The past weekend we had a work day again. Finally we can start painting! Golden profiles and green forms. The first of many layers of paint needed to cover and make the plywood weatherproof.
Lill-Erik has constructed a “park bench” for glueing together and bending the different layers of the piece of decoration that will sit along the curved side of the foot board on our steampunk locomotive.
A local steampunk gathering at the Railway museum where the Steampunkfestival will take place. Photo: Erik Larsson.
During the month of February the global steampunk community is celebrated in the initiative Steampunk Hands Around the World. One of our friends, Charlie Dormer, wrote a text as our contribution. Here you can find the rest: Steampunk hands around the world — Official link list.
In September 2013 I boarded a plane to Sweden; a pith helmet on my head and all my worldly goods in tow. Slightly terrified, knowing no one except my boyfriend, and totally unsure of what to expect, I understandably felt more than a little homesick. In fact, at one point maybe two weeks in, I seriously considered going home again. ’What has all this got to do with steampunk?’ you may well ask. The answer is, actually, everything.
From the Museum family day 2013. Photo: Michail Stockfelt.
Most of the programme will be ready only shortly before the start of the festival, including many of the panels, interviews and talks we will have on topics from science fiction, fantasy and related genres. Other things are already planned. Below follows a list of some of the things we are planning.
There will be several things going on in parallel from June 27 at 5 PM until June 29 5 PM, and since we have international guests and members there will be at least one thing in English at all times.
Do you have idéas for programme items you would like us to consider? Or even better, would you like to arrange something yourself? Please write to program@steampunkfestival.se and let us know.
No matter how you celebrate your Christmas — or if you are doing something else — we hope that you are having a good time.
Because we like train, and love weird and wonderful stories perhaps even more, we link to this with our season’s greetings:
The Trains that Climb the Winter Tree by Eileen Gunn and Michael Swanwick.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Svenska.
Dear friends: steampunkers, science fiction fans, and train lovers — you can still get the reduced membership fee of only SEK 350. On top of that, you can help us by getting your membership early. All fees that come well in advance of the festival can be invested in making the festival better.
We will increase the membership fee by the turn of the year. NB: the first 50 members under the age of 26 will get the membership free!
As a member, you will have access to the museum after 5 pm (closing time), and to all of the programming: talks, panels, kaffeeklatsches, and workshops. You can also arrange your own program item, just get in touch with us.
You see, you don’t buy a ticket to our Steampunkfestival — you become a member. We count everyone as co-creators of the event: those who spend weeks preparing, and those who just come as they are and contribute to the atmosphere. The members are the heart of the festival. We come there to meet each other.
I hope that you will consider becoming a member now! And I hope I’ll see you in Gävle in June. Register here.
Anna Davour at the Railway museum. Photo: Björn Lindström.
Yes, we visited this year’s Swecon, Fantastika!
Steampunk panel: Lavie Tidhar, Nene Ormes, Anna Davour, Tommy Persson. Bild: Maria Turtschaninoff.
We were there! The first large gathering of steampunk enthusiasts in Sweden was held in Alingsås the past weekend: Steampunk-konvent. It was a wonderful experience, with lots of happy and creative people. We participated in workshops, attended shows by Trix and the dance group Påfåglarna, and sat in the Café Ångpannan talking to new friends.
One of the highlights was the Saturday parade through Alingsås, from the convention venue at the Östlycke school to the Alingsås museum, with the marching band Tongångarne. At the museum the exhibition Retrofuture was opened with a ceremonial cut of a ribbon.
Foto: Ea Malmberg.
Foto: Berit Solberg Möller.
People of all ages were attracted to the convention. Probably a majority were around 30, but there were people much older and much younger, and the all seemed to feel at home.
Foto: Berit Solberg Möller.
More pictures from the convention for exampel in this Flickr set or on this photographer’s website. Steampunk i Sverige has links (in Swedish) to media coverage of the event.
One of the great things about our Steampunkfestival is the environment, being at the Railway Museum with all of the beautiful old locomotives and carriages. A nice opportunity to put a spotligth on trains and railways in literature, and our interest is especially in the fantastic literature. From now on we will now and then point at interesting things relating to the intersection of trains and locomotives and science fiction, fantasy or horror.
The first now, an article in Clarkesworld Magazine: Beyond the Tracks: The Locomotive in Science Fiction Literature. Enjoy!
Today, The Ace of Skulls is beinn published. It’s the fourth part in Chris Wooding’s series about the airship Ketty Jay. As a Ketty-Jay-fan, Robert Nyström has been looking forward to tis day, and so we’ve asked him to tell us a little about what he likes most about the books. Robert, the floor is yours.
The Funny Side of Steampunk
For those of you who have been living in a kind of daze ever since the end of the TV-programme Firefly, Chris Wooding’s books about the Ketty Jay might make life a bit more livable. It is not a space-western, but the parallels between the two are very clear. Humour, adventure, and action are features of the whole Ketty-Jay-series. Beware, it’s not a series for you who is looking for a literary masterpiece. Ketty Jay is more of a party than a Nobel-banquet. It’s the funny side of steampunk: air pirates, conspiracies, magic, and the undead. But don’t think it lacks depth. In spite of them starting as alleged clichés, the characters develop quite well. Among guns and angry golems of iron, there is a bunch of sad characters with a history that is carefully brought out. Chris Wooding has created a detailed world with a lot of intrigue. Politics, aristocracy, and religions are well-elaborated and important, even though their role in the series is not so central. In the first book, Retribution Falls, the miscellaneous crew of the Ketty Jay, which consists of second-class smugglers, is introduced. The main reason why Captain Darian Frey holds his position lies in the fact that he owns the ship, and less so in the trust he gets from his crew. They make their way among many successful thieves and pirates, until they of course are made an offer they can’t decline. With a badly fitting crew for whom bad luck is part of everyday life, it can’t but go wrong. I don’t want to spoil too much, but the other books in the series continue in the same spirit. I have a weakness for anti-heroes, and the whole series about the crew of the Ketty Jay is full of them. I like its fast stride, and how Chris Wooding keeps the balance between action, humour, and earnest. Usually, I read books in order to be entertained, to laugh, and to dive into exciting new worlds. The Ketty-Jay-series has given me all of this, and I am looking forward to reading the fourth and last volume, The Ace of Skulls.
Books in the Ketty-Jay-series:
1) Retribution Falls
2) The Black Lung Captain
3) The Iron Jackal
4) The Ace of Skulls