Sofi Oksanen

Sofi-Elina Oksanen was born and raised in Jyväskylä in Central Finland. Her father is a Finnish electrician, her mother an Estonian engineer who grew up in Estonia during the Soviet period and emigrated to Finland in the 1970s.[2] Oksanen studied literature at the University of Jyväskylä and University of Helsinki and later drama at the Finnish Theatre Academy in Helsinki.[3] Oksanen is actively involved in public debate in Finland and comments on current issues in her columns and various talk shows. She is bisexual[4] and has suffered from eating disorders.[5] In 2009 she received an award from the organizers of Helsinki Pride for her activism on behalf of LGBT people in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia.[6]

Oksanen's first play Puhdistus ("Purge") was staged at the Finnish National Theatre in 2007. From out of the play grew Oksanen's third novel Puhdistus (2008).[7] It ranked number 1 on the bestseller list for fiction in Finland when it was published[8] and has received numerous awards, both in Finland and abroad.

The play Purge had its American première at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, in New York City, on February 10, 2011. The text was translated by Eva Buchwald and the production directed by Zishan Ugurlu.[9]

From October 2011, the play was produced in 11 countries, with productions in Norway, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Iceland,[10] Lithuania, Germany[11] and Hungary. It premiered in London at the Arcola Theatre from 22 February - 24 March with a new production directed by Elgiva Field.[12]

The novel has been adapted into a film – see Purge (2012) – directed by Antti Jokinen, selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards.[13]

Purge was adapted into an opera, composed by Jüri Reinvere, and it premiered at Finnish National Opera in 2012.[14]

In 2012, Oksanen published a map of Soviet Gulag prison camps, drawn by Niilo Koljonen, in the National Audiovisual Archive.[15]

Her fourth novel Kun kyyhkyset katosivat ("When the Doves Disappeared") was published in Finland August 31, 2012 and it was the most sold Finnish novel of the year.[16] The title refers to German soldiers catching and eating all the pigeons in Tallinn during the German occupation of Estonia.[4]

The book was translated into English by Lola Rogers: When the Doves Disappeared: A novel. (Knopf, 2015. ISBN 978-0-385-35017-4.)

Oksanen has written a libretto for Kaija Saariaho´s opera. The world premiere is in 2020 at Royal Opera House, Coven Garden, in London.[17]

Oksanen has also written numerous articles published in international newspapers. The topics often are related to freedom of speech, women's rights, Russian politics, information war, immigration and Finlandization. In 2014 Die Welt published her article about information war from the point of view of Eastern European countries.[18]

Her novel, Norma, translated by Owen Witesman, was published by W W Norton in September 2017.[19]

Novels

• Stalin's cows (original title Stalinin lehmät, published in Finnish 2003)
• Baby Jane (original title Baby Jane, published in Finnish 2005)
• Purge (original title Puhdistus, published in Finnish 2007)
• When the Doves Disappeared (original title Kun Kyyhkyset katosivat, published in Finnish 2012)
• Norma (original title Norma, published in Finnish 2015)

Plays

• The Blue-cheeked girls (original title Siniposkiset tytöt, 2005)[20]
• Purge (original title Puhdistus, 2007)
• When the Doves Disappeared (original title Kun kyyhkyset katosivat, 2013)
• I love you already (original title Rakastan sinua jo nyt, 2017)[21]

Lyrics/Poems

• Too short skirt - tales from the kitchen (original title Liian lyhyt hame -kertomuksia keittiöstä, 2011)[22]

Essays in English

• A Lion in a Cage, Eurozine, 19.5.2015[23]
• What's it like to write about Russia, 14.6.2016, UpNorth[24]
• Your silence will not protect you, 28.2.2018, UpNorth[25]
• My family knew all about iron curtain: it's vital to protect our right to speak out, The Guardian, 30.5.2018[26]
• A Soviet shadow looms over the Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki, The Guardian, 11.7.2018[26]

• Finlandia Prize, Finland, 2008
• The Kristiina of the year, Kristiina-institute, Finland, 2008[27]
• The Mika Waltari Award, Finland, 2008[28]
• The Great Finnish Book Club Prize, Finland, 2008[29]
• The SSKK Recognition Award, Finland, 2008
• The Kalevi Jäntti Award, Finland, 2008[30]
• Runeberg PrizeFinland, 2009[31]
• The Person of the Year, Postimees, Estonia, 2009[32]
• The Order of The Cross Terra Mariana, Estonia, 2010[33]
• Nordic Council Literature Prize[34] (2010) for Puhdistus
• The Prix Femina Ètranger, France, 2010[35]
• The Prix du Roman FNAC, France, 2010[36]
• The European Book Prize, EU, 2010[37]
• The French Booksellers Prize, France, 2012[27]
• The Order of the Lion of Finland, the Pro Finlandia, Finland, 2012[38]
• The Budapest Grand Prize, Hungary, 2013
• The Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, Sweden, 2013[39]
• Wolmar Schildt Award, Finland, 2015[40]
• Premio Salerno Libro d'Europa, Italy, 2015[41]
• Chevalier Medal of Honour by Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France, 2018[42]

Nominations

• The Helsingin Sanomat Prize for the best debutant novel, Finland, 2003
• Runeberg Prize, Finland, 2004[43]
• Prix Médicis, France, 2010[44]
• The Dublin International Literary Award (IMPAC), Ireland, 2012[45]
• The Dublin International Literary Award (IMPAC), Ireland, 2017[46]
• The Ambassador of Finnish Culture (The Culture Gala of the Century), Finland, 2017[47]
• The New Academy Prize in Literature, Sweden, 2018[48]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sofi Oksanen.

• Official site
  • Kun kyyhkyset katosivat, When the Doves Disappeared
• What Westerners weren't supposed to see
• 29. May 2012, Sofi Oksanen's New Book to Break Printing Record, http://news.err.ee
  • 30. August 2012, Sofi Oksanen: Tiet keskitysleireille on kivetty hyvillä aikomuksilla
  • 31. August 2012, Puhdistuksen ensi-ilta keräsi tähdet punaiselle matolle