Born in Helsinki in 1943, Hannu Mäkelä was trained as a teacher, yet worked for 20 years as a literary editor for Otava Publishing Company. The winner of numerous literary awards, including the coveted Finlandia Prize in 1995, Hannu Mäkelä has been an independent writer since 1986. His works include children’s books, novels, radio and TV plays, anthologies of prose, and poetry. Mäkelä´s first books were published in 1965 and had since published over 170 literature works. Mäkelä had been studying Eino Leino´s work already in the beginning of his career by editing several collections of Eino Leino´s poetry. During the last few years Leino and also L. Onerva has been a centerpiece of Mäkelä´s research. Mäkelä´s book "Mestari" (1995) is the story
Pentti Saarikoski was one of the most important poets in the literary scene of Finland during the 1960s and 1970s. His body of work comprises poetry, autobiographical novels and translations, among them such classics as Homer's Odyssey and James Joyce's Ulysses.
