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Editorial

This 'n' that
Pekka Tarkka on the short-story writer Jyrki Vainonen and the poet Jyrki Kiiskinen; Soila Lehtonen on the theatre producer Kalle Holmberg; bookshops on the Web; literary prizes; errata; letter to the editor

Jyrki Vainonen
The pearl
A short story from Tutkimusmatkailija ja muita kertomuksia ('The explorer and other stories', Loki-kirjat, 1999), translated by Hildi Hawkins
The first volume of short stories by Jyrki Vainonen (born 1963) occupies a space between reality and fiction. Human beings and animals are juxtaposed; everyday reality suddenly seems strange and incredible. Would you accept a job as a living model for a department store, with a 10-hour working day?

Jyrki Kiiskinen
One more time
Poems from Kun elän ('As I live', Tammi, 1999) by Jyrki Kiiskinen, translated by Anselm Hollo
In his fourth collection of poetry, Jyrki Kiiskinen (born 1963), editor-in-chief of Books from Finland, writes about a 'landscape behind a broken windshield' - how a motorised death threatens to sever living

Raija Siekkinen
Between two loves
Extracts from the novel Se tapahtui täällä ('It happened here', Otava, 1999), translated by Hildi Hawkins
Raija Siekkinen (born 1953) writes about a woman looking for a lost memory, in a house that she thinks she needs to abandon. But spring, and the intervention of an estate agent, make her reconsider both her past and her plans to sell the house.
Interview with the author by Nina Paavolainen

Kalle Holmberg
Written on the wind
Extracts from memoirs, Vasen suora ('Straight left', Otava, 1999), translated by Herbert Lomas
The theatre and opera producer Kalle Holmberg believes that 'the dearest, the loveliest, the most horrible thing there is' is the ego. In his memoirs, published this autumn, Kalle Holmberg recalls his relationship with, among others, Wagner, Shakespeare - and the artistic ego

Tapani Ritamäki
Killing with kindness?
What is a Finland-Swede? Someone whose mother tongue is Swedish, not Finnish. There are 290,000 of them in the officially bilingual Finland - a number that is steadily falling. What can be done? Tapani Ritamäki, a Finland-Swede with a Finnish name, reports

Reviews

Irmeli Niemi
Two languages, one literature?
A History of Finland's Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield

Jukka Tarkka
Wars and peaces
Väkivallan vuodet. 20. vuosisadan tilinpäätös, osa 1 [Years of violence. Balance sheet of the 20th century. Volume I] by Max Jakobson

New translations

Select bibliography

Lars Sund
Letter from Uppsala
It's cold and dark in Finland, and Sweden, at this time of year. But Lars Sund has his crime novels to keep him warm


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