As Executive Director of Suomen tietokirjailijat ry - the Finnish Association of Non-fiction Writers I get to sit in meetings. And when we are talking about an organisation peopled by volunteers, it means the meetings are typically in the evenings - Oscar Wilde’s classic definition of “the trouble with socialism”.

In addition to the Association’s own meetings, other important forums are provided by Kopiosto and Sanasto, whose boards I am on. I am also a member of the advisory board for copyright matters. It’s necessary to be where the decision making takes place if you want to safeguard general as well as non-fiction writers’ interests.

I am on the programme working groups for the Helsinki Book Fair and Vanhan kirjallisuuden päivät, the antiquarian book festival, respectively. I am chair of the organising committee for the TIETOKIRJA.FI event. This two-day meeting is taking place for the fifth time in the Tieteiden talo in Helsinki, 26-27 August, 2015. Present will be a hundred non-fiction authors and friends of non-fiction writing.

I enjoy organising events and acting as chair on various occasions. I particularly like interviewing non-fiction authors at the various events in the book industry. I also run book evenings at the Suomalainen Klubi, the Helsinki Finnish Club. In turn, I get plenty of invitations to events.