Thursday
14.00–17.00 Registration
16.30–17.30 Welcome to Åcon!
17.30–18.30 Body and Mind
Body and mind, both separately and in combination. How do they interact, what in Man is physical, what is mental, how can the body defeat the mind and the mind take over the body? (Cheryl Morgan, Markku Soikkeli, Tricia Sullivan)
19.00–20.00 Trivia for Chocolate!
For all you nitpickers out there! Instant rewards!
21.00–23.00 Danger 5
Friday
10.00–around 12 Excursion to Gunnar Johansson’s second hand book store
10.00–around 13 Excursion to chocolate tasting
12.00–13.00 Book recommendations – Hugo nominees
Every once in a while the best novel of the year does not win the Hugo. What books do you feel have been left out and should be read by all (in addition or even instead of that year’s winner)? (Crowd discussion)
13.30–14.30 The Classic Cons
Everybody’s always talking about the “classic” cons: Eastercon, Worldcon, Readercon etc. Why are they unique and why should we attend them? (Carolina Gomez Lagerlöf, Cheryl Morgan, Tommy Persson)
15.00–16.00 Guest of Honour Interview
Tricia Sullivan being interviewed by Johan Anglemark
16.30–17.30 Don’t cross the streams – What to watch and what to ignore
Our experts give their opinions on new and on-going series. Also we will take a quick look on different streaming services’ selections. So come and hear what’s worth watching and what you should just ignore. (Mikko Seppänen, Elisa Wiik)
17.30–19.30 BREAK
19.30–20.30 I should really love this, but…!
Sometimes you’re forced to hate something everybody else really, really loves. Our panelists confess their hatred for some of the most beloved items in the field of science fiction and fantasy! (Karoliina Leikomaa, Miikka Riikonen, Sarianna Silvonen, Tricia Sullivan)
21.00–22.00 Never mind the Buzzaldrins
The quiz show by the one and only original quizmaster Jukka Halme
22.00–23.00 Book of the Night: We have always lived in the castle
A free-form discussion about Shirley Jackson’s We have always lived in the castle.
Saturday
10.00–around 13 Excursion to Smakbyn and the countryside
12.00–13.00 Bookaholics Anonymous share group
Come and share your horror stories from a life of literary abuse (books dropped in bathtubs, eaten by puppies etc.) (Group discussion)
13.30–14.30 Scholarly Stuff
Serious talk from serious scholars (Mika Loponen, Merja Polvinen)
15.00–16.00 Future GoHs of Nordic cons
Who are the GoHs of this year’s Finncon and Swecon and what should you read from them before the convention?
16.30–17.30 Guest of Honour speech/reading
17.30–19.30 BREAK
19.30–20.30 Sacred texts of childhood and adolescence
Dungeons & Dragons, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we might reread them as adults and see their problems and faults, but once they were our holy books. How have they helped make us into what we are today? (Marianna Leikomaa, Miikka Riikonen, Tricia Sullivan, Eeva-Liisa Tenhunen)
21.00–22.00 Kim jest Arvid Pekon? (Who is Arvid Pekon?)
Director Patrik Eriksson’s short film based on Karin Tidbeck’s story (published in Jagannath) followed by a discussion. The movie is in Polish, but with English subtitles. (Cheryl Morgan, Sari Polvinen, Markku Soikkeli)
22.00–23.00 Just a speculative fiction minute!
The “insanely basic” panel! (Jukka Halme)
Sunday
12.00–13.00 Gripe session
13.15 Be at the Mariehamn terminal to get your boarding passes if you are taking the ferry to Finland.
Åcon 6 