Rakel Liehu | |
|---|---|
 Liehu in 2010 | |
| Born | September 3, 1939 Nivala, Finland |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Finnish |
| Alma mater | University of Helsinki |
| Years active | 1974 — present |
| Notable works | Helene (2003) |
| Notable awards |
|
Rakel Liehu (born 3 September 1939) is a Finnish poet, dramatist and novelist. [1] [2]
Liehu began writing poetry at the age of 11, inspired by the works of women poets such as Aila Meriluoto, and has since gone on to publish 13 poetry collections. [3] [4] [2]
She has also authored three novels, as well as two plays and various scripts. [4] [2]
Her debut poetry collection, Ihmisen murhe on yhteinen (lit. 'The Grief of a Person is Shared'), came out in 1974, and her first novel, Seth Mattsonin tarina ('The Story of Seth Mattson'), in 1976. [2]
Her perhaps best-known work is Helene (2003), a novel about the life of the Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck, which won the 2004 Runeberg Prize. [1] [3] It formed the basis of the 2020 film by the same name, directed by Antti Jokinen and starring Laura Birn as Schjerfbeck, [4] [5] which was nominated for an award in the feature-length category at the Shanghai International Film Festival. [6]
Her latest novel, Valaanluiset koskettimet (2020) ('Whale Bone Keys') is strongly autobiographical. [3]
Her other notable works include the novel Punainen ruukku ('Red Pot') (1980), and the essay collection Sininen kala ('Blue Fish') (1999). [1]
In 2004, Liehu won the Runeberg Prize with Helene. [4] [7]
In 2006, she was awarded the Pro Finlandia medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland. [4] [8]
In 2008, Liehu received the Finnish State Literature Prize ( Kirjallisuuden valtionpalkinto ). [4] [9]
Aged five, Rakel Liehu contracted pneumonia, which killed her younger sister. [2] She herself survived, but suffered from resultant ill health all her childhood, missing much of school while needing to convalesce; it was during that time that she became interested in poetry. [2]
Liehu graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1963, after which she worked briefly as a teacher of Finnish and history at a secondary school in Raahe. [10]
She was married until the death of her husband in 2008, with three children. [2] Liehu lives in the Kruununhaka district of central Helsinki. [4]
The Finlandia Prize is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious in the nation, they are awarded annually in three categories: fiction, non-fiction and children's and youth literature. The prize was first awarded in 1984.
Helena Sofia (Helene) Schjerfbeck was a Finnish painter. A modernist painter, she is known for her realist works and self-portraits, and also for her landscapes and still lifes. Throughout her long life, her work changed dramatically beginning with French-influenced realism and plein air painting. It gradually evolved towards portraits and still life paintings. At the beginning of her career she often produced historical paintings, such as the Wounded Warrior in the Snow (1880), At the Door of Linköping Jail in 1600 (1882) and The Death of Wilhelm von Schwerin (1886). Historical paintings were usually the realm of male painters, as was the experimentation with modern influences and French radical naturalism. As a result, her works produced mostly in the 1880s did not receive a favourable reception until later in her life.
Her work starts with a dazzlingly skilled, somewhat melancholic version of late-19th-century academic realism…it ends with distilled, nearly abstract images in which pure paint and cryptic description are held in perfect balance.
The Order of the Lion of Finland is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The orders are administered by boards consisting of a chancellor, a vice-chancellor and at least four members. The orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland have a joint board. The President of Finland wears the Star of the Order of the Lion of Finland.
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The Runeberg prize is a Finnish literature prize founded in 1987.
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The Golden Age of Finnish Art coincided with the national awakening of Finland, during the era of the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Empire. It is believed to span an era from the late 19th Century to the early 20th Century, approximately 1880 to 1910. The epic poetry form known as Kalevala, developed during the 19th Century, provided the artistic inspiration for numerous themes at the time, including in visual arts, literature, music and architecture; however, the "Golden Age of Finnish Art" is generally regarded as referring to the realist and romantic nationalist painters of the time. Notable figures of the time include Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Pekka Halonen, Albert Edelfelt, Jean Sibelius, Eino Leino, Helene Schjerfbeck, Emil Wikström, Eero Järnefelt and Eliel Saarinen.
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Pauliina Susi is a Finnish writer. Her debut novel Ruuhkavuosi was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize in 2005. In 2016, she received a Lead of the Year award from the Finnish Detective Society for her book Takaikkuna (2015).
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