From: "Ahrvid Engholm" To: , , "SAFA-listan" , Subject: SFJ #189 Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 20:44:16 +0200 X-Mailing-List: archive/latest/8791 (Avsiktligt korspostat till flera listor. --AE) science fiction journalen #189 Ed A Engholm, Renstiernas G 29, S-116 31 Stockholm, Sweden; ahrvid@spray.se; +46 (0)8 641 34 05, +46 0709 299 536. Info issue in English! Contribs to Sw postgiro 436 32 00-9. *editorial* Scandinavia's 22 years old and leading sf newsletter recently changed distribution policies. Now SFJ's main distribution is via E-mail and the paper edition will be phased out. This also means that the issues, though a bit thinner, can come more often. This is a special information issue in English intended for Eurocon /Baltcon/Polcon in Gdansk, August 2-6th, and Finncon in Helsinki, August 18-20th. It covers recent news from SFJ's home arena (some repeated from the regular Swedish edition), intended as an introduction. Note that SFJ normally is in *Swedish*. E-subscriptions from me or preferably by joining the Swedish fandom list sverifandom-request@lysator.liu.se or the Swedish sf-writers' list skriva-request@dang.se, since SFJ main distribution is through those lists. Recent E-issues are on http://www.lysator.liu.se/~unicorn/ fandom/fanzines/sfj/. (On this site is also a lot other of Swedish fandom info and material.) A short presentation of your dear editor I'm 41, work as a freelance computer journalist, live in Stockholm, have been active in sf fandom for 24 years, have published fanzines since 1978, been organizer of some cons (eg starting the Baltcon) and also write sf short stories. Enough said. --Ahrvid Engholm *cross baltic fandom list* The new Cross Baltic Fandom List (CBFL) is intended to faciliate sf and fandom contacts between sf fans across the Baltic Sea. You join by mailing cbfl-request@dang.se (subject: subscribe). There are already members from Sweden, Lithuania, Finland and Norway. CBFL is unmoderated and in English. *swedish con news* Swedish sf con life has recently been picking up speed after moving a little slower the 1990's. One of the reasons is the introduction of the National Swedish SF Convention, called the Swecon, a couple of years ago. The idea is the same as with Worldcons or the British Eastercons: committees make bids for the Swecon, and the winner is decided by voting. Last year's Swecon in Uppsala gathered around 120 attendees (with GoH Michael Swanwick, who won a Hugo just before the con). At the same time there are also non-Swecons, like jUnicon/Baltcon in June 1999 (GoH horror artist Hans Arnold), which also attracted around 120 attendees and Confuse 2000 (GoH writer Stephen Baxter) in Linköping in June this year, attracting some 80 attendees. There are usually 2-3 sf conventions in Sweden each year. This year's Swecon, Nasacon 2000 in Stockholm July 7th to 9th (GoHs British writer Brian Stableford and Swedish publisher John-Henri Holmberg), made a major contribution towards the increasing con activities, with near 225 attendees (including ca 25 foreigners from eight countries), a multi-line program that ran well and lots of press attention (spots in 3 TV channels, 7 radio programs, and numerous newspaper articles). Co-organizer was the Stockholm Trekkers group. There are pictures from Nasacon 2000 on the sites: http://bart.sm.luth.se/~d94-mwd/nasacon2000/index.html and http://www.lysator.liu.se/~unicorn/fandom/foto/nasacon2000/index.html The winner of the Swecon honour was Fantastika 2001, Stockholm, June 15-17 (info c.gomez@telia.com). GoH to be announced. As with Nasacon, Fantastika will be co-organized, now with the local Stockholm Tolkien association, Forodrim. Organizers boldly state they will give the 2000 Swecon a good match! There is also, in Uppsala 13-15 October the smaller Göstacon (info akesson@tsl.uu.se), with (a guess) 60-70 attendees. One of the guests will be the Irish fan Dave Lally, for whom a oneshot fan fund has been started to collect the trip money. SFJ is already running the Balt Fund, to collect money for some Baltic fan to attend Fantastika/Swecon 2001. Sigma TC is planning a relax- and filkcon in August 2001 and there is talk about a Swedish horror con in 01 or 02. *other cons* Lets not forget our Nordic neighbours. Oslo, Norway, hosted Multicon July 13-16th, also a co-organizing event between the national Norwegian con, Norcon, and a local B5 and media group, attracting up to 400 attendees! Norwegian fandom is a bit ahead of Swedish, but that is nothing compared to Finnish sf fandom, which August 18-20th has Finncon 2000 in Helsinki (GoHs Stephen Baxter, Neil Gaiman and Ken MacLeod) expecting 2000-3000 attendees. This is achieved through good PR and by having no attendance fee. Finncon is financed through cultural grants, sponsorship and selling huckter's tables. Info: http://www.finncon.org or ari.ventie@helsinki.fi . Helsinki is "cultural capital of Europe" in 2000, which Bergen, Norway, also is! (Don't ask us to explain how this came about...) And Bergen had their con this spring, Reconnaissance 2001, which attracted about 150 attendees and according to reports was very well organized. It was intended as the first of the BECcons (Big European Cons; don't know where next BECcon is). *baltcon* At the same time we work with the Baltcon, which was started in 1993 as a regional sf convention for the fandoms around the Baltic Sea. Most Baltcons have been in Sweden or Lithuania, though it is in Poland this year and in 1997 in Germany (Ratzeburg). Next year's Baltcon will be combined with Finncon 2001, in Jyväskylä (July 14-15th), which also coincides with the big Jyväskylä Arts Festival. The Finncon organizers plan to have Baltic sf writers attending and more info on the site above or from hirsjarvi@jkl.fi or 42@jyu.fi. There is no competing 2001 Baltcon bid and the site will be decided on the Baltcon business meeting in Gdansk. The 2002 Baltcon site will be open for bids from Poland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania next year. *other sverifandom events* Fantasy is presently the big trend in Swedish publishing. So it was no wonder that the entire, famous Stockholm Old Town was sent back in time to medieval times during the two-week long millenium celebrations this winter (all sponsored by a big Telecom company). There were jousting knights, medieval markets, historical exhibitions (including the spectacular Stockholm millennium multimedia show near the Royal Palace), and temporary mediaval "speakeasies" all over the place, serving old-time food, beer and wine. Another event is the Fantasy Week, sponsored by a number of publishers and the SF Bookstore on Västerlånggatan 48 (info@sfbok.se), in the Old Town. This year's festival is August 28th to September 2nd, and will present events in the SF Bookstore, the Stockholm Cultural House and a grand finale on the Saturday with fancy dresses, music and mediaval market in the Big Square in the Old Town. One of the guests is the British fantasy writer Philip Pullman. September 1st to 3rd Stockholm Trekkers invites to a big Star Trek film festival, in the cinema Bio Focus (by underground just south of Stockholm). Stockholm fandom has (several) monthly pub meetings (as well as Uppsala fandom) and one of them is the meeting the third Tuesday every month (starts 19.00) on Grågåsen, which is a mediaval pub on Ignatiigränd in the Old Town. *awards* Lars-Olov Strandberg, old-time sf fan and active since the 1950's, won this years Alvar Award, named after the famous sf fan Alvar Appeltofft who died in 1976. The award consists of a small statuette, a diploma and a sum of money and is voted upon by all other fans. *clubs etc* Sverifandom, ie Swedish fandom (from "Sverige"= Sweden in Swedish), consists of half a dozen clubs in the true, mainstream fandom and loads of fringe societies. There are a couple of clubs, in South Sweden and in Gothenburg (Club Cosmos, the oldest sf club still active, founded in 1954). We also have the Swedish Fanzine Association (with 80-90 members; it is an APA, mailing members' fanzines in bundles; lennart@sfbok.se). But the main groups of sf fans are to be found in Stockholm, Linköping and Uppsala. Stockholm has the Scandinavian SF Association (info lars-olov.strandberg@swipnet .se), with 150-200 members and Sigma Terra Corps (info: wolf@sigmatc.a.se), with ca 50 members. In Uppsala, north of Stockholm, we have the European SF Association (a name chosen to show those stockholmers!; a rather informal society, but membership should be 30-50; info: johan.anglemark@bahnhof.se) and in Linköping the Linköping SF Association (info: unicorn@lysator.liu.se), with ca 100 members. All these clubs publish fanzines, have regular meetings and organize conventions. We also have the Swedish Horror Academy, SSKAK (nannalroth@hotmail.com). A lot of activity is these days through the Internet, with web pages and E-mail lists (eg Sverifandom). Beside these there are half a dozen Tolkien societies (with Stockholm's Forodrim being the biggest, with 150 members) and numerous Viking societies, chapters in the Society for Creative Anachronism and other mediaval clubs. There about three major Star Trek groups (Stockholm Trekkers, West Coast Trekkers and South Side Trekkers), which organize hundreds or perhaps thousands. The biggest fringe movement is however the gamers. The national Swedish Role- and Wargame Federation (SVEROK) has 30 000 members and hundreds of member clubs. *bems and beanies...* The Jules Verne Magasinet editor, Sam J Lundwall, is reported getting increasingly worse eyesight and is now retired from everything but JVM. (But that Sam J outbreak in Ansible was a mystery! We all saw his retirement notice in Dagens Nyheter October 14th, 1998. Don't shoot at the piano player, especially if you composed the piece yourself!) Speculation is that his daughter Karin will take over JVM in the future. * The sf author and founder of the Futura Club in 1950, Sture Lönnerstrand, died in September. The old-time fan and journalist Anders S "Acke" Fröberg died in October. * Finland's Mr SF, Tom Ölander, who helped to start Finnish fandom in the 70's and 80's, has donated his big collection of fanzines and sf magazines to the Turku SF Society. * In mid-August, the Alvar Appeltoft Memorial Foundation moves to a new, smaller office in Tallkrogen (within the Stockholm subway system). The Foundation presently holds up to a million Swedish crowns (mainly due to the incredible upward trend in the 1990's stockmarket). This spring the foundation awarded 5000 SEK each in grants to Nasacon 2000 and the Minotauren fanzine editor Rickard Berghorn. http://www.alvarfonden.org/ * The SKRIVA/Nasacon electronic short story competion received a record 53 entries (places 1-3 went to Lars Snith, Johan Theorin and Fredrik Stennek). * In april, Stockholm had its first general book fair in 15 years. Sf people could be seen among the 15 000 visitors. (The major Swedish book fair is the Gothenburg fair each autumn.) * Forry Ackerman visited the Fantastic Film Festival in South Sweden in September 1999. * This spring, Swedish fan Mika Tenhovaara presented a pre-doctoral thesis on sf fanzines, titled "Fannish Fanarchy". * Swedish language sf news from Finland can be found on Ben Roimola's site http://www.enhorningen.net/Nathorningen.shtml. * Norwegian fandom suffered tragic news in October, when the fan Ingrid Jonsson together with the whole family was murdered, by the father, than then commited suicide. She was eg secretary of Reconnaissance, and this family drama was also a setback for the convention which found all its files impounded by the police. * Fans of the British sciffy series The Prisoner is amazed over a Swedish porno video (titled Private No 21) obviously shot in the famous Village. * A number of more proper Swedish fantastic films are on. "Swedish Ends" is a TV series to premiere next year, about a north Sweden suffering from a nuclear disaster. "The Threat from Outer Space" is a low budget movie (probably coming in 2001), made as a parody of 1950's invasion-from-space movies (like the 1960's Swedish-US turkey "Terror in the Midnight Sun", now released on video). Already in September we'll see "The Unknown", about Swedish scientists finding strange creatures in the wilderness. * Sf toys were exhibited on the Stockholm Toy Museum this spring. During the opening the Mayor of Stockholm claimed he "admired the Star Wars films by Steven Spielberg!" * DAST Magazine (about Decective, Agent, Science fiction and Thriller stories) is now edited by the old-time Bertil Falk (bfalk@sbbs.se). One result was that SFJ-ed in No 1/2000 had an article about Relationes Curiosae. This was a fantastic magazine from - 1682! It was founded in Hamburg and then translated to Swedish and published in a Stockholm edition. Maybe the first sf magazine in the world? * One of Lithuanias leading fans, Gediminas Beresnevicius (active for 20 years, founder of Dorado etc), was in Stockholm together with his familty in mid-July. Earlier, during Nasacon, we were visited by Asta Morkuniene and Vidas Morkunas, from Lithuania (they later met the Turku fans). * Two English language Swedish fanzines worth noting is Wolf von Witting's Counterclock (wolf@sigmatc.a.se), with a little of everything, and Lennart Uhlin' s and Ylva Spångberg's New Kind of Neighborhood (ylva_s@yahoo.com), with fanhistorical articles and humour.