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September Reading – Hannu Rajaniemi & Christopher Brown

September 9th, 2019 · No Comments

Sunday, September 15, 2019

HANNU RAJANIEMI & CHRISTOPHER BROWN
with moderator Terry Bisson

Doors and bar open at 6:00PM – Event begins at 6:30PM
$10 at the door / $8 for students with valid high school or college ID card

Each author will read a selection from their work, followed by conversation and Q&A with the audience, moderated by author Terry Bisson. Books will be for sale at the event, courtesy of Borderlands Books. Event will be podcasted by SomaFM, Listener-supported, commercial-free, radio broadcasting from San Francisco to the world. All proceeds go to the American Bookbinders Museum.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBOURS!!

HELP US KEEP BRINGING YOU SF IN SF !!

HANNU RAJANIEMI is a Finnish author of science fiction and fantasy, who writes in both English and Finnish. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Oulu, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to starting his PhD candidature, he completed his national service as a research scientist for the Finnish Defense Forces. While pursuing his PhD in Edinburgh, Rajaniemi joined Writers’ Bloc, a writers’ group in Edinburgh that organizes semi-regular spoken word performances, and counts Charlie Stross amongst its members.

Early works included his first published short story “Shibuya no Love” in 2003 and his short story “Deus Ex Homine” in Nova Scotia, a 2005 anthology of Scottish science fiction and fantasy, which caught the attention of his current literary agent, John Jarrold. Rajaniemi gained attention in October 2008 when John Jarrold secured a three-book deal for him with Gollancz, on the basis of only twenty-four double-spaced pages. His debut novel, The Quantum Thief, was published in September 2010 by Gollancz in Britain and was published in 2011 by Tor Books in the U.S. The novel was been nominated for the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel. A further two books in the series, The Fractal Prince, and The Causal Angel, were published by Gollancz in the UK, and Tor in the U.S.

Rajaniemi has stated that the literary works of Jules Verne originally inspired both his career in science as well as his science fiction writing. Other influences include Maurice Leblanc, Arthur Conan Doyle and architecture blogger Geoff Manaugh. He lives in Oakland, California, and was a founding director of a commercial research organisation, ThinkTank Maths, and a co-founder of Helix nanotechnologies.

Learn more in this fantastic interview at Clarkesworld Magazine

CHRISTOPHER BROWN is a writer and lawyer living in Austin, Texas. His 2017 debut novel, Tropic of Kansas, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for best science fiction novel of the year. His current novel, Rule of Capture, is just out from Harper Voyager. Brown’s shorter work—stories, nonfiction, and criticism—has appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies. Brown was a 2013 World Fantasy Award nominee for the anthology he co-edited, Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic.

He’s also taken two companies public, restored a small prairie, worked on two Supreme Court confirmations, rehabilitated a brownfield, reported from Central American war zones, washed airplanes, co-hosted a punk rock radio show, built an eco-bunker, worked day labor, negotiated hundreds of technology deals, protected government whistleblowers, investigated fraud, raised venture capital, explored a lot of secret woodlands, raised an amazing kid, and trained a few good dogs. He used to write as “Chris Nakashima-Brown,” until that was no longer an accurate representation. Brown currently lives in Austin with his family, in the edgeland woods between the river and the factories, where he works in a 1978 Airstream trailer.


The American Bookbinders Museum’s entrance is located at 366 Clementina Alley, off 5th Street, between Howard and Folsom. Street parking is free; garages are located at 5th & Mission, and 3rd & Folsom. The closest BART station is Powell Street — just turn down 5th Street, cross Mission and Howard, and turn left onto Clementina. The entrance onto Clementina from 4th Street is now open — just make a right after the hotel.

Need more info? Drop Rina a line at sfinsfevents@gmail.com.

Tags: Christopher Brown · Hannu Rajaniemi · Readings