Before becoming a full-time author, Märta Tikkanen worked as a journalist and a Swedish lecturer and was the principal of an adult education centre, not so much for financial reasons but because engaging in societal matters was part of the spirit of the times.

“The director of my publisher in Finland, Söderström, encouraged me to meet the director of the newly founded Swedish publisher Trevi. So I did. The publisher Solveig Nellinge took my book and urged me to continue writing. She was the one who made me a writer.”

Even when she was small, Märta Tikkanen had decided that she would write books when she grew up. Her mother read her fairy tales and Märta also wrote some herself. When she was older, inspired by books such as The Surgeon's stories and Gone with the Wind, she began to write stories.

When Märta Tikkanen went to her Laudatur Seminar, there were only two students besides her – a Frenchman, Jean Bry, and Jörn Donner. “Professor Olof Enckell just called me fröken, miss, all the time.”

Märta Tikkanen dreams about staying healthy and being able to write whatever she wants.