When Touko Siltala began studying at the University of Helsinki in 1975, he had qualified to major not only in Finnish Literature but also in English Philology and Political History. In the end he completed his Master’s in Finnish Literature.

– It was the staff at the Department of Finnish Literature that attracted me. I adored the books of Professor Anna-Mari Sarajas. The literary polymath Professor Kai Laitinen was a fascinating person, as was Pekka Tarkka, the leading critic of the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, who also was an instructor at the department.

Mr Siltala’s goal was to get a job that involved literature. During his studies he refined this goal.

– From the word go, my goal was to earn a living with literature. One alternative was to work as an academic in literary studies or critic in journalism. My third option, publishing, was what I ended up doing.

Despite his clear career goal, Mr Siltala mentions he took the typical humanities approach to his studies, reading everything that caught his fancy from art history to philosophy and from political science to aesthetics.

– Going through the big blue book, the syllabus of the Faculty of Arts, was tremendously exciting. The sheer variety of choices was addictive.

Even so, Mr Siltala made sure he completed his Master's. In the latter stages of his studies he had a job as assistant librarian at his department. His thoughts of becoming a researcher were beginning to crystallise, but then serendipity struck.

– As a freshly minted Master, I got a one-year job as an editor at WSOY. That decided it for me: publishing was my thing.

Mr Siltala isn't bothered by his exit from academia.

– For several years, I took part in the postgraduate research seminar on Finnish literature, but I never seemed to find the time for actual research. I spent one year in the United States on an ASLA Fulbright grant, but although the year was stimulating, I began to feel like I needed to get back to publishing and practical work.

After returning to Finland, Mr Siltala applied for a job at WSOY, was accepted and never looked back. Nevertheless, he remained in contact with the University and continued in the postgraduate research seminar.

– For the longest time I had a stack of papers at home, my dissertation project. Then I decided to stop dithering and concentrate on my job.