Antti Ervasti is a psychotherapist specialising in family, couples and sexual therapy. He also gives lectures and addresses several sexuality related issues such as identity, relationships and well-being in his workshops and lectures.
Marika Riikonen is an author and journalist from Tampere – and also a perennial horse girl and humble servant to a cat. Riikonen has a Master’s Degree from the University of Tampere and she has studied Finnish literature, theater and drama, and communication studies. Her passions are reading – always and everywhere – , talking about books and the phenomena of life, and Roman pizza con patate.
Her literary career started in the early 2000s with speculative fiction short stories and progressed to editing anthologies and writing novels and non-fiction books. Her works include Ravilikat (Karisto 2020), a YA novel about harness racing; Hevostytöt (Art House 2020), a non-fiction title about horse girls; and Lasinen merenneito (Karisto 2021), an adventure novel set in Venice and the borders of reality. Riikonen has also written plays and appeared on stage.
As an editor and critic, Riikonen has oriented towards culture, especially children’s and YA literature. She is particularly proud of Finland’s only regularly published children’s and YA literature column, Sieppari, that has appeared in Hämeen Sanomat newspaper since 2006.
Hannu Sokala works as an investigative reporter for YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. His work covers e.g. international finance and macroeconomics.
Reetta Ranta is a storyteller and media professional. Reetta has worked for more than 20 years in media with several startups and media companies including Rabbit Films, Gutsy Animations, The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, and Basso Radio. Reetta is the creator, host and producer of the TV series Metsien kätkemä (‘Hidden by the Forests’), which showcases the gorgeous landscapes of Finnish nature. Her next book about rituals (Rituaalikirja) will be published by SKS Kirjat in Finland in the fall 2023.
Asko Känsälä (b. 1957) is a Finnish business builder and leader with a successful career as deputy CEO in the Finnish market leading telecommunication and digital services company Elisa; coach, investor, and grandfather to 10 grandchildren. He is passionate about inspirational leadership and has worked in manufacturing industry, public administration, banking, and ICT, as well as for four years in Japan.
Maria Katajavuori is a researcher with one leg in ecology and another in human behavioral studies, writing science by day and popular science by night. She draws together biological and social sciences to understand the nature of our species, producing tools for a more ecological future.
With experience on science, activism and policy making, Katajavuori fills her books with colorful scenes and personal anecdotes, ranging from Siberian tundra to forests of Canada and from grassroot activism to international congresses. Currently, Katajavuori is located at Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in the mountain-valley town of Lillehammer, developing projects on human behavior and working with science-policy interactions of the European Union.
Katajavuori’s first book, A Matter of Death and Life, received the State Award for Public Information of Finland in 2018, and her second book, The Whale in a Glass Bowl, was a Finlandia-Prize nominee in 2022. In science, Katajavuori publishes under PhD title and her birth name, Katariina E. M. Vuorinen.
Antti Huttunen is a TV producer, non-fiction writer and media entrepreneur. Huttunen is the founder of the Finnish travel website Retkipaikka and has published a number of books tied to the website. He is also the executive producer of Finland, Naturally website. Huttunen has scripted and produced two seasons of Metsien kätkemä (‘Hidden by the Forests’), a TV series about nature tourism in Finland.
Huttunen has previously worked in managing the digital marketing of Finnish Broadcasting Company and was one of the founders of Inferno Magazine music magazine in 2001. He has also scripted and produced known several award-winning advertisements.
Hanna Silvola is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Hanken School of Economics, Finland. Her research interests are in sustainable investing and in measuring, reporting and assuring corporate sustainability information in strategic decision-making. She has international experience from the London School of Economics,UK, University of Stanford, USA, Monash University, Australia and the University of New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Silvola has published on a range of topics in accounting in journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society; Management Accounting Research; Journal of Small Business Management and Journal of Management Accounting Review. She has comprehensive experience as a speaker in media and executive education.
Gordon F. Sander is a journalist and historian who has been visiting and writing about Finland and the Nordic region since 1977. His articles and essays have appeared in The Washington Post, New York Review of Books, and many other general interest and scholarly publications. One of the best known and respected authorities on Nordic affairs and history in the English-speaking world, he is the author of eight books, including three about Finland: The Hundred Day Winter War, his best-selling history of the 1939-40 Fenno-Soviet Winter War, Off the Map: A Personal History of Finland, and most recently, The Finnish Factor: Kekkonen, Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Cold War, his historical biography of Urho Kekkonen, the long-time president of Finland and his role in the pivotal 1961 Note Crisis, the culmination of six years of research in both Finland and the United States.
In 2017 Sander was knighted by President Sauli Niinistö for his services to Finland and international journalism, the first American writer to be so honored since World War II. He is also a Pulitzer Prize nominee. In addition to Finnish, Sander’s works have also been translated into Dutch, Estonian and Portuguese.
The ‘Fun Learning’ program is created by an incredible team of people led by Sanna Lukander, the Fun Academy CEO and a textbook publishing veteran. The team includes illustrators, graphic designers, children’s writers, Finnish teachers, and topical experts who create these fun adventures and stories. There is even a panel of children who form a focus group to make sure they get their say on everything concerning the Kip Crew! The book characters have been designed in cooperation with children in Finland and Spain.
Fun Academy, an official member of Education Finland (educationfinland.fi), is an early education company that provides pedagogical solutions based on the unique ‘Fun Learning’ approach.
The aim is to bring the best early education to every child on the planet. The solutions are developed for truly international application and can be adapted to complement other curricula.
Ismo Leikola, known professionally also as ISMO.., is the most successful stand-up comedian to come from Finland. He’s also an author, musician, screenwriter, and YouTuber.
ISMO made his United States debut in 2014, when he was awarded the title of “The Funniest Person in the World” in a contest organized by the comedy club Laugh Factory.
In 2015, he made his own comedy series “ISMO” for Finnish television and moved to the United States. He became an internationally known stand-up comic after his 2018 performance on Conan O’Brien’s TV show and made history by being the show’s most watched stand-up clip ever with over 90 million views on TeamCoco’s Facebook. He has also appeared on James Corden’s TV show and his talent in joking about language resulted in a collaboration with the prestigious Merriam Webster dictionary. He tours in the US and worldwide.
Angelika Leikola has been the assistant writer of her comedian ex-husband ISMO for thirteen years. In addition to practicing numerous other types of writing.
Angelika has a master’s degree in literature. She has also studied journalism and linguistics. And worked in these fields. Angelika writes lyrics too and sings backup in a band. Angelika’s special skill is to dissect words, ideas and concepts. Besides comedy her lifelong passion has been, and still is, wondering what kind of tricks the mind can play.
The Finnish edition of the book – A Swamp, a Hoe and Hollywood (Suo, kuokka ja Hollywood) – was published in Finland in March 2021 and has stayed on bestseller lists ever since.
Tiina Landau is an internationally recognized sustainability expert and Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA). She currently works as Sustainability Manager at Neste Corporation, incorporating sustainability considerations into new business models and supply chains. Previously she served as Senior Responsible Investment Officer at Ilmarinen, a pension investor with 50 billion euros Assets Under Management and was recognized as a top 50 contributor globally in responsible investments among asset owners in the IRRI survey 2017, voted by professionals in 43 countries. In addition, she has previously worked on sustainable investing at OP Financial Group (80 billion euros AUM) and in management consulting at KPMG. She has extensive experience as a speaker in media and seminars and also writes a column in the Finnish financial newspaper Kauppalehti. She is also co-hosting a podcast series on sustainable investing.
Hannu Aaltonen (right) works as an editor at the Finnish News Agency STT and is a football fan for whom football has been and is still a lifelong passion.
Tapio Keskitalo (left) is a sports editor for the Finnish News Agency STT who travels the world because of football, both for work and during his free time.
Mari Tossavainen, PhD, is an art historian who has, in her previous works, written about Finnish sculpture of the late 1800s and early 1900s and about the renowned Finnish sculptor, Emil Wikström.
Kimmo Rentola (b. 1953), PhD, is a historian and professor of political history, at the University of Turku from 2006 to 2014 and at the University of Helsinki since 2014. In his research, Rentola has specialized in the history of the Cold War, the relationships between Finland and the Soviet Union, and both Finnish and Nordic communism. His other research areas are the youth movements of the 1960s and the history of intelligence agencies.
His latest title, STALIN AND THE FATE OF FINLAND, won the Lauri Jäntti Award for non-fiction literature in 2017, while his previous book Vallankumouksen aave (‘The Ghost of the Revolution’) won the Science Book of the Year Award in Finland in 2007.
Juha-Pekka Raeste covers international and domestic business for Helsingin Sanomat, the biggest newspaper in Finland. He focuses on the biggest corporations and the IT industry.
Hannu Sokala works as an investigative reporter for YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. His work covers e.g. international finance and macroeconomics.
Heikki Aalto-Alanen is the grandson of architects Aino and Alvar Aalto, who has previously served as vice chairman of the Alvar Aalto Foundation, been a member of Artek’s Board of Directors, member of the Alvar Aalto Academy Board, and held other positions maintaining Aino and Alvar Aalto’s artistic work and heritage. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Alvar and Aino Aalto Estate Ltd. Heikki Aalto-Alanen is a lawyer by profession and has worked in the financial world.
His book MIRROR LIKE AN OCEAN REFLECTING YOUR SMILE tells the story of Alvar and Aino Aalto, depicted through their correspondence, photographs and drawings.
As a child, Maria Pettersson’s dream job was to be an international adventurer. Instead, she became an award-winning journalist, the editor-in-chief of several magazines and a serious history geek. She has worked for the biggest newspapers, radio stations and TV channels in Finland. She has travelled in over 70 countries, got married in Vegas and spent her honeymoon in North Korea. Her hobbies include games and roleplaying, observing big machines, studying small Slavic languages and visiting dead dictators. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland.
Emilia Elisabet Lahti (DSc, MSSc, MAPP), who goes by Elisabet, is an awarded educator, applied psychology researcher, and founder of Sisu Lab that helps create communities and work cultures based on everyday leadership as an expression of courage and compassion. Elisabet holds a master’s degree in social psychology from the University of Tampere in Finland and a master’s in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied under Professors Martian Seligman and Angela Duckworth. Since initiating the research on the Finnish construct of sisu in 2012, Elisabet’s doctoral work has involved exploring the limits of her own sisu through ultra-endurance running and Eastern martial arts. Her work on sisu has been featured by The New Yorker, Business Insider, BBC, Forbes, and more. Born and raised in Finland, she has lived and taught internationally and given talks at Fortune 500 companies, TEDx, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley.
PERTTU PÖLÖNEN is a futurist, inventor and an inspirational speaker. He has won the EU’s biggest science competition for youth and studied exponential technologies at Singularity University, based at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The MIT Tech Review has named him as one of 35 Innovators Under 35 in Europe. In the Finnish media, Perttu has been called a gentle highbrow and fearless inventor. Future Skills has been an instant bestseller in Finland!
Jessikka Aro (born 1980) is a Finnish journalist working for Finland’s public service broadcaster Yle. In September 2014, she began to investigate pro-Russian Internet trolls, but became a victim of their activities herself.
In 2019 she was notified that she was to receive an International Women of Courage Award but this was mysteriously rescinded just before the ceremony.
AAPO ROSELIUS is a resercher and a nonfiction author, who has studied extensively the Finnish Civil War and the history of the 1920s and 1930s.
OULA SILVENNOINEN, PhD, is a historian and an author of narrative non-fiction who specializes on the upheavals of the modern era within the Nordic and Baltic sphere. Among other topics, he has published on the themes of policing, war, fascist movements and the Holocaust. His works have been translated also into German, Swedish and Estonian. Oula Silvennoinen is currently based in the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Lotta Sonninen works as an editor of Finnish fiction and has also translated a lot of nonfiction. She got the idea for The Little Book of Bad Moods when working on yet another book on positivity. On her free time, she plays in a band and has tried to be funny on a stand-up comedy stage as well.
Author photo by Päivi Puustinen
Mia Kankimäki is the author of two best-selling books which blend travelogue, memoir, biography and women’s history. After taking a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Helsinki and working diligently in Finnish publishing, in 2010 she left her job and traveled to Japan to write her first book. Her books have received several literary awards, for example the Best Travel Book of the year 2013, the HelMet Award 2015, and Otava Book Foundation’s Non Fiction Award 2020. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland, whenever she’s not traveling for her next book project.
Mia has been enthusiastic about Japanese culture for years, and is a qualified ikebana teacher of the Sogetsu school. Her first book Things That Make One’s Hear Beat Faster took her to Kyoto where she has spent long periods of writing and making research ever since. Kankimäki’s second book The Women I Think About at Night has sold over 36,000 copies in Finland and the translation rights have been sold to 15 territories, including USA and China.
Author photo by Otava Publishing
Frank Martela, PhD, is a philosopher and researcher of psychology specializing in the question of meaning in life. His articles have appeared in Scientific American Mind, Harvard Business Review and Salon and his work has been featured on Quartz and on the BBC. His research has been published extensively in numerous academic journals such as Journal of Personality, Journal of Positive Psychology, Journal of Happiness Studies, Metaphilosophy, Southern Journal of Philosophy, Review of General Psychology, and Organization Studies. He has spoken to more than one hundred audiences worldwide, including invited lectures in universities on four continents, including Stanford University and Harvard University. He’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Fitness, Vice News, and Monocle Observer among others. He is based at Aalto University in Helsinki.
Outside of work, Frank is a father to three lovely children (currently 8, 5, and 3 years old), an amateur-level soccer player, with an occasional skiing trip in the winters. He is made in Green Bay, so Packers holds a special place in his heart.
Carita has always enjoyed saunas and takes a sauna with her family nearly every day. In 2010, she founded Sauna from Finland, because she felt that there was simply not enough discussion of saunas, especially from the perspective of health and wellness. Also, saunas had acquired a “macho” reputation, and that they were not being discussed from perspectives that would interest women. The organization’s mission is to create the world’s best sauna experiences and she loves her work because it allows her to advance an idea that she is personally so passionate about.
TIMO HONKELA has researched artificial intelligence and machine learning for over 30 years, and served as a professor in three universities, including his current post as Professor of Digital Information Research in Helsinki University. The Peace Machine is his testament, in which he talks about his life work in hopes of inspiring other people to continue the important work.
KONSTA KLEMETTI & HARRO GRÖNBERG have worked for several leading game companies in Helsinki and now form the core of the story-driven transmedia studio Action Squad Studios.
Raisa Cacciatore MD, is a child psychiatrist, special competence in adolescent health, specialist physician, and an EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner. She provides training to professionals and to parents and has written many textbooks and works of nonfiction, including Save the Boys. She is currently writing her dissertation on the topic of supporting children’s sexuality. Raisa has received lifetime achievement awards from the Finnish Cultural Foundation (2011) and the Association of Finnish Non-Fiction Writers (2016), as well as the State Award for Public Information (2017).
Erja Korteniemi-Poikela is a midwife, nurse, clinical sexologist, and nonfiction author. She has had a long career working with the sexual health of adults, children, and adolescents, and has co-authored several nonfiction books with Raisa Cacciatore. Erja was chosen Midwife Innovator of the Year in 2000, and in 2004, received the School Health Deed of the Year award from the Finnish Association of School and Student Health for her work on the Steps to Sexual Maturity learning materials published by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
The duo’s previous collaborations include several books for adolescents, parents and professionals alike.
Laura Ertimo is a geographer and author. She has previously worked in publishing of geography-related non-fiction and maps, and now she writes full time, specializing in children’s non-fiction. A recurring theme in her work is the holistic worldview, the interaction between phenomena, people and nature.
Author photo: Anna Autio.
Helsinki-based writer, editor and broadcast journalist Katja Pantzar was born in Finland and raised and educated in Canada. A freelance member of the Finnish public broadcasting company Yle’s news team, Pantzar is a regular contributor to Blue Wings, the in-flight magazine of Finnair and Helsinki correspondent for Monocle 24.
She is the author of three guides to Helsinki: The Hip Guide to Helsinki, Helsinki by Light and 100 Things to Do in Helsinki. Finding Sisu is the first book Pantzar has written that will be published outside of Finland.
Jorma Ollila became the pre-eminent European businessman of his generation during his time as CEO of Nokia Corporation from 1992 to 2006. Ollila currently works as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Royal Dutch Shell and at Outokumpu. He has master’s degrees in economics from the London School of Economics, in engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology and in political science from the University of Helsinki.
Against All Odds: My Emotional Journey with Nokia (Mahdoton menestys: Kasvun paikkana Nokia, Otava 2013), Ollila’s autobiography of the company that created a global mobile revolution, was 2013’s bestselling narrative nonfiction book in Finland, and was selected as one of the year’s most fascinating books by the influential Suomen kuvalehti magazine.
Harri Saukkomaa, co-author of Against all Odds, is a well-known media expert, entrepreneur and author of several nonfiction books.
Dr. Kari Nars has a long and distinguished career in various high banking positions in London, Washington and Paris, and as a director of Finland’s central bank and Ministry of Finance. He has published several books, and was chief editor and main writer of Excellence in Debt Management by Euromoney Books in London.
Dr. Tuula Karjalainen is a Finnish art historian and non-fiction writer who has previously worked as a director of the Helsinki Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki. As the author of Tove Jansson’s biography, Tuula Karjalainen has become an expert not only on Jansson’s works but also on her several decades of personal correspondence and journals.
Ben Furman is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, trainer of solution- focused psychotherapy, and author. He has written several books on mental well-being and psychotherapy.
Ben Furman is one of the developers of the Kids’ Skills method.
Rights to his works are sold in e.g. English (Australia), Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
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