Greetings to all new and old readers of Spin! We believe a short introduction is in order.
Spin is a SF magazine published by Turku Science Fiction Society since 1977. Currently, Spin publishes 2–4 issues a year depending on the situation. For instance, last year only two issues came out, but this year four issues of Spin will be published.
Two of these issues are published for Worldcon 75, and they are in a way two sides of the same coin: for financial reasons, the magazine has been divided into separate fact and fiction sections. Issue A contains articles, while issue B is devoted to the short stories which placed first and second in the annual Atorox Awards for best Finnish short story.
This is the second English Special of Spin to come out. The first English-language issue was published in 2011, when Finncon, the oldest Finnish SF convention, was last organised in Turku. This new issue has been made primarily with the Helsinki Worldcon in mind, but it will also serve the needs of Finncon 2018 – held in Turku once more.
Although Finncon is primarily held in Finnish, there will be programme in English and Swedish as well. A large number of fans from abroad participate in the event every year.
The first guest of honour we have the pleasure to introduce is the South African author Lauren Beukes, who is known for her novels The Shining Girls and Zoo City. The latter won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for best science fiction book released in Finnish in 2017. This issue contains an essay by Beukes, All the Pretty Corpses, which gives some background information on her novel The Shining Girls.
The purpose of this issue is also to offer a wider glimpse into the Finnish SF fandom. Among other things it contains an overall introduction of the Finnish fandom, written by fandom active Pasi Karppanen. The article was published in the previous English Special, but it has been updated to provide up-to-date information.
In addition, we have compiled an article on recommended Finnish SF translated into English. Some of these translations will come out at Worldcon, others have been published before. The article is chock-full of great reading tips if you want to sink your teeth into Finnish speculative literature.
Furthermore, for this issue we have interviewed two well-known Finnish authors: Emmi Itäranta and Marko Hautala. They tell about their experiences as Finnish authors whose books have been translated into English and other languages. You can read their thoughts on how language affects writing and what their Finnishness does to their brand abroad. Both authors are scheduled to appear at Worldcon.
The issue also features our regular comic Space-sheep by Jouko Pukkila, now published in English for the second time. We hope you’ll enjoy this special issue of Spin! August 2017 is without doubt the season of English specials for Finnish SF magazines. This is us putting in our effort on behalf of the Turku Science Fiction Society.
Anna Mattila
Translation by Suvi Kauppila
ISSN: 0785-2851
Editor-in-chief: Anna Mattila
Sub-editor and layout: Pasi Karppanen
Cover: Kimmo Isokoski
36 pages
Publisher: Turku Science Fiction Society
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