Finncon’s Finnish Guest of Honour J. Pekka Mäkelä doesn not have to come a long way to the Cable Factory. This grand old man of Finnish science fiction divides his attention effortlessly between translating, writing and making music.
Mäkelä started writing historical stories in his teens, but his first novel 391 was published only in 2004, after a long maturing period. The book is a traditional time travel story set in ancient Alexandria, written in a flowing and touching way. His next novels Alshain (2006) and Nedut [The Neds] (2007) are set respectively on a distant planet and the modern world, but their themes of humanity and change are timeless.
Mäkelä’s fourth novel Karsta [Crust] (2009) deals with the aftermath of and rebuilding after galactic conflict. His latest book Muurahaispuu [The Ant Tree] (2012) returns to the familiar scene of Kontula in Helsinki. Science fiction themes have mostly made way for sensitively portrayed life in the suburbs. Important themes are memories and the past, as well as the complex relationships influenced by them.
In addition to his own science fiction writing, Mäkelä is known especially for his translations. In addition to the works of Philip K. Dick, he has translated Ernest Cline’s new novel Ready Player One (Ready Player One. Romaani. Gummerus 2012), China Mièville’s The City and the City (Toiset, Karisto 2011), and various books by Le Guin, Stewart, Hornby, Williams and Swainston. Mäkelä’s translation of Blindsight by Peter Watts (Sokeanäkö, Gummerus) came out in early summer 2013.
In addition to fiction, Mäkelä has translated non-fiction, especially in the field of music, which is a passion of his in other ways, too. In 2002, Mäkelä published Kotistudio [The Home Studio] (Like), a guide to building your own recording studio, illustrated by Kivi Larmola. Their collaboration continued seven years later with the revised volume Oma studio ja äänittämisen taito [The Home Studio and the Art of Recording] (2009, Like).