Sofi Oksanen
Encyclopedia
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
contemporary writer. She was born in Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
. Her father is Finnish and her mother is Estonian. So far, Oksanen has published three novels, one an international best seller and a play. She has received several awards for her literary work.
Life
Sofi Oksanen was born and raised in Jyväskylä located in Central Finland. Her father is a Finnish electrician, her mother an Estonian engineer who grew up in Estonia during the Soviet period and immigrated to Finland in the 1970s. Oksanen studied literature at the Universities of Jyväskylä and Helsinki and later drama at the Finnish Theatre AcademyTheatre Academy (Finland)
The Theatre Academy is located in Helsinki. It provides education in performing arts, including acting , directing, dramaturgy and script writing, dance, choreography, lighting design and sound design...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. Oksanen is actively involved in public debate in Finland and comments on current issues in her columns and various talk shows. She is a self-identified bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
and has suffered from eating disorder
Eating disorder
Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
s. In 2009 she received an award from the organizers of Helsinki Pride for her activism on behalf of LGBT people in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and Russia.
Work
Oksanen first became well known for her novel Stalinin lehmät ("Stalin's Cows") (2003), a story about a young girl's eating disorder and the image of Estonian women who had immigrated to Finland. It was nominated for the Runeberg Prize.Two years later, she released her second novel Baby Jane (2005) about anxiety disorder as well as violence among lesbian couples.
Oksanen’s first original play Puhdistus (”Purge”) was staged at the Finnish National Theatre
Finnish National Theatre
The Finnish National Theatre , founded in 1872 in the city of Pori, is located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. It is the world's oldest theatre with performances in Finnish...
in 2007. From out of the play grew Oksanen’s third literary novel Puhdistus
Purge (novel)
Purge is a novel by Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen, which has been translated into thirty-eight languages. Oksanen's third Finnish-language novel was published in 2008, based upon her original play of the same name, which was staged at the Finnish National Theatre in 2007...
(2008). It ranked number 1 on the bestseller list for fiction in Finland when it was published and has received numerous awards, both in Finland and abroad, and is set to become a film in 2012, to be produced by Markus Selin
Markus Selin
Markus Selin is a television and film producer.-Career:Selin's first feature was conceived in the mid-80s. While attending a party in L.A. he was introduced to fellow Finn Renny Harlin and so became good friends with the aspiring director who was then working as a buyer for a Finnish distribution...
.
The play Purge will have its American première at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is an off-off Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, and named in reference to her. Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the theatre grew out of Stewart's tiny basement boutique for her fashion designs; the boutique's space acted as a theatre for...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, on February 10, 2011. The text is translated by Eva Buchwald and the production is directed by Zishan Ugurlu.
From October 2011 the play will be independently produced in 11 countries, with productions in Oslo, Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, Stockholm, Reykjavík, Lithuania, Germany and Hungary. It will receive its London première at the Arcola Theatre from 22 February - 24 March with a new production directed by Elgiva Field.
Awards
In Finland, Oksanen was awarded the prestigious Finlandia PrizeFinlandia Prize
The Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland by the Finnish Book Foundation. It is awarded annually to the author of the best novel written by a Finnish citizen , children's book , and non-fiction book...
(2008), the Runeberg Prize
Runeberg Prize
The Runeberg prize is a Finnish literature prize founded in 1987.The prize is named in honour of Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg and is awarded annually on his birthday, 5th February. The prize is awarded to a literary work by a Finnish writer in Finnish or Swedish...
(2009) and the Nordic Council Literature Prize (2010) for Puhdistus
Purge (novel)
Purge is a novel by Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen, which has been translated into thirty-eight languages. Oksanen's third Finnish-language novel was published in 2008, based upon her original play of the same name, which was staged at the Finnish National Theatre in 2007...
.
Abroad, the novel won the French Fnac
Fnac
Fnac is an international entertainment retail chain offering cultural and electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. It is the largest retailer of its kind in France...
prize in 2010, selected from some 300 works published in France amid positive reviews by French critics; it was the first time the prize had been awarded to a foreigner. Purge was also the first Finnish work to win the Prix Femina
Prix Femina
The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse . The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury, although the authors of the winning works do not have to be women...
Étranger award. and the first work by a female Finn to win the Nordic Council's Literature Prize.
In 2009, the largest daily Estonian newspaper Postimees
Postimees
Postimees is an Estonian daily newspaper. It was established in 1 January 1857 by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and became Estonia's first daily newspaper in 1891....
named Sofi Oksanen Person of the Year; according to the editor-in-chief Merit Kopli the decision was unanimous. In 2010 the Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves is the fourth and current President of Estonia. He is a former diplomat and journalist, was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s and later a member of the European Parliament...
decorated Sofi Oksanen with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana was instituted in 1995 to honour the independence of the Estonian state. The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana is bestowed upon the President of the Republic. Presidents of the Republic who have ceased to hold office shall keep the Order of the Cross of...
IV Class.