My Dream

My dream concerns writing. I already became interested in literature and producing text as a youngster. As a teenager I went through the great classics of world literature and dreamt of becoming a writer. At some point I would like to make that dream come true and start writing fiction.

Fiction could also serve as a nice change of pace to writing non-fiction. Conducting research of course has its bright sides, and naturally works of non-fiction are in some sense an author’s interpretation of events. By nature I am a collector, and taking down a good set of notes right from the start goes a long way, but sometimes the work can feel endless. There are moments when it would be nice to focus on something lighter and not spend such ridiculous amounts of time doing background research.

By Written by Heikki Nevala, translated by Tomi Setälä, revised by Matthew Billington

Heikki Nevala

Heikki Johannes Nevala
Born April 12, 1968, Helsinki

Master of Arts (comparative literature), University of Helsinki

Non-fiction writer, magician, public administration secretary, office secretary
Editor-in-Chief 2009–12, Simsalabim (the publication of the Finnish Magic Circle)

Publications:
Suomen Taikapiiri since 1945 (‘The Finnish Magic Circle since 1945’), ed., 2007, Finnish Magic Circle

Silmänkääntäjiä, konstiniekkoja ja loihtutaiteilijoita. Taikurien vaiheita Suomessa 1800-luvulta 1960-luvulle (‘Conjurers, prestidigitators and enchanters. Magicians in Finland from the 19th Century to the 1960s’), 2011, Finnish Literature Society SKS.

Huvielämän kiertolaisia – Kotimainen sirkus ja tivolitoiminta 1900–1950 ('Travelling entertainers – Finnish circuses and fairgrounds 1900–1950'), 2015, Kerava Museum and Circusinfo Finland

Photo: Ilkka Ärrälä
Written by Olli Siitonen
Translated by Matthew Billington