Finland has yet again been named the world’s happiest country, and perhaps it’s because they are a country of passionate readers: every third Finn reads literature every month, over 70% of Finnish parents read out loud to their children, and there are 12 library loans per Finnish resident per year. Join FILI, the Finnish Literature Exchange in Helsinki, to celebrate some of Finland’s best writers reading and previewing their recent work.

Finnish snacks and drinks will be on hand. This event is in English, but if you happen to speak Finnish, you’ll be among friends.

A special guest will read for Märta Tikkanen, who is a Finland-Swedish journalist, writer, and teacher. Much of her writing deals critically with gender roles and the shackles that bind women, as well as women’s liberation and the desire for self-realization. She became a central figure in the Nordic women’s movement with her novel Manrape (1978), which was adapted into a 1978 film directed by Jörn Donner. She is the recipient of several awards for her work, including the Nordic Women’s Alternative Literature Prize, Finland’s State Prize for the Dissemination of Knowledge, the Swedish De Nios Grand Prize, the Swedish Academy’s Finland Prize, and Finland’s State Literary Prize. Her work has been translated into over 20 languages. Her 1978 classic and international bestseller, The Love Story of the Century, will be published as a new translation in the US next month by Deep Vellum.