Artist Hannu Väisänen wins prestigious Finlandia Literature Prize

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Artist Hannu Väisänen has won the 2007 Finlandia Literature Prize for his novel Toiset kengät ("The Other Shoes", Otava Publishing). The winner of Finland’s most prestigious literary award receives a cheque for EUR 26,000 from the Finnish Book Foundation.
      This year’s winner was chosen by cultural editor Kaisu Mikkola from Oulu from a short-list of six works.
     
The prize-winning novel depicts a young boy’s steps to adulthood, while he also begins to see his real vocation taking shape. He applies and is accepted into arts school, and turns his back on his home town of Oulu.
      The book is a follow-up to the writer’s acclaimed autobiographical first novel Vanikanpalat (”Pieces of Crispbread”) from 2004.
      "Toiset kengät can give answers to those who ask questions about adolescent men’s angst and confidence to those who hope that it is possible to cope with it", noted Kaisu Mikkola.
      Hannu Väisänen (born in 1951) is one of Finland’s best-known contemporary artists, currently living year-round in France. In November, he was granted the State Art Award, which carried a cash prize of EUR 15,000.
     
The other five candidates for this year’s Finlandia Literature Prize were Det har varit kallt i Madrid ("It’s been cold in Madrid") by Swedish-speaking Agneta Ara, Kohti ("Towards") by Juha Itkonen, Romeo ja Julia ("Romeo and Juliet") by Jari Järvelä, Lakanasiivet ("The Bed-sheet Wings") by Sirpa Kähkönen, and Sakset (" Scissors") by Laura Lindstedt.
      Apparently Väisänen's victory came as no great surprise, as Isle of Man-based gaming firm NordicBet closed its book on the results exceptionally well before the announcement, after a good deal of money had been placed on the advance favourite.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finlandia Literature Prize goes to Kjell Westö (8.12.2006)

Links:
  Finlandia Prize (Wikipedia)

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