Finnish Classics Part 2.

Back in September I wrote a post about some Finnish classics. It was my intention to post part 2 soon after part 1, but then I got too busy preparing for the upcoming Finnish 10-Dance Championships and forgot all about part 2. Well, better late than never! Here comes part 2, and in tune with my participating in the Women Unbound Challenge it is all about women writers! I must say, though, that it's such a pity not more Finnish novels have been translated into English...

1. Three Novels by Aino Kallas

Aino Kallas (1878-1956) belonged to a well-known intellectual family. Her father Julius Krohn was the professor of Finnish literature at the University of Helsinki. Aino published her first work at the age of 19. In 1900 she married Oskar Kallas, an Estonian scientist. The couple lived first in St. Petersburg, Russia (Finland at the time was a Russian Grand Duchy), then in Estonia and later in Great Britain after Oskar Kallas was appointed Estonia's ambassador there. Later still the Nazi-occupation of Estonia forced the Kallas to flee to Sweden. Her last years the widowed Aino Kallas lived in Finland. She wrote both poetry and prose. Three Novels is a collection of her three most famous novels, the most famous being, perhaps, The Wolf's Bride, which is a werewolf story. The other two short novels in the book are Barbara von Tisenhusen and The Pastor of Reigi. All three novels tell about illegitimate love and are also called The Eros Trilogy. Her writing is inventive and beautiful, but I must warn you, there are no happy endings in these stories. The stories were first translated into English between 1927-1930 and then again 1975.

Read more about Aino Kallas and her work here.

2. The Moomin books by Tove Jansson. These are children's book classics (but even adults read them:)) made really popular all again in the 1990s, because of a Japanese cartoon based on the moomin characters. Tove Jansson (1914-2001), belonged to Finland's Swedish-speaking minority. Both her parents were artists, and all the children in the family chose artistic professions. Tove became an artist, an illustrator, and a writer. Her life partner was graphic designer Tuulikki Pietilä. The Moomin books, first of which, The Moomins and the Great Flood, was published in 1945, tell about the lovable moomin trolls (who look a bit like white hippos :)) and their friends in the Moominvalley.

Quite a few of Jansson's novels & short stories aimed for an adult audience, are also available in English. Sort of Books publishing house in London have during the 2000s published 5 of her books (Sun City, The Summer Book, A Winter Book, Fair Play, and The True Deceiver). Read more about Tove Jansson here.

3. The Collected Poems by Edith Södergran.

Edith Södergran (1892-1923) was another Swedish-speaking Finn and is now considered one of the internationally best known Finnish poets. Her first collection was published in 1916 and she managed to write five more books of poetry before succumbing to consumption. One more collection was published posthumously in1925. She was an early modernist, who gained more recognition only many years after her death. Read more about her here.

4. Not Before Sundown/Troll -A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) won the Finlandia Prize with her first novel Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi in 2000. Before that she had already established herself as a science fiction and fantasy short story writer. Her novel was translated into English as Not Before Sundown in 2003, and for the American market as Troll -A Love Story in 2004. This is a brilliant, innovative novel with fantastical elements drawn from Finnish folklore. The book is, in my opinion, a true modern classic. Sinisalo has written four books since The Troll, unfortunately they are not available in English. Read a bit more about Sinisalo here.

Happy Epiphany for those who celebrate!