FINNCON X

Finncon in Turku, Finland, on August 1st - 3rd 2003

Finncon is the largest science fiction and fantasy event in Finland. It
was organised for the first time in 1986, and in 2003 the tenth Finncon
will take place in Turku. Finncon has been organised earlier once in
Turku, twice in Jyväskylä and six times in Helsinki.

On Friday August 1st the programme will be more academic, dealing among
other things with the work of J. R. R. Tolkien. Departments from
the University of Turku will be invited to participate in the
arrangements and the organisers will attempt to invite a guest of honour
fitting the theme. On Saturday and Sunday August 2nd and 3rd the
programme will be more varied, but no less interesting.

Finncon will be organised on the premises of the University of Turku on
the top of the University Hill. Well-equipped lecture halls offer an
excellent setting for the presentations, and ample hallspace provides
for a large SF market.

Guests of honour

Guests of honour are still being looked for, but two names are already
known.

The Finnish guest of honour will be Mr Boris Hurtta, who has been a
well-known and appreciated SF writer for well over a decade. He has
written both short stories as well as novels for all his life, some of
which belong to the genre of SF, some to mainstream literature. Hurtta
has also often been rated among the top ten in the annual Atorox
competition for the best Finnish SF short story, and he has been
successful in the short story competition of the Portti magazine.

One foreign guest is also already known: Mr Steve Sansweet. He is the
greatest Star Wars fan in the world, who has turned his passion into an
occupation and is nowadays responsible for Lucasfilm's fan connections.
He has written (or co-written) ten books, eight of which are about Star
Wars.

Organisers

Finncon's main organiser is Turku Science Fiction Society, and other
organisers are The Science Fiction Culture Cabinet at the University of
Turku, Turku Anime Society, The Role-Playing and Strategy Games
Association of Turku University, The Finnish Star Wars Society Alliance
and the Enhörningen magazine.

Finnish Science Fiction Writers' Association acts as a partner in
co-operation.

The chairperson of the organising committee (or, as known between
friends, the Connittee) is Miss Johanna Ahonen (email-deleted, +358 40
532 9298), and the PR person is Mrs Mari Saario (email-deleted, +358
2 469 9927).

Finncon's Internet site can be found at www.finncon.org.