Books from Finland - A literary journal of writing from and about Finland.

Finland’s most profilic and successful author is a former forestry worker and builder, Kalle Päätalo. Since 1962 he has produced, on average, a 600-page novel every year. Published in an initial edition of 100,000 – which always sells out immediately – Päätalo’s works are constantly on loan from the country’s libraries, and there are lengthy waiting lists for his newest books. At a cautious estimate, around a million Finns read a Kalle Päätalo book every year. There are five million Finns. In relation to the population, the scale of Kalle Päätalo’s readership is, in world terms, a rarity; perhaps unique. More…