Hannu Väisänen, who was born in Oulu, currently lives in France. Besides as an author, he works as a graphic artist and colourist painter. In November Väisänen was also awarded the State Prize for art (Taiteen valtionpalkinto) worth 15,000 euros.
Finlandia Junior
Last Thursday (29.11) the Finlandia Junior award for children's and youth literature was presented to Aino Havukainen (38) and Sami Toivonen (36) for their illustrated book Tatun ja Patun Suomi (literally 'Tatu's and Patu's Finland'). The book tells about the brothers Tatu and Patu from Outola (a place for strangers), where everything is different than in Finland. Together they discover what kind of country Finland is. The book has also been translated in Swedish (Det här är Finland) and English (This is Finland).
Related:
Shortlist for this year's Finlandia Prize announced
Nominations for Finlandia Junior award announced
New Finlandia prize for comics
Interview with Hannu Väisänen – Books from Finland
Extract from Toiset Kengät ('The Other Shoes') in English – Books from Finland
Art by Hannu Väisänen – Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
Christmas Calendar with a.o. excerpts from Tatu and Patu – This is Finland – Kidzone Finland
Finlandia Prize – Wikipedia