japanese, and there are to Finland, decided we had enough there. This is a book about power more to come. But the most thrilling

20 cosmos pen 2/06 thing was to be translated into Eng- But we really did not believe that the book to the attention of the right lish. would ever happen. That was totally people I wouldn’t stand here today. I truly can’t imagine how it might science fiction to us. This is an award for us all. feel to have English as the native But here I am. Overwhelmed. In This is a great, great honour. I language. There are about five mil- the middle of some science fiction. really can’t express my happiness lion Finnish-speaking people in the Well, all this could not have hap- and joy to be awarded this kind of a world. I know as a fact, that from all pened without some important and prize that I always have greatly admi- of the literature that is published in brave people. First, my publisher in red and respected. United States, only three per cent of it Finland, who dared to publish a book I want to thank you for all my is translated stuff. Three per cent. And no one was really able to categorise. heart, thank you for having me here, this three per cent includes all other Professor Auli Viikari, who made the thank you for giving the opportunity languages. Spanish, French, Chinese, final decision that my book would to meet all you wonderful people. German, you name it. A Finnish book win the Finlandia Prize. When I gave a speech having my shouldn’t have a snowball’s chance Then, my English and American Finlandia Award I started it like that: in hell to get to that market. publishers, who also took a risk. Of “I’m having the happiest day on my But eventually that happened. course all of those Anglo-Saxon rea- life.” Little did I know then of happy And now I have to go back to ders who read the book and recom- days. the very early days of the Finnish mended it to their friends and wrote fandom. How we had these impos- reviews and comments. But I think sible dreams. That perhaps one day there was one group of people I owe James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual one of us could break the language most gratitude, and they are the Fin- literary prize for science fiction or fan- barrier. How perhaps one day one of nish fans. As soon as they realised tasy that expands or explores our us would – no, no, this is too much – my novel was going to be transla- understanding of gender. In 2005 would be recognized in Anglo-Saxon ted into English, they began promo- it was awarded to Joe Haldeman’s fandom, perhaps being short-listed ting it. And I think that without their ”Camouflage” and to Johanna Si-

to an award of something? unrelenting work of trying to bring nisalo’s ”Troll - A Love Story”. © Pasi Karppanen Pasi ©

Johanna Sinisalo interviewed by Toni Jerrman in Helsinki, shortly after the Tiptree award ceremony in Gaylaxicon 2005 in Boston .

Cosmos PEN 2/06 21 THE ISLAND OF CUT-THROATS A FINNISH WRITER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Hannu Rajaniemi

”If you dream of a future as a professional writer, remember that you’ll almost certainly face an exhausting youth, a restless manhood and an insecure old age,” writes Mika Waltari in his classic ”Do you want to be a writer?” Waltari might have lived in the United Kingdom. For an aspiring author, it might as well be, to paraphrase another Finnish auteur, Renny Harlin, Cutthroat Island, full of literary shipwrecks and bloodthirsty publishers. And perhaps a treasure somewhere.

Building blocks of a career agent, a fat contract for three to four there were more than forty small and books, fame and adoration, con invi- middle-sized publishers, but nowa- At least in theory, the career path of tations and other dreams come true. days one is forced to knock on the a professional Anglo-Saxon writer At least in theory. big boys’ doors. Not that an ordi- has a very distinct shape. It all begins In reality, punching through the nary writer would have any business with short stories in competitions grey wall of obscurity is more difficult going directly to publishers. The big and magazines. Writers of specula- than ever before. There are masses of publishing houses have long since tive fiction are in a fortunate situ- skilled, ambitious writers and com- adopted the American model of not ation: there is enough of a market petition is fierce. But the structure of accepting manuscripts from writers for short stories to provide a nice publishing itself has changed radi- not represented by a literary agent. bit of extra income for a successful cally during the past two decades. The agents themselves have gro- writer. Although SciFiction, edited wing avalanches of manuscripts pus- by Ellen Datlow, which had the best Book-eat-book world hing through their doors. An agent word rates in the business for years, based in London commented that recently closed its doors. The UK publishing industry is a giant she receives about fifty manuscripts However, writing novels is a must machine that annually churns out a day, and takes on perhaps half a in the long run. It is of course possible over 120 000 book titles, including dozen writers a year. to construct a novel out of an exis- reprints. Shockingly, the publishers Even genuine talent may not be ting series of short stories, and this responsible for this torrent of paper enough to win the heart of an agent. technique has worked very well for number only a handful. Publishing The Sunday Times recently made an Charlie Stross and Hal Duncan, among has become a playground for giants experiment. They sent the first novel others. But the true rite of passage such as Time-Warner. of V. S. Naipaul – a Booker Prize winner for a writer is the original First Novel, From the point of view of a begin- in the 70s and widely regarded one whatever the method used to pro- ning writer, this means limited of UK’s most important living authors duce it. After that, it’s open skies – an options. As little as ten years ago – to twenty publishers and agents.

22 cosmos pen 2/06 All twenty responses were cold Philip Pullman has finally achieved advance in British publishing history rejections. Christopher Little, who the recognition he deserves. On the – over a million pounds – but writing represents J.K. Rowling among young adult market (growing with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell others, did not think Naipaul was quidditch speed) one can already took ten years. Big advances imply “sufficiently original”. Ever since the find rather abundant examples of big risks, and after a fall from grace, con was revealed, literary critics have originality – even full-blown New publishers won’t touch a flopped accused the publishing world of Weird such as the Mortal Engines author again. Movie option deals favouring shallow media-sexy wri- series by Philip Reeve. The profile of are another possible golden egg. ters at the expense of talent. genre literature is increasing in gene- Richard Morgan – who also labored The situation is not improving. To ral, although much of it masquera- for a decade before success – mana- top it all, publishers are in the danger des as mainstream. Kazuo Ishiguro, ged to sell the rights to his first novel, of losing control of publishing. A Philip Roth’s The Plot Against Ame- Broken Angels, for a six-figure sum. bookshop war looms in the horizon: rica, Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Both Clarke and Morgan are rare the supermarkets offer bestsellers Traveler”s Wife and David Mitchell’s exceptions, of course. And it is pos- (especially Harry Potters, of course) Cloud Atlas are all speculative sible to catch frostbite even after at a bargain price, and the book- wolves in sheep’s clothing, to men- a relative success, if the publisher shops are planning to strike back. tion but a few. thinks the book isn”t selling well The colossal Waterstone’s recently enough to merit reprints. This is one bought the Ottakars chain, and the Don’t quit your day job of the reasons why Ian McDonald – result was a Gargantua of high street one of the most gifted science fic- bookshops, controlling over 40 per It’s not difficult to topple the card tion writers of the last decade, and cent of UK’s book retail. To compete house of literary dreams even furt- my personal favourite – still works with the supermarkets, the newborn her. Earning a living writing specula- for a TV company in addition to wri- giant now has to invest in the potters tive fiction is not easy even in the UK. ting. McDonald, by the way, is a rare and the danbrowns more than ever. Aiming for the U.S. market impro- breed, combining three UK heritages: The worst-case scenario is that pub- ves the situation a little, but even so he is the son of a Scots father and an lishers have to get used to brown- the average advance for a first novel, Irish mother, grew up in Manchester nosing Waterstone’s purchasing according to a study conducted and currently lives in Belfast. department heads. by author Tobias Buckell, is roughly Best-selling does not necessarily 2000 pounds, around four thousand Share and share alike mean inferior quality, of course. The euros. Potter novels are at the end of the The Hugo winner Susanna Clarke Fortunately, rules can be broken.

day good, solid entertainment, and allegedly received the biggest Internet and sheer pig-headed- © Tero Ykspetäjä Tero ©

Glasgow’s futuristic Armadillo SECC, the main venue for Worldcon 2005 held in Scotland.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 23 ness has made it possible for a gro- wing generation of young writers to bypass the normal channels of the publishing world. The spearhead in this frontier is of course the ubiqui- tous Cory Doctorow, followed by John Scalzi – who blogged his first novel – and the matrioshka-brained Char- lie Stross, whose acclaimed Accele- rando is freely available online. Open Creative Commons licenses may shift marketing more directly to the fen in the near future. Free e- books can’t compete with printed versions in terms of reading experi- ence, but serve admirably as appe- tisers. A typical Creative Commons writer is a gifted amateur who either stays completely outside the tra- ditional publishing system or gat- hers momentum from the bosom of fandom. LUEMINUT (Readme) by Kimmo Lehtonen demonstrates that this trend is catching on in Finland as well. Of course, there are more down- to-earth means of self-promotion. One of the more interesting charac- ters I met at Eastercon this year was Mark Robson, who self-published his first four fantasy epics, using a super- human amount of energy and all his savings to market them. Robson is a former pilot who peddled his books in every conceivable venue, from air shows to schools and street corners. He sold almost 40 000 copies before he found a publisher. But natural- born PR machines like Robson are press publishers, for example Mercat Finnish literature, but some writers very rare. Press, the publisher of the critically are both experimenting with genre acclaimed Nova Scotia, anthology boundaries and offering something The Scottish model of Scottish speculative fiction. Due to the mainstream audience. to the powerful presences of Iain M. The ecological visions of near Another way to break the rules is to Banks, Ken McLeod and Charlie Stross, future by Risto Isomäki and the stories live in Scotland. The main advan- the term “Scottish SF” has come to by Jyrki Vainonen that come close to tage that the land of kilts and haggis mean idea-rich, high-flying science magical realism show that specula- give you is networking: the social cir- fiction written with a sophisticated tive fiction is not completely foreign cles are smaller, and both Edinburgh style that can more than compete to the average Finnish reader. Pasi and Glasgow have several intercon- with most of mainstream. Jääskeläinen’s eagerly awaited first nected groups of writers. Edinburgh It is tempting to speculate that at novel has huge expectations to live is, in fact, something of a worldwide least some elements of the Scottish up to, but promises to be ground- literary hub and a UNESCO World model might be applicable in Fin- breaking. City of Literature. The yearly book land as well. The Finnish scale is simi- To the writer and reader of spe- festival – part of the massive Fringe lar – five million people. Our fandom culative fiction this wooing of every summer – offers opportunities and writing communities are tightly mainstream literature may still come to meet publishers and agents. knit, and several small and mid-sized as a slight disappointment. Wouldn’t On the sf/f front, Scotland has publishers have recently begun to it be great to see home-grown space hosted two Worldcons during the last emerge. opera or New Weird fantasies on the decade. Both events spawned a fresh Johanna Sinisalo’s Not Before Sun- shelves? But to make this pipe-dream generation of talented writers. Scot- down did not succeed in breaking come true, both the writers and the land has several high quality small the iron grip that realism has on the fen have a lot of hard work ahead.

24 cosmos pen 2/06 Reinventing Finnish speculative own horns in the manner of Robso- really has a chance of making a mark. fiction nian aggressive self-promotion, but It is precisely in such environments through the Internet, blogs and Cre- that new movements, manifests and Finnish sf/f is characteristically very ative Commons formats it is possible visionaries are born. non-commercial and somewhat non- to gain at least some free publicity. Speculative fiction is the literature professional. It is dominated by big But what Finland really seems to of change, and Finland’s history is full short story contests, which – while lack is a forum where new writers of change and reinvention. Only time encouraging new writers to try out would be able to make contacts with will tell what sort of echo the term their skills – do not teach writers how the publishing world. In the Finn- “Finnish SF” will come to have in the to handle feedback or how to work cons, for instance, publishers have wider world. with an editor. barely any presence except behind Short prose is a somewhat proble- the bookstalls in the market area. Translated by Liisa Rantalaiho, with matic issue in itself. It is characteristic Contrast this with the Worldcons, additions by Hannu Rajaniemi for sf/f and form worth cherishing. In where young writers chase editors fact, one could argue that sf/f is the and agents in the corridors with last fortress of narrative short prose manuscripts in their arms and an ele- in Western literature. vator pitch on their lips. Hannu Rajaniemi writes specula- Unfortunately, it is difficult to It might be be worthwhile to tive fiction. He has lived in Scotland sell to Joe Public: successful excep- entice the small publishers to par- for five years and recently completed tions include short story collections ticipate in the cons more actively, his PhD in string theory at the Univer- dressed up as novels, in the style of and with more than just book-selling sity of Edinburgh. Hannu’s short story Nimbus ja tähdet (Nimbus and the in mind? This is of course first and “Deus Ex Homine” was published in Stars) by Tero Niemi and Anne Salmi- foremost a challenge to the fandom the Nova Scotia anthology in 2005, nen. But writers should learn to write community organising the cons, but and was chosen both to Year’s Best SF novels, too, and this is where our wri- one can only imagine what a Finnish 11 edited by David Hartwell and Year’s ting communities will be put to the Worldcon might achieve. Best Science Fiction 23 edited by Gard- test in the near future. In a small country like Finland, ner Dozois. Currently Hannu is working Writers need more visibility as social networks are tight and new on two first novels and hopes to finish well, both from the readers’ and ideas spread quickly. Finland is full of one of them sometime. You can read the publishers’ point of view. Finns hungry, eager readers, and if a writer his blog at http://www.tomorrowe- are famously unlikely to blow their who makes herself or himself heard lephant.net.

”Fantasy fare of the highest literary caliber.”

Ray Olson, Booklist

DEDALUS

www.dedalusbooks.com

Cosmos PEN 2/06 25 recipe for a bad SHORT STORY

Anne Leinonen

”Recipe For a Bad Short Story” was originally published in Cosmos Pen’s previous English special, in 2003. It contained typical faults in

stories submitted to Nova sf/f short story competition. In 2005 the © Ninni Aalto Ninni © article was updated and published first time in Finnish. So, for the third time, how to spoil a 20 page short story...

The crust: · Wisecracks can cool off the plot after the climax, · Name monstrosities but in short stories that’s unneces- · Double prologue plus epilogue · Trouble with language sary. Do not waste time explaining to · Dull protagonist the reader what you meant, he can · Breath-taking changes of Double prologue plus epilogue construct the narrative himself. viewpoint · Red thread lost Knead the dough with care: to start, Dull protagonist · Trite atmosphere description write two pages about what happened before the protagonist was born. After Peel and grate a dull protagonist: ”The The filling: that, write another two pages of the main character of this here story is one prophesies of some witch in the North. of them kung-fu assassins, he’s a real · I’ve done that in role-playing! There is not too much space for actual good assassin, and then he takes on · Clichés business after that, for you still must one real hard job but he’s real good in · Worn-out theme get in a two-page epilogue of how the it and then he gets his own guild.” · Misses story events affected world history. · Theatricality Why is the protagonist in this situ- · Spam Compactness is an asset! Start ation? What’s his goal? What kind directly from where the events of of conflict follows from that? If the Spices: the plot begin, do not prepare the protagonist remains anonymous, ground from too far off with ines- faceless and genderless, without · Extra flavour (violence, porn, swear sentials. Likewise, cut off the story even a name, the reader will find it words) in time. In movies and novels you hard to identify with and care about

26 cosmos pen 2/06 what happens to the protagonist. the story, changes of style, and hey some conflict and suspense, where Anonymity should be a considered presto! The dough starts to look nicely also the reader may start imagining stylistic device, not a result of the cloddy. how the story would go on. writer’s laziness! The vampires might kill the A short story is not the place to tell The number of available pages hunter, the hunter might fall in love the whole life-story of the protago- proves to be surprisingly small in with a vampire or all vampires might nist, but the reader needs some kind practice. Once you get the story be transformed into humans when of background. That can be done going, it has to end. Instead of a wide a curse lifts – that kind of choice is with implicit clues, with the manner ranged plot, it’s better to choose one what the writer should construct in the protagonist speaks, or with the plot line and to work that into a com- the text. reactions of other characters. pact whole. It is usually effective to present A first-person narrative gives Consider what is the message the high points of the story by episo- a chance to throw light on the of your story, what is the conflict it des, instead of just explaining what protagonist’s feelings and thoughts presents, and through what kind of happened then and what happened during the events. An all-knowing events the conflict is resolved – or thereafter. narrator may also tell about the is not resolved, but something rela- protagonist’s feelings and describe ted to the conflict has to take place I’ve done that in role-playing! her or him in relation to the milieu. in the story. Complex, multileveled Think about what might be the ste- plot structures should be saved for ”In last week’s role-playing session my reotypic solution to construct the longer stories. Prune off all the extra character had a grand fight, I could character, and try to avoid that. runners, keep the character set to the write about that.” minimum, construct no by-plots. Breath-taking changes of The red thread can be lost by exp- Novels have been written on the viewpoint laining too much or leaving too many basis of role-playing, but it is a barren loose threads. An alert reader is usu- starting point for writing. A role-play- Mix in plenty of different viewpoints. ally helpful. If he or she can’t under- ing story may be about a big team of ”Let the reader wonder how the cha- stand the plot twists of your story, (anti)heroes wandering about in the racters C and D are connected to the probably no one can. woods or in a village in the middle characters A and B, and who, after all, of the woods, hearts beating with is the main character. Serves the rea- Trite atmosphere description enthusiasm and noble mind. Role- ders right, they ought to understand playing stories may also be about what I’ve meant!” Dilute the clods, until all the dough is assassins who proceed from room one watery atmosphere description: to room, avoiding traps and deathly Who is the protagonist in the ”There was a village by the seashore accurate ninjas. story? Whether it’s told in first or (describe the village, one page) and in Often these stories may present third person, the structure of the the village lived vampires (description an interesting protagonist with his story benefits from strict choices. A of vampires, one page). They may still internal conflicts, but the events skilful writer may play with perspec- live there.” seem to imitate some role-playing tives and even make a phenomenon session too directly, and in the worst or an idea the main character, but if A short story is not a lyrical case the reader can actually iden- you are the least bit unsure, rather atmosphere description, nor a pratt- tify the world where the story takes choose one clear protagonist. ling anecdote. A short story desc- place. One viewpoint character gives ribes a matter, moment or episode A story based on role-playing ses- a clear basis for the plot structure; that is significant for the protago- sions may also neglect communica- there is someone in the story to see nist. A short story has a beginning, tion to the reader. The writer knows or experience the events and that a climax and a solution. The ending everything about the characters and helps to portion out the story to the may be open or closed, but usually therefore does not bother to desc- reader. Several viewpoints may dis- the story’s ending gives some kind of ribe them. The text easily becomes perse the narrative plot and make an answer to the conflict presented bland, short on events, and only the sequence of events obscure. If in the beginning. the creator of the characters under- you are using an all-knowing narrator The Nova contest has often recei- stands its meaning. The plot twists of who can see into the thoughts of all ved several pieces of momentary role-playing may not respect the ten- persons and follow each one in turn, atmosphere descriptions where in sion of drama, instead they become keep that line throughout. Changing a direct speech, only the milieu or a too long, self-repeating, full of inside viewpoints in the middle of a parag- momentary and static situation were jokes and literary poor. raph is a stylistic fault. described, but nothing happened. There are also problems of demar- ”There was a village by the seashore cation: there are too many charac- Red thread lost and vampires lived in the village” is not ters in the whole, there is a big main enough for a short story; it’s only the plot where it’s difficult to cut out a Add as many as possible turns of the beginning of one. ”A vampire slayer single episode for a short story, there plot, new characters in the middle of came to the village” would include are references to the group’s earlier

Cosmos PEN 2/06 27 adventures and tasks in the fantasy world. It may all become an insider thing.

Poutanen Aatu © Clichés

Chop in some safe familiar clichés: ”There’s a threat from space, and the Earth gets destroyed, but one girl and one boy are saved, and they are actu- ally Adam and Eve.”

Certainly you can write about clichés, but to make the whole enjoyable you need to find a fresh perspective to them. Some very worn-out clichés are for instance a waiting room after death, noble or fallen elves, a cyborg’s human rela- tions, aliens conquering the Earth, destruction of Earth, time travel sto- ries and so on. Generally you think you’ve invented something quite by your- self, while actually many others have invented the very same thing ages ago already. You should not get depressed, however. You can learn to go deeper into the theme, in an unexplored direction, for instance Even the story characters may be The subject selection or the tre- by changing the style or combining worn-out: dragons, elves and fairies atment of the short story may go it with unexpected things. That’s dif- seem to be the permanent fantasy amiss. In practice, any subject can ficult even for an experienced writer, favourites from year to year. They offer the basis of a science fiction, but a successful outcome rewards may be the basic material of fantasy, fantasy or horror story, but there has both the reader and the writer. but this also means it is very difficult to be something specific in it to make How can you smell out clichés, to squeeze in anything new out of it representative of the genre. then? It’s worthwhile to read a lot of them. That can be some supernatural the genre literature and to remem- Even if you are in love with your phenomenon, a fantastic or scifis- ber that it’s too easy to borrow from characters, try to get over it and con- tic milieu, daring dimensions and movies or sci-fi tv-series. You can also sider critically whether your charac- surprises in the plot, the questions hunt for ideas, for instance by rea- ters have anything new to give to the the story awakens – an idea with a ding science magazines or having reader. sense of wonder. But if there is none exciting dreams. On the whole, you should look of that in the text, the story doesn’t at fantasy literature in a wider scale belong to the genre. A worn-out theme than just copying the Anglo-Ameri- Ask yourself, could the specula- can models. If you wish to write fan- tive elements be removed from the Choose a popular theme, one that’s tasy, search for less used ideas from text without the story losing somet- been successful in the earlier contests, the folklore of your own country or hing essential? and choose the most familiar way to the traditional stories of another cul- handle it. ture. Theatricality Read Diana Wynne Jones’ book Ideas have been found many Tough guide to Fantasyland. A tragic love story, absolutely! What times over and even themes are often a spice to the concoction, when the pro- the same, but an original perspec- Misses tagonist throws himself down the cliffs tive into the subject often helps. and his beloved suicides with poison, Make yourself familiar with the sub- ”A contest, eh. Seems to have some and they only meet in life-after-death. ject matter; find out what has been theme, fantasy or science fiction. Here’s written about it before. Try to avoid the human relations drama I sent to To end the story tragically with copying your model directly. Try to the Tombstone short story contest last the death or suicide of the protago- find a new, surprising way to handle year that didn’t make it there. I’ll send it nist may be tempting for a writer . the theme. in this one, too. ” However, even if the writer considers

28 cosmos pen 2/06 that a touching and poetic ending, Extra flavour (Violence, porn, swear the Nova contest for example keep the reader might feel betrayed. words) repeating certain words you’d be No one wants to read a story wise to avoid, such as life, death, star, where all the world’s injustices are Season with extra flavour: ”Since I can’t light, dark, black, forest, angel, fairy, shoved on the shoulders of the pro- think of anything else here, let’s put journey and road. Avoid general con- tagonist. Death has to be well-foun- them into bed! And in that too quiet cepts and pompous words. ded, as well as the misfortunes. place some blood and intestines.” If it feels very hard to find a name It’s good practice to sometimes for your story, make a list about the write a happy ending to a story! Abundant violence may disturb thoughts and words in it and test the feeling of the story. Especially whether any of them might be temp- Spam so when blind violence comes from ting enough but not too revealing. the protagonist the reader ought to You might also use for instance song When there’s a skeleton to the story identify with. If the end result is just lyrics or poetry for your inspiration. but it’s not functioning properly, fill the death of the monster, consider An average name doesn’t ruin the the problematic spaces with spam and how much valuable space you can story’s chances, but a name with a hope the reader won’t notice. waste in detailed splatter. Usually spoiler will irritate the reader. that doesn’t take the story forward Spam is indeterminate mashed anyway. Trouble with language meat thrown around the story’s ske- Vulgar style expressions do not leton. Spam is mushy story telling, make a story better, however many ”Having gone to his dilapidated home often sticky text where the writer swear words and sex scenes you he took from a casket a small almost goes on for enormous lengths to manage to include. A swear word in yellow writing pen and ink and started explain and emphasize things that a right place and at a right moment to write with it a bit aggressively on the seem important to him or her. Spam won’t spoil the story, but a constantly other side of the parchment a message may include some atmosphere desc- swearing protagonist is a pain in the to his friend waiting far away on the ription essential to the story, but 80 neck. other side of the wide ocean.” per cent of spam is waste material. The protagonist may love and Give the reader a chance to make make love, but send actual porn sto- Language is the writer’s tool, her or his own interpretations. Let the ries into their own genre magazines, and should be kept shipshape. It reader have her or his own insights. please! mediates the story to the reader, Reserve the verbosity to really impor- and if the writer doesn’t know his or tant things and remember that laco- Name monstrosities her grammar properly, it will endan- nic writing is usually the most effec- ger the favourable reception of the tive. Glaze the story with name monstrosi- story. ties. There are lots of special signs on It’s better to avoid unnecessary Wisecracks the keyboard, use them to create funny words that depreciate the meaning letter combinations. If you cannot of sentences. Delete words like “a Flavour the dish with wisecracks: ” This find new ones, there are nice ready- little”, “quite” and “perhaps”. Be also stupid armour bearer would crack a made names in the fantasy literature. careful about letting learned words dirty joke to the maiden, and then the Crown the story with a name to blow slip into the text. At times, they may knight would hit him with fist…” everyone’s consciousness: reveal the not fit the story’s time period, and plot’s final surprise to the reader! may also otherwise make heavy rea- Humour may either hit the reader’s ding. Use of adjectives demands sense of humour or go badly amiss. With the names of your charac- skill, too. Adjectives are often dull. Shit-and-piss stories, black humour, ters you can either create just the Pretty, big, small, huge, dark or light knights telling grotesque jokes, or right atmosphere in the story or spoil seldom mean anything much, for sarcastic comments by the protago- the whole thing. Deirdre Pancake they are too general as words. Give nist do not necessarily please eve- doesn’t sound like an astronaut, and the reader more precise adjectives. ryone. the name of the elf F´alagh´thaul is Or even better, use metaphors or The more transparent and unnoti- unpronounceable even to himself. demonstrate the milieu with examp- ceable humour is, the better it usu- Do not take a random fantasy book les. ally works. Humour based on action off your shelf and pick names for your If it’s dark outside, show the pro- is always more effective than situa- characters, not even to honour your tagonist groping for his or her way. tions where the characters tell jokes favourites. The names will be familiar Tell whether the protagonist prefers to each other. to many readers and sound strange voluptuous figures, elegant bones or All elements in the story should on new heroes or heroines. a bubbling laugh. A text giving detai- make it move forward; wisecracks It is sometimes hard to invent a led perceptions is literary better than seldom do. If something seems ter- name for the story. In many cases the a general bland account. ribly funny to the writer, it should be result may be a name everybody else removed from the text. Kill your dar- has used. From one year to the next, lings. the names of short stories sent to Translated by Liisa Rantalaiho

Cosmos PEN 2/06 29 COSMOS PEN’S TEN QUESTIONS FOR A WRITER johanna sinisalo in perspective

Johanna Sinisalo is a writer who needs no presentations. Her career as a novellist started with a bang when she won the Finlandia award with her first novel, Not Before Sundown. In addition to that she has also worked as a screenwriter and written comic scripts. Currently she is probably the most well-known Finnish sf/f author in the world. Therefore it is only fitting that the Ten Questions are directed in this issue to her.

Why do you write? on me. They had everything in them: Finnish sf/f has developed in a tre- a fairy tale -like world with three- mendously fast pace. In especial It has just happened that I have all dimensional characters, wild adven- fondness I have followed writers who my life found writing both challen- tures mixed with gentle social satire, just take their own path, not trying ging and satisfying. I have earned my and almost in every Moomin book to imitate the Anglo-Saxon way of living with different kinds of creative there is a society in grave crisis which writing. It seems that the national writing since I graduated. It simply is brings out the best and the worst of Finnish folklore has had some kind something I feel is the right thing for the characters. How can you top that of a renaissance in recent years as a me to do, and, fortunately, the feed- concept? Later, I have greatly enjo- source, and I hail that. back I have had the honour to get, it yed for example Michel Tournier’s We do have such a rich tradition seems that the audience agrees to rework of well-known myths (Friday, of mythology of our own that we do some extent. for example), and I cannot avoid not have to re-write those post-tolki- mentioning Jane Austen and her enist fake-medieval sagas. There are Why do you write speculative fic- great social comedies. some writers who have such a voice tion? What else do you write? John Varley’s earlier works, in of their own that their originality has which he played with sex and gender to be recognized; Boris Hurtta, Pasi Speculative fiction is just a tool, not questions, were a great experience, Jääskeläinen and Sari Peltoniemi, to a goal in itself. It is a tool to alienate if not an influence in themselves. mention just a few. And of course, and thus show the modern world Once I have admired very much Ray there is a very strong young gene- from a different, slanted perspective. Bradbury’s baroque writing style, and ration just emerging. There are such I have nothing against realism; it just some of Connie Willis’ short stories a lot of good short stories I have is not my way to write. I also have (mainly those published in her short recently read I don’t want to name a second profession in screenwriting, prose collection Impossible Things) any specific ones. and in addition, I write comic scripts looked like just how I would want to and occasional essays, reviews, write - everyday life, seen fondly and Have you ever come across with a articles and such. three-dimensionally, mixed master- literay brother or sister? Has there fully with the magical and unexp- been a writer whose prose has felt Mention a book (several if you lained. familiar some way and resembled want) that has influenced you as a your own way of writing? writer. In what way did it influence What are your thoughts about Fin- you? nish sf/f? What kind of sf/f do you I think that in question 3 I answered like to read? Mention a Finnish sf/ that, partly. But, to be frank, I have When I was a child, Tove Jansson’s f short story you have especially never come across to a writer I feel to Moomin stories had a great influence liked? be my literary doppelgänger!

30 cosmos pen 2/06 With some writers, I admire and envy their use of the language. In others, the designing of an ingeni- ous plot, In others, the plausibility and logic of the world created. In others, the sf/f ideas that overwhelm the mind. In some, the three dimen- Eriika / Ahopelto Tammi © sional characterisation. Usually, unfortunately, all these factors do not meet within the works of a single writer. The writer I perhaps admire most is Vladimir Nabokov, who is the master in every sense, but has also put his finger to spe-fi con- cepts, in Ada.

What do you consider your strengths as a writer? How about your weaknesses?

You really should ask this my readers, not me. Sorry.

What are you currently writing, or what do you plan to write in the near future?

I’m making my finishing touches to a new novel called Lasisilmä (The Glass Eye) which takes place in a writing team producing a TV drama series. It is a kind of a psychological thriller with mystical undertones. This book is launched in September 2006. In addition of that, I’m trying my wings in movie screenwriting, and there are the usual comic scripts and so on.

What has been the most significant now it’s translated to ten languages If you had a chance to meet any fic- lesson you have had as a writer, or and there’s no end in sight. tional character imaginable, who your personal observation on wri- So: be original, be yourself, please would it be? And why? ting? just yourself - in this grisly market it’s your only asset. You really can’t Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen’s You have to be true to yourself. compete with King, Brown, Grisham Pride and Prejudice, of course! It Always just write something you or Jordan (or Salvatore). You are you, would be nice to swap observations should want to read yourself. Never you’re a Finn, you’re exotic, you’re dif- of male-oriented societies on diffe- think of the reading audience, or ferent, and that’s the single ace in rent centuries. She’s such a snappy your editor, or your friends, or, god- your sleeve. discusser you really could relate with, dess forbid, the critics. in whatever century you live in. When I wrote Ennen päivänlas- If you had a chance to travel to kua ei voi (Not Before Sundown, also whatever time or place imagi- known as Troll - A Love Story in U.S.) nable, where would you go? And I was convinced it’s such a totally why? Johanna Sinisalo has published over Finnish piece, absolutely bound to forty short stories in Finnish sf/f maga- Finnish tradition, that it should be To Mars, when the terraforming is zines. Her first short story, Toinen tie almost unreadable in other langu- just taking place, and all the planet is (”Another road”) was publised in 1984. ages. something between Wild West and a She has written three novels in Finnish, Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi, Sankarit Perhaps, now that you think about Green Planet Saver’s wet dream com- and Lasisilmä. Her first novel won the it, that was just its charm - because bined. Finlandia prize in 2000.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 31 BALTASTICA 2 0 0 3 SHORT STORY CONTENDER jaana wessman

raphael’s angel © Ulla Nissinen & Johanna Tamminen Johanna & Nissinen Ulla ©

When I first met Raphael I used to writing all too well. (Ash showed me I tried some discreet ways to get think I was “of the age when one is some of his poems later, and indeed, his email address or phone number, still joyous like a child and yet free they weren’t very interesting. By that but he evaded them all – in the end I like an adult” – misconceptions both, time he had given up the workshop.) had to ask him straight. He gave me as children are not always gleeful I learned to like Ash amazingly a frustrated look and I almost started any more than adults are free to do quickly. I don’t make friends very to apologize, but he only scribbled what they want. Very stupid miscon- easily – not because people didn’t something on the back side of a ceptions from one like me, for I had generally like me, but because I receipt and handed it to me. never been a joyous child at all, but found, and still find, it too tedious “I don’t have a phone. Not an email a sly and scared and neurotic one, to keep in touch with anyone. I had address, either.” haunted by my father’s mental ill- a social life, maintained mainly in He had given me the address of ness and a mother who anxiously Friday night college parties and the his apartment. It was still early nine- tried to make it just a normal disease. local science fiction club, but no ties, but already almost everybody At seventeen, though, I would have close friends, and I was quite happy I knew had an email address, and been very upset if some one had told with that. most people had mobile phones. I me I was pretentious. But Ash was different. By the time didn’t say anything, though, and just I met him in a pub, of course. – we were at our third beers that first took the paper. Where else do you meet fallen angels? evening I found myself desperate to “You can drop by any time,” Ash He called himself Ash. He went to the know him better. I wanted to meet said. “I’m at home most of the eve- same writer’s workshop as a friend him somewhere where we could nings.” of mine, and was introduced to me talk to each other, without having to as a poet. I wasn’t very impressed, as shout over the music and be over- I never went to see him for the I knew my friend’s so-called skills in heard by a crowd of friends. first time. I just lingered around there

32 cosmos pen 2/06 after classes and hoped to see him, I said yeah, it was like that in most said that he was absolutely sure they inventing ever more peculiar excuses all creative writing classes, and that could. My heart jumped as I asked to do so. Then one afternoon I saw got us going. For hours we talked why and sank again when he looked Ash coming home, walking down about creative arts and learning at me, winced, and said: “There was the cobble-stoned street from the them, about science and learning it. somebody, once.” direction of the university campus, I thought I knew a lot about these I said nothing, just waited for him his long blond hair on a pony-tail things. When seventeen and doing to continue. and lit up by the sun light. well in school you think yourself very “His name was... Toby” he said. “He He smiled when he saw me, moved educated. was young. Like you. And me, I sup- a file and a book from his right to his The next few months we met pose. He didn’t... get along with his left arm and put out his hand. I felt almost daily. We went to movies, father. Though I don’t think the old awkward – the young men of my age talked about books, went to theatre, man ever realized that. He... consi- didn’t shake hands much then. After did canoeing on the river. I was a dered Toby the model son. Which he I had managed to briefly squeeze it, great science fiction fan and Ash was always was, outward, I suppose...” he asked me in. I made a strong point almost ignorant on it. Educating him He stopped, staring at the wall. of acting “quite natural” when I follo- was a lot of fun. “What happened?” I said. wed him to his apartment. I think he felt the same about my Ash laughed, short and dry and He had one small room, from ignorance on modern theatre. We bitter. which open doors lead to a tiny kit- both liked hiking and canoeing and “He never loved me. We only met chen and an even smaller bathroom. because of... some business I had A thick double-sized mattress filled with his father. He got married pretty almost half of the floor, the bed soon after we’d met.” He stopped, neatly done. Bookshelves covered a look of self-loathing on his face. most of the walls. Before the window “I actually introduced him to... Sara, stood a small desk covered with I met him his wife. Of course, I didn’t think it’d papers, scribbled full with a wavery come to that.” handwriting. in a pub, of We went on to talk about other Ash lowered the books and papers people’s mischances in love affairs. he was carrying on this desk, kicked course. – His attitude to me changed from his shoes under it, and told me to sit there on, though. He smiled to me on the bed. He pulled out a CD from Where else more, touched me more often, asked one of the shelves and fed it to a CD me to stay the night. Still, the closest player on another. The room was do you we came to talking about our fee- filled with electronic Bach: weird, but lings was the occasional “I’ve never relaxing. meet fallen known any one like you”. Ash stepped into his miniature kit- It was about that time when Ash chen. “Want some tea? I have some gave up poetry and started to paint. toast and butter and tomatoes.” angels? His first painting in his new arts While he was working in the kit- class was of me, sitting at his open chen I sat on the bed feeling more window, resting my cheek on my and more awkward, not knowing if I hand, my face turned slightly up. “My should offer help or not, and trying knew the same good spots on the Raphael’s Angel” he said, grinning. to figure out something to dis- river and forests close to the city. I hardly resembled a tubby child cuss with him. I had just started to I don’t remember when I realized angel, but he managed to get somet- seriously panic, when Ash emerged I was in love with Ash. It was never hing heavenly into me nevertheless. from the kitchen with two cups in his a mainly sexual thing, but it was Not heavenly as in sweet children in one hand and balancing a big blue definitely not platonic, and defini- white gowns playing golden harps, ceramic plate full of toast and toma- tely more than a deep friendship. It but heavenly as in serene, dignified, toes on the other. came with an urge to touch, to hold peaceful. I took a cup from him. I had just hands, to look at him and smile stu- He was a much better painter than found out that I had no idea how to pidly. I often went to his place after poet. He laughed when I said so. speak to people when alone with school, did my homework there, ate “It only seems so because you them. with him, talked with him, someti- know less about painting than about Ash was more relaxed. He lounged mes even slept there. poetry,” he said, but I think he was on the bed, his back to the wall, held I never told him I loved him. pleased. a cup in his hands as if to warm them, Whenever I started to hint to anything and asked about some math class like that he looked pained, frustra- Even when he talked to me about project I had talked about when we ted. Once we talked, quite abstractly his philosophies and feelings he last met. I answered and asked about at first, about men loving men. I said always avoided telling me about his his poetry workshop, he said it was I was pretty sure men could sexually life. He answered straight questions: terrible and the assignments stupid. and romantically love men and he yes, he was enrolled at the university, no, he was not in touch with Toby sed my arms and tapped my foot and that. Toby talked a lot about girls. He anymore, yes, his parents lived far waited, opened my mouth to say wanted to find a wife for himself. I was away and never called, but the ques- something and couldn’t figure out jealous, but I couldn’t talk about it to tions made him so obviously uncom- what. Then Ash seemed to come to him. He was so... goody-goody. The fortable that I avoided them. At first his senses. good son, the fine young man, the... I didn’t care, but by and by I became “I would like to come with you to pious Toby. I guess he got it from his first curious, and then obsessed, your Mom’s,” he said. father. He was even more so. to know more about him. Since he I was so confused I didn’t realise I “There was this girl I knew in one didn’t want to tell me, I tried to find hadn’t yet told him I was going. town, called Sara. She was... pecu- people who knew about him. “Sure,” I said. My mother had a big liar. She had had several... boyfriends This proved more difficult than house and she had always said my already and bad things had hap- I had thought. The friend who had friends would be welcome. I looked pened to all of them. Nothing was introduced us only knew him from at Ash, and he looked at me, fearful. proven, ever, of course, but it was the writers’ workshop. Ash didn’t “Let’s not argue,” he said, “I’m sorry, said she had driven them to suicide, have many friends at the university I’m being a bore. Just that I don’t or something. I thought, maybe, if I and those few didn’t want to gossip want to talk about it and questions get Toby to fall in love with her he about him. make me angry.” will then notice that I would be a I couldn’t find out who his parents He sounded so reasonable that I better choice and... I don’t know what were or if he had any other relati- softened immediately and started to I thought. I knew nothing about love ves. I couldn’t even find out how old feel like it was all my fault. and was angry. Maybe I just wanted he was. I started to insert more hints revenge. and questions about his past to our “It didn’t go at all like I planned. discussions. He grew frustrated and Toby fell for Sara all right, but she annoyed and refused to answer. I fell for him also and was... I don’t grew more obsessed. Things started “But you know, kind of cured, and there were to go bad. no more bad things, and they were We had just reached the point are an angel, happy and all that. I finished my busi- when we both knew that things were ness with his father and left. I guess indeed going bad, but still thought it they lived happily ever after... but was the other persons fault, when my are you not?” I never forgave her that she didn’t mother decided to call me home for make him unhappy. And I suppose a few weeks. I had chosen to live in my father I never forgave myself that I had a students’ dormitory at the campus, hoped she did. And I still wish Toby even though my mother lived only an said to my would have loved me, even though I hour’s drive away from the city. Every wasn’t supposed to love him, ever.” now and then she wanted me to go best friend. He stopped talking. I didn’t under- and stay with her for some time, and stand all of the story. I didn’t ask anyt- I usually obliged. hing, though; he felt so distant and I was just in the middle of an argu- away in his thoughts that I could not ment with Ash, at his place, when bring myself to break the silence. Ash Mom called. He accused me of being “I guess it’s okay,” I said, still a bit took my hand, squeezed it once, and nosy and putting pressure on him, I defensive, “just that I like you and I’d I squeezed back. Then he said, in a called him secretive and claimed he like to know more about you.” totally different tone of voice: did not trust me. “You speak like we “When are you leaving for your were man and wife,” Ash just said, Ash sighed. “I’ll tell you some. But Mom’s?” when my mobile bleeped. it’s not nice to hear. I’m not a nice I swallowed the response and guy.” My mother was happy to have barked my name to the phone. Ash I smiled. He was the nicest guy Ash around. When I introduced him, stared at me when I said “Yes Mom” I knew, but he was an artist and as an arts student from the univer- and “No Mom” and “Sure Mom” and wanted to see himself as the alien sity, something in Ash changed. The so on, and suddenly his face turned one, I thought. He lay down on the artsy, sarcastic Ash vanished and was horrified. “Oh no, oh no no” he said bed, put his hands behind his back. replaced by someone very polite in to himself and disappeared to the “It goes down to Toby, I guess,” a shy but natural way. Only when bathroom. I had to say “Yes Mom, he began. “I wasn’t supposed to fall my mother looked away, or was in a sure Mom, yes Mom” a few times for him, you know. I was just suppo- different room, he was back. In two more before I could cut the call. sed to take care of something for his days time Mom was sold. When she Ash came out of the bathroom on father, and for... mine. A... family busi- asked me to come and see Dad in the the exactly same minute when I came ness. But I did fall for him. institute, he asked Ash to come with to the door. He hugged me, tight, “It was okay in the beginning. us. Ash said yes, he’d be delighted to, and sat down on his bed. I stared at We were on this trip together. Had but I thought he looked pained and him, puzzled. He said nothing. I cros- fun, got into adventures, stuff like glum behind his politeness.

34 cosmos pen 2/06 I asked him if he wanted to stay she said she liked it only to be polite,” Time since I had last seen Ash back, but he said no. He wanted to and my mother got none. In the end stretched to days, then to weeks. meet my Dad. He was not afraid of of the visit my father shook hands When I finally went to see him he mental illness, if that was what I was with Ash and asked him to come was no longer there. His window was afraid. I was to stop worrying about again. He didn’t pay any attention dark and his name removed from the him and relax. I tried to, but I still to me. Ash looked pained and gave door. I felt betrayed and annoyed and wished I could have made him stay my mother an apologetic glance. We lonely, but somehow I was also relie- behind without hurting his feelings. were all very quiet on the way home. ved, and ashamed of that relief. The point is, I was a ashamed of I tried to track him down, but I had my father. When he was well, he was Ash visited my father several only the name to go with and couldn’t a great guy, but most of the time he times. Sometimes I went with him, find any information. The neigh- was in his own world, and he said the but usually not. My mother started bours, the University, the friends most embarrassing things to people. to visit Dad more often too. She no – no one knew where he had gone. I don’t mean threats or any stereoty- more went only for quick, painful, Desperate to find something, I even pical madman raving, just things that polite visits as she had used to, but tried feeding the names of people he were possibly true but not somet- stayed to talk and had long walks had mentioned into search engines hing to discuss in polite company, or with him. I thought it was good, but on the Internet. The only thing I got things that were in a way nice but so didn’t dare to really hope. was The Book of Tobias, and for some weird that people got alarmed. Then once, three months after reason I began to read it. He was on that mood that day. I Ash’s initial visit to my father, Mom It’s a short one compared to most saw it from the way he came towards and Dad met me and Ash at the gate of the books which made it to the us in the garden of the institute. He of the institution. They were walking official Bible, and so it was easy to smiled a big sunny smile but didn’t hand in hand. read, especially when I skipped all look straight at us, and his eyes were My mother saw my amazement the prayer parts. I had only skimmed dreamy. His big brown beard was and tried to pull his hand away, but it for a few minutes, when I felt the dishevelled, he had been running my father held it tight, and soon she hair in my neck raising. his fingers through and through it. gave in and laughed. In the story, an angel called He looked at us when my mother “Haven’t you noticed, son, that Raphael, supposedly the arch-angel greeted him, and when I did, and I’m getting better?” my father said. by the same name in other stories, when mother introduced Ash, but I could only stare. It was the sanest comes to a young man called Tobias, his eyes didn’t focus. Then he sud- thing he had said to me in over ten is introduced to his father, leads the denly paid attention to Ash. His eyes years. He had called me his son, and young man through adventures to a widened and a broad, awed expres- he had admitted he was sick. He was girl called Sara who is possessed by sion spread on his face. obviously concerned about how I demons and has killed all her pre- “But you are an angel, are you felt, and treated me with kind and vious husbands. Tobias and Sara not?” my father said to my best tolerant fatherly humour. I could not marry, she is cured, and later Tobias’s friend. Father took Ash’s hand, shook help it, I cried. sick father is cured too. The angel it fervently and positively beamed What followed was a nausea- goes away, and everybody else lives and shone. ting, sugary family scene, the kind happily ever after. “This is such an honour, sir, such of which I’d find revolting in any an honour, you must sit down with movie or book. Ash didn’t take part Of course, there is absolutely no me and tell me what you do...” but stood a few steps away, his back concrete evidence that Ash was the I was terribly embarrassed, and turned to us. I must admit that I didn’t arch-angel Raphael. Except that eve- Mom blushed too, but Ash didn’t pay any real attention whatsoever to rything fits. Not only the facts, but seem to notice anything peculiar. him, not during the scene, or after also the feelings; how his love was at My mother and I looked helplessly it, or on the way home. I could only the same time so powerful and and to each other and followed father think of having my father back. so without the devouring kind of and Ash to sit by a small pond. Ash passion. talked about his studies at the uni- The next weeks I saw my father If Ash was an angel, there might versity, the painting, and the poetry daily. Ash still paid him visits, but less also be a God. Some people are likely which was not a success. My father often, and we seldom went toget- to be offended when they think of listened with interest. Sometimes her. I had so much to talk about with the arch-angel Raphael loving men. he asked something which soun- Dad. Now that he was better he was For them, I have one consolation: ded very normal, and sometimes a kind-hearted, benevolent and wise because of Ash, I am now cured from startled me and Mom with somet- man, with a sense of humour very the “sin” of homosexual acts. After hing like “Ah, as an angel it would be close to my own. He was really intere- the pure, noble, exalting love for him very difficult to portray fear of death, sted in my life and studies and world I have been unable to let a mere man wouldn’t it?” views and everything, and was ama- so close to me. Maybe those offen- I got a few words in every now and zingly in touch with the world, consi- ded by our love can see this as a part then, like “Yes, that was one of your dering that he had been in a mental of God’s plan, and consider it good. best poems, Ash,” or “No, I don’t think institute for almost a decade. I know I can’t.

Cosmos PEN 2/06 35 The Magazine of International Science Fiction Edited by Olaf G. Hilscher & Michael K. Iwoleit

Science Fiction is still regarded primary as an Anglo-American phenomenon. SF readers are rarely aware that their favorite genre has long since developed into an international mode of expression which today is practiced in almost every part of the world. Not since Frederik Pohl’s short-living magazine International Science Fiction in the late Sixties has there been any attempt to make a selection of these writings available in a specialised magazine. InterNova is an exciting new approach to give it another try.

InterNova 1 Unexplored Territories

was published in 2005 with an introduction by Brian W. Aldiss and stories by Eric Brown (Great Britain), Eduardo J. Carletti (Argen- tina), Arthur Goldstuck (South Africa), Guy Hasson (Israel), Sven Klöpping (Germany), Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro (Brazil), Vandana Singh (India), Wu Yan (China) und Aleksandar Zíljak (Croatia), a classic reprint by Lino Aldani (Italy) and articles by Ri- chard Kunzmann (Südafrika) und Lavie Tidhar (Israel).

InterNova will be relaunched as a free-access e-zine in October 06. Please keep an eye on our website: www.inter.nova-sf.de