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.

Hufvudstadsbladet stole Märta Tikkanen straight from university. She had already worked as a summer journalist for the paper for three years, later taking it up full-time after graduation.

“The paper would have already liked to have me as a full-time employee earlier, but my father was against it. He insisted that I finish my Master’s degree first. I yelled and cried, but did what I was told.”

In her graduation year, Märta married her first husband, a medical student called Leif Ginman. The marriage was short-lived, however, as Märta had met the love of her life, Henrik Tikkanen, at Hufvudstadsbladet.

In 1962 Märta Tikkanen became senior lecturer in Swedish language at Svenska Samskola in Lauttasaari. It was not an easy job, for there could be up to 40 students per class, and Tikkanen had no previous experience of teaching.

“I enjoyed being with the students and teaching a lot, especially when I could talk about literature and not grammar. The school was new and we teachers were nearly the same age as the students. I was 25 and the oldest student was 21. There was a nice atmosphere in the teachers’ office.”

Her friendships with the students have endured to this day. For instance, Tikkanen still keeps in contact with Nils Torvalds, who is now a member of the EU parliament.

“He would always challenge me in class, asking me why I was doing this or that, trying to get me on thin ice, but he never succeeded!”

Torvalds often forgot to turn in his essays, so one time Tikkanen told him to bring the next essay to her home before nine o’clock in the evening.

“When Nicke came, Henrik was at home and stayed on the sofa drinking tea and chatting with him. At half past twelve, Nicke’s angry mother called, wondering why a female teacher was keeping her young student in her apartment this late at night”, says Tikkanen, laughing.

In 1966 Märta Tikkanen stayed at home to take care of their four children. In those years she also published her first two books. She had no particular financial need to work, because her husband, the artist and writer Henrik Tikkanen, provided for the family. Nevertheless, Märta Tikkanen did not want a life as a stay-at-home mum.

“Henrik was angry at me when I didn’t stop working. He said that when there are as many as four children the wife should stay at home. I replied to him that this woman did not want to stay home but to work and be a part of society.”

At the beginning of the 1970s, Tikkanen became the principal of Helsinki’s Swedish language adult education centre.

“Back then in the 70s you had to be active and take a stance on social issues. The adult education centre was an ideal workplace for this. As principal I was able to organise all sorts of things.”

Tikkanen had to plan her words carefully, as some of the members of the board of the education were quite conservative.

“When I wanted to organise a discussion on the revolutions of North Africa, I called it the ‘Nubian panorama,’ which sounded more like a travel-related theme. I was happy when I thought of titles that they accepted.”

However, the biggest struggles that Tikkanen had with the board were related to questions of whether the education centre programme was too female or too feminist.

She devoted term time to work but always waited for the summer so that she could write. In summer she was sometimes to be found sitting on her red sofa, writing, even at night. After seven years of work at the education centre, Tikkanen took a year’s leave of absence and never returned.

“It was too tough to take care of work, four children, and an artist husband and still publish something. Becoming an author was wonderful; it was what I wanted the most.”