As a literary scholar, I have been old-fashioned in that I have always thought that literature has to do with life, ‘reality’. Just as Från Fredrika Runeberg till Märta Tikkanen (1985) deals with changes in the role of women over the course of a century, Det trånga rummet (1989) is about the development of men’s role.

I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Eyvind Johnson’s novel on Ulysses, Return to Ithaca (1946). I was particularly interested in how, returning from war and worn down by traumatic memories, Ulysses is trying to put together an autobiographical narrative that should be real on an emotional level. Since then I have been fascinated by the possibilities of biography. I have written two biographies myself – one on Fredrika Runeberg, the other on the Swedish author Agnes von Krusenstjerna  – as well as a novel on Zacharias Topelius.

The book that has been – and still is – the most important for me is Hem från festen (1992), which deals with the life and death of my mother. Most of my other literary works have been in some sense autobiographical. I have also lectured on autobiographical writing on numerous occasions both in Finland and in Sweden, and in recent years particularly to medical students. In Uppsala, Gothenburg and Umeå, I have also given courses and seminars on literature, especially to trainee doctors. I simply think that literature exists so that we would use it.