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Karo Hämäläinen

Karo Olavi Hämäläinen
Born June 11, 1976, Mikkeli

Master of Arts 2008 (literature), University of Helsinki

Editor in chief 2014–, Parnasso
Writer 2000–
Literary critic (currently with Suomen Kuvalehti) 1994–

Journalist 2000–2005, Arvopaperi
Editor in chief 2007–2014, Kiiltomato.net
Managing editor, Arvopaperi, 2010–2013

Posts and expert positions:
Member of the Library Grant Committee’s literature division, 2015–
Member of the programming committee for the Vanhan kirjallisuuden päivät book fair, 2014–
Critic for various literary organisations and prize committees

Awards:
Tampere City prize for creative writing, 2012

Photo: WSOY/Harri Hinkka
Written by Karo Hämläinen (Kaija Hartikainen, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington

Gatekeeper

The views of a literary critic come to the fore when the reading public jointly defines what constitutes good literature. As the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Parnasso, Karo Hämäläinen leads Finland’s most prestigious literary magazine, and as such is a key figure for budding authors.

Nevertheless, Hämäläinen refuses to see his role as that of a nightclub bouncer who keeps the queue in line and decides who gets in. A literary gatekeeper is also the herald of high-quality works. Hämäläinen notes that the Internet has led to the democratisation of publicity and a reduction in the significance of professional critics. Today, more opinions on books appear than was previously the case, but the number of reviews written in the professional style of a critic has collapsed along with the general decline in newspaper reviews.

Hämäläinen sees the role of a literary expert as partly artistic in nature. It involves an active dialogue with aesthetics and the promotion and development of literature.

Editor-in-chief Karo Hämäläinen captains the literary magazine Parnasso, founded at the beginning of the 1950s.

 

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