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 unoffi cial sf/f, anime and role playing ning and made Finnish fandom what clubs and zines. it is today. The fi rst 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 diff erence between we know it started to emerge. The things that together make up the science fi ction 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 diff erent from other fi ction 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 fi rst Finnish science fi ction 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 fi rst Finnish sf/f zine. diff erent 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 fi ction societies, most sf/f clubs spread around the country racteristics and history. Together they of them are science fi ction 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 fi rst 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 fi c- 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 diffi cult, if not impossible. writers instead of television fi gures. fandom. In fact, many writers consider the There’s of course a simple explana- These meetings, or ”mafi as’”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, mafi as 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 fl ourishing, 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 fi rst book fairs. Currently there are two Many of them are very slick, printed time held outside Helsinki, in the of them. The fi rst 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 fi rst 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 fi ction 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 fi rst 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 eff ort. 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 offi cial pro- graph sessions. On Saturday night ring funds from government grants gramme. there’s the offi cial 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 fi rst 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 fi nd 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 fulfi lled 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 fi rst 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 fi ts to participate in diff erent kinds of the hassle of a con to take care of. Atonova, which has now been held games and activities, to sit by a fi re 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 fi ction 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 fi ction 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 fi ction 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 fi rst Tähtivaeltaja annually to a Finnish fantasy novel it usually is. In 2001 it was for the fi rst 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 fi eld 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 diff e- 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 fi rst time in 2001. The award has Another award with a multitude with occasional music. The winner elements from both the Star Rover of diff erent 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 fl eshy 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 profi le 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 ”mafi a” in the most active and energetic sf/f http://fi nnzine.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 fi rst 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 fi c- fi eld 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 fi rst 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 diff erent group of people each time Editor Ben Roimola domestic and even foreign fi ction so you never knew what to expect. http://www.enhorningen.net/ on the pages of Legolas and a raise Every issue had a diff erent 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 fi lled with lots of weird inside Many of the fi rst issues of ESC’s minent role in the society’s activities, humour and other baffl ing 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 ‘mafi a’ gatherings. The issues of the zine are therefore sought after collectibles and owning a fi rst-owner copy is a sign of real fanhood. Mundane has been dormant for a number of years now.

Turu Mafi a Zine Editor Tero Ykspetäjä

Turu Mafi a Zine (Turku Mafi a 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 tifi ction Boozing Guild” and ”The Espoo is like living in Mars”. Escape Turku mafi a to receive your copy. Grumpy Bald Sci-fi Fans Association”. looks much like Marvin, but is even The main diff erence between the Again, don’t ask. more fannish in appearance. One two zines is that Turu Mafi a 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 fi rst issue http://www.utu.fi /tutka/ few years time. of Turu Mafi a 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 off er 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 fi ne 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- fi le 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 ”mafi as”. 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 ”mafi as” 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 diff e- 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 fl ourishing 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 diffi cult 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 aff ectionally http://www.fi nncon.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 /sff aq/ 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 fi rst 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/

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