Elina Hirvonen

Author

Elina Hirvonen is an author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. Her debut novel, Että hän muistaisi saman, was a Finlandia Prize nominee. In May 2009, the novel was featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, a rare achievement for a debut novel. Translated into English by Douglas Robinson, the novel is titled When I Forgot.

Released in the fall of 2023, Rakkauksien lokikirja (trans. Log of Loves) is the first part of a novel trilogy where discussions about love become a sea of connections between people. The narrator of the novel struggles against depression and begins to document conversations about love in its various forms with familiar and unfamiliar people around the world. Readers join the narrator on a walk through an emptied city, meetings in cafes, bars, and a palace in the middle of the Tigris. The stories of passersby leave their mark on the narrator, whose reflections create a picture of a rapidly warming and conflicted world, where people seek love, meaning, hope, and joy in different corners of the globe. The novel weaves together encounters, experiences, and readings into a map where the light and heavy, private and public, personal and political seamlessly intertwine.

Hirvonen's documentary film Paradise: Three journeys in this world which explores African migrants, has received numerous awards. Elina Hirvonen's works have been translated into over ten languages.

Photo: Otto Virtanen / WSOY 2017