1|2008CONTENTS

You can read some of Books from Finland here: click the links.

Editorial: Equaller than thou?

This’n’that

Leena Lahti on audiobooks; Karri Kokko on new poems by Rakel Liehu; literary prizes; new gift of old books to the National Library of Finland; best-selling books in 2007

Rakel Liehu

Change the words

Poems from Bul bul (‘Bulbul’, WSOY, 2007), translated by Herbert Lomas

Jackdaws, puddings and brain surgeons are woven into the fantastic narrative of these poems by Rakel Liehu (born 1939)

Lauri Sihvonen

No country for young men

When men go to war, women and children have to make do. Lauri Sihvonen takes a look at two novels — written in 1950 and 2007 — and set in the decade of the Second World War, the 1940s. Their absence casts a long shadow....

Sirpa Kähkönen

No place to go

Extracts from the novel Lakanasiivet (‘Linen wings’, Otava, 2007), translated by Owen Witesman

In June 1941 Soviet planes bombed Kuopio; in her novel, which takes place over a single day, Sirpa Kähkönen (born 1959) paints a vivid picture of a country town at war. In this extract, two children set out to find a mother who has gone missing — and are themselves recovered by a grandfather

Helvi Hämäläinen

Mothers and sons

Extracts from the novel Raakileet (‘Unripe’, 1950; first published in 2007 by WSOY), translated by Hildi Hawkins The manuscript of this novel by Helvi Hämäläinen (1907—1998) remained unpublished for 57 years; her merciless, street-credible observations of war-damaged Helsinki, adolescent boys and their mothers were too accurate for comfort

Anna-Leena Ekroos

Tough cookies

Sample pages from the illustrated book for children, Tatun ja Patun Suomi (This is Finland, Otava, 2007), by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen

Tatu and Patu, two inquisitive little boys, delve into matters head first; in the latest Tatu and Patu book by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen (born 1968 and 1971), the pair investigates what ‘Finnish’ means. Anna-Leena Ekroos interviews the illustrator couple

Owen Witesman

On translating Tatu and Patu

How faithful to the original can, and should, a translation be? Owen Witesman comments

Hannu Raittila

The next hundred years

Extracts from the essay ‘Seuraavat sata vuotta’ (‘The next hundred years’, published in Mies vailla tasa-arvoa, edited by Arno Kotro & Hannu T. Sepponen (‘A man without equality’, Tammi, 2007)

The writer Hannu Raittila (born 1956) takes a look at women’s liberation — and men’s. Will women wield power in a future in which men will be less educated?

Tiina Paju & Sari Luhtanen

Through thick and thin

Cartoon strips from Maisa & Kaarina. Pyöreät vuodet (‘Maisa & Kaarina. Happy returns’, Otava, 2007) Looks, men, shopping, gym, chocolate and parties are perhaps the most obvious common denominators of these two friends, one a housewife, the other single: a pair who take the everyday in their stride

Jyrki Lehtola

First things first

Sexual harassment in the Parliament: a serious issue, or a squabble between grown-up babies? Jyrki Lehtola takes a look at the media

Hannu Marttila

Hold it!

Victor Barsokevitsch: Suhteita. Toimittanut piispa Arseni

Victor Barsokevitch: Relationships. Edited by Bishop Arseni

New translations

Select bibliography

Petri Tamminen

On writing and not writing

In this series, guest writers ponder the difficulties of writing. Petri Tamminen, novelist and short-story writer, finds that recovering from writer’s block is prohibitively hard to describe — otherwise he would certainly write down the recipe

Petri Tamminen’s latest book is a novel entitled Enon opetukset (‘Uncle’s teachings’, Otava, 2006). His works have been translated into German, Swedish and Latvian