Finnish SF&F Author Johanna Sinisalo is currently visiting the Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota (St. Peter, Minnesota, U.S.A.) as this year’s Out of Scandinavia Artist in Residence. Her week includes visiting classes and engaging with students and faculty. She will present a free public lecture titled “Finding Fresh Perspectives—The Breakthrough of Non-realistic Genres in Finnish Contemporary Fiction” tomorrow (May 8). So if you happen to be nearby, go visit!
Reposted by Tero Ykspetäjä’s permission form his blog, Partial Recall : http://partialrecall.blogspot.com/ We’re thanking him !
“Johanna Sinisalo was born in 1958 in Sodankylä, Finnish Lapland (Finland), and now lives in the city of Tampere. She began her career writing science-fiction short stories and has been the recipient of the national finnish Atorox Award for the best domestic short story in science fiction seven times. Her stories have been widely translated and garnered her international acclaim, including nomination for the Nebula Award in the U.S. (Not Before Sundown)
Sinisalo is best known for her novel Troll: A Love Story (Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi, 2000), which received the 2000 Finlandia Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Finland. The novel also tied for the James Tiptree Jr. Award in 2004 and has now been translated into 14 languages. Her fourth novel, Birdbrain (Linnunaivot, 2008), was translated into English in 2010, and the English rights of her latest novel The Blood of Angels (Enkelten verta, 2011) have recently been acquired. In addition to five novels and two short story collections, she has written a book for children titled Möbiuksen maa [The Land of the Mobius Strip].
Sinisalo’s scope as a writer include numerous reviews, articles, comic strip scripts and screenplays, and the original story for the international science fiction comedy movie Iron Sky. She had edited two anthologies, of which The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy is available in English.”
