SF Awards at Finncon 2016

At Finland’s national sf convention, Finncon 2016, the following awards were presented for the best science fiction, fantasy and translated works.

atorox

Atorox Award

Atorox Award

The Atorox Award goes to the best Finnish sf short story published in the previous year. The year’s top three stories were selected by 62 participating voters:

  1. Magdalena Hai: Kaunis Ululian (Kristallimeri. Osuuskumma)
  2. Oskari Rantala: Didin historiat (Portti 4/14)
  3. Tuukka Tenhunen: Ugrilainen tapaus (Spin 4/14)

Atorox the robot appeared in a series of stories by Aarne Haapakoski (1904–1961), one of the first sf writers in Finland.

Tähtifantasia Award

The Tähtifantasia Award is given by the Helsinki Science Fiction Society for the best translated fantasy book published in Finnish during the previous year.

The 2016 winner was Shaun Tan’s collection of short stories for children, Etäisten esikaupunkien asioita (Tales from Outer Suburbia, 2009).

The award jury members were critics Jukka Halme, Aleksi Kuutio, Anne Leinonen, and a representative of Risingshadow.netin, Osmo Määttä.

One other Finnish sf/f award was given earlier this year:

Tähtivaeltaja Award

The Tähtivaeltaja Award recognizes the best translated sf book published in Finnish during the previous year. (According to Ben Roimola, the award name translates to English as “Star Rover”.)

Announced in May, the winning book was Uusi maa (MaddAddam) by Margaret Atwood, translated into Finnish by Kristiina Drews and published by Otava.