Finncon is the largest

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

and, with up to 15,000 participants, one of the largest SF conventions in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. Finncon is unique among SF conventions because it has no participation/membership fee, and is funded primarily on various cultural grants as well as income from traders. The event is organised annually in different cities in Finland. From 2003 to 2009 and in 2011 the convention included the anime convention Animecon, which boosted the convention's attendance and public visibility significantly. Since then the conventions have separated, and the future of the Finnish Animecon is currently uncertain beyond the 2011 combined Finncon-Animecon. Finncon alternates between different cities in Finland without a formal rota. Recently the event has been held almost every year, but occasionally a year is skipped if no city is found to host the event that year.

Finncons

{, class="wikitable" , - ! year !! dates !! city !! Guests of Honour !! notes , - , 1986 , ,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Brian Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...

, , - , 1989 , , Helsinki , John Brunner, Tom Ölander , , - , 1991 , , Helsinki ,

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of '' The Wasp Facto ...

, , - , 1993 , , Helsinki ,

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comic fantasy, comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchet ...

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequel '' Heart of Empire'', as well as the ''Grandville'' series of books. He collaborat ...

, , - , 1995 , ,

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capit ...

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the '' Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's firs ...

, Vonda McIntyre,

Storm Constantine Storm Constantine (12 October 1956 – 14 January 2021) was a British science fiction and fantasy author, primarily known for her Wraeththu series,Encyclopedia of Science Fictio"Constantine, Storm" Retrieved 2010-01-21. which began as one trilog ...

, , - , 1997 , , Helsinki ,

Norman Spinrad Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards. Per ...

, Ian McDonald , , - , 1999 , ,

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Connie Willis Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards tha ...

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy '' His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''Th ...

, , - , 2000 , , Helsinki ,

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

, Stephen Baxter,

Ken MacLeod Kenneth Macrae MacLeod (born 2 August 1954) is a Scottish science fiction writer. His novels ''The Sky Road'' and ''The Night Sessions'' won the BSFA Award. MacLeod's novels have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, ...

, , - , 2001 , , Jyväskylä ,

Jonathan Carroll Jonathan Samuel Carroll (born January 26, 1949) is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled magic realism, slipstream or contemporary fantasy. He has lived in Austria since 1974. Life and work Carroll was ...

David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

, Stelarc,

Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to u ...

, Johanna Sinisalo , also the year's Baltcon , - , 2003 , , Turku ,

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born 18 November 1950) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began with short stories, starting in 1980 when he published "Ginungaga ...

Jonathan Clements Jonathan Michael Clements (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shi Huang, as well as monthly opinion columns for ''Neo'' magazine. He is also the co-aut ...

, Steve Sansweet, Karolina Bjällerstedt Mickos, Bjørn Tore Sund,

Boris Hurtta Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after hi ...

, also the year's

Eurocon Eurocon is an annual science fiction convention held in Europe. The organising committee of each Eurocon is selected by vote of the participants of the previous event. The procedure is coordinated by the European Science Fiction Society. The first ...

, Baltcon, and Animecon , - , 2004 , , Jyväskylä ,

Robin Hobb Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (born March 5, 1952), known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the ''Realm of the Elderlings'', w ...

, Gwyneth Jones,

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

Cheryl Morgan Cheryl Morgan is a British science fiction critic and publisher. She has won Hugo Awards for her work on the fanzine '' Emerald City'' from 1995 to 2006, and as non-fiction editor of '' Clarkesworld'' magazine from 2009 to 2011. Morgan was t ...

, also the year's Animecon , - , 2006 , 18–20 August , Helsinki ,

Jeff VanderMeer Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy. The t ...

, Risto Isomäki,

Justina Robson Justina Robson (born 11 June 1968 in Leeds, England) is a science fiction author from Leeds, England. Biography and publishing history Justina Robson was born in Leeds on 11 June 1968, and studied philosophy and linguistics at the University o ...

Rickard Berghorn Rickard is both an English surname and a masculine Swedish given name. It is of European origin and it is closely related to the given name Richard and the surnames Rickards and Richards. People with the surname * Bob Rickard (born 1945), founder ...

, also the year's Animecon , - , 2007 , 14–15 July , Jyväskylä ,

Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award ( Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her car ...

Joe Haldeman Joe William Haldeman (born June 9, 1943) is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his novel '' The Forever War'' (1974). That novel and other works, including '' The Hemingway Hoax'' (1991) and '' Forever Peace'' (1997), hav ...

, Gay Haldeman,

Elizabeth Hand Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer. Life and career Hand grew up in Yonkers and Pound Ridge, New York. She studied drama and anthropology at The Catholic University of America. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal Main ...

Ben Roimola Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( h ...

, also the year's Animecon , - , 2008 , 26–27 July ,

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclo ...

Petri Hiltunen Petri Hiltunen (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish cartoonist and illustrator. Hiltunen has produced work in a variety of genres, but is most notable for his fantasy and horror work. He has won the prestigious Puupäähattu award in 2002, which ...

Charles Vess Charles Vess (born June 10, 1951) is an American fantasy artist and comics artist who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His influences include British "Golden Age" book illustrator Arthur Rackham, Czech Art Nouveau pa ...

Farah Mendlesohn Farah Jane Mendlesohn (born 27 July 1968) is a British academic historian, writer on speculative fiction, and active member of science fiction fandom. Mendlesohn is best-known for their 2008 book '' Rhetorics of Fantasy'', which classifies fant ...

, M. John Harrison , also the year's Animecon , - , 2009 , 10–12 July , Helsinki , George R. R. Martin,

Alastair Reynolds Alastair Preston Reynolds (born 13 March 1966) is a Welsh science fiction author. He specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle University, where h ...

, Adam Roberts,

Jari Lehtinen Jari may refer to: Finnish male given name The name ''Jari'' derives from the Finnish name ''Jalmari'', which in turn derives from the Old Norse male name ''Hjalmar'' or ''Hjálmarr'' (''hjalmr'' 'helmet' + ''arr'' 'warrior/army'). This name is c ...

, also the year's Animecon , - , 2010 , 17–18 July , Jyväskylä ,

Ellen Kushner Ellen Kushner (born October 6, 1955) is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program '' Sound & Spirit'', produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International. Backgro ...

Pat Cadigan Patricia Oren Kearney Cadigan (born September 10, 1953) is a British-American science fiction author, whose work is most often identified with the cyberpunk movement. Her novels and short stories often explore the relationship between the huma ...

, Sari Peltoniemi, Liisa Rantalaiho , , - , 2011 , 15–17 July , Turku ,

Nalo Hopkinson Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels ('' Brown Girl in the Ring'', '' Midnight Robber'', ''The Salt Roads'', ''The New Moon's Arms'') and short stories such as tho ...

, Richard Morgan,

Himeka Catherine St. Onge (born July 20, 1981), better known by her stage name (stylized as HIMEKA), is a French Canadian descent anime song singer no longer active in Japan. While fluent in English and her native French, she is moderately proficient i ...

Yukihiro Notsu Yukihiro is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yukihiro can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *幸弘, "happiness, vast" *幸宏, "happiness, wide" *幸浩, "happiness, wide" * ...

, also the year's Animecon , - , 2012 , 20–22 July , Tampere ,

Lois McMaster Bujold Lois McMaster Bujold ( ; born November 2, 1949) is an American speculative fiction writer. She is an acclaimed writer, having won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record (not counting his Retro Hugos). Her no ...

Liz Williams Liz Williams (born 1965) is a British science fiction writer, historian and occultist. ''The Ghost Sister,'' her first novel, was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, ''Empire of Bones'' (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick ...

, Irma Hirsjärvi , , - , 2013 , 5–7 July , Helsinki ,

Aliette de Bodard Aliette de Bodard is a French-American speculative fiction writer. Writing de Bodard published her first short story in 2006. In 2007, she was a winner of Writers of the Future, and in 2009 was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Be ...

J. Pekka Mäkelä ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

, Peter Watts, Stefan Ekman , , - , 2014 , 11–13 July , Jyväskylä ,

Elizabeth Bear Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo ...

, Hannu Rajaniemi,

Jukka Halme Jukka Halme (born 29 May 1985) is a Finnish former footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Halme has played for HIFK in three highest tiers of Finnish football; Veikkausliiga, Ykkönen and Kakkonen. He made his Veikkausliiga debut i ...

, , - , 2016 , 1–3 July , Tampere ,

Jasper Fforde Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected '' Nursery Cr ...

, Anne Leinonen, Catherynne M. Valente, Eeva-Liisa Tenhunen , , - , 2018 , 14–15 July , Turku , Lauren Beukes,

Maria Turtschaninoff Maria Turtschaninoff (born 1977) is a Finnish author. She is best known for writing fantasy books including ''Maresi'', the first book in the ''Red Abbey Chronicles'' and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Life and career Turtschaninof ...

Merja Polvinen Merja may refer to * Merja, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Merja (name), a Finnish female name See also

* Merya (disambiguation) {{Disambiguation ...

, , - , 2019 , 5–7 July , Jyväskylä ,

Charles Stross Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine ...

, Kersti Juva,

Raine Koskimaa Raine is a name derived from any of several personal names (such as Raymond or Lorraine), and may refer to: ;Given name * Raine Baljak (born 1996), Filipino-Australian beauty queen titleholder * Raine Karp (born 1939), Estonian architect * Raine ...

, , - , 2020 , 10–12 July , Tampere (virtual) , Mike Carey,

Helena Waris Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * H ...

Diane Duane Diane Duane (born May 18, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, long based in Ireland. Her works include the '' Young Wizards'' young adult fantasy series and the '' Rihannsu'' Star Trek novels. Biography Born in New Yor ...

, Vesa Sisättö,

Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards Enlightenment in Buddhism, bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In ...

, , - , 2022 , 8–10 July ,

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

Marianna Leikomaa Marianna may refer to: * Marianna, Arkansas, USA * Marianna, Florida, USA * Marianna, Pennsylvania, USA * An English spelling for Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil * 602 Marianna, an asteroid, number 602 in the minor planet catalog * Marianna (given na ...

, Malka Older,

Magdalena Hai Magdalena may refer to: * Magdalena (given name), a given name derived from Mary Magdalene (including a list of people with the name) Entertainment * Magdalena (comics), an American comic book superheroine * Magdalena (film), ''Magdalena'' (film ...

Marko Hautala Marko may refer to: * Marko (given name) * Marko (surname) * Márkó, a village in Hungary See also * Marco (disambiguation) * Markko (disambiguation) * Marka (disambiguation) * Markov * Marku * * {{disambiguation, surname ...

, upcoming

External links

Finncon website

Finncon 2018
Multigenre conventions Science fiction conventions in Europe Entertainment events in Finland Recurring events established in 1986 1986 establishments in Finland Annual events in Finland