Supporting writers

Living west of Helsinki in neighbouring Espoo as I do, in the autumn of 2012 I was asked to be chairman of Espoon Kirjailijat – Esbo Författare ry (‘the Espoo writers’ association’), which brings together the fiction and non-fiction writers in the city. As I had no previous experience in organisation activity, I immediately agreed.

In the past couple of years I’ve got acquainted with the activity of the Union of Finnish Writers, got to organise writer matinées and other events, and deal with routine administration. These years have been rewarding: I have gained a general understanding of the current state of Finnish fiction and non-fiction as well as what’s going on in the publishing business. And I’m still up for the challenge!

As an individual citizen I have for years now taken part in societal discussions with letters to the editor in newspapers. This year I started writing a blog for the Uusi Suomi newspaper.

By Written by Mikko Laakso. Translated by Kaisla Kajava. Revised by John Calton.

Mikko Laakso

Mikko Taneli Laakso
Born October 9, 1963, Lohja.

Master of Arts, 1990 and Licentiate of Philosophy (General History) 2000, University of Helsinki
Diplôme européen d’etudes medievales 1994 (Diploma awarded by FIDEM, the European Universities network for medieval research)
Archivist Diploma (National Archives Service of Finland), 1993

Researcher, Spiritus Historiae Ltd 1990- (fulltime from 2000)
Archivist, School of Art and Design, 1992-1995
Researcher, Department of Sociology (Demographics research unit), University of Helsinki, 1995-2000
Part-time researcher, Samfundet Folkhälsan, 2003-2011

Research interests: Finnish economic and social history, history of organisations and history of Finnish library services

Photo: Mika Federley
Written by Mikko Laakso and Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta (ed.)
Translated by John Calton