Writer, poet, and Master of Arts Riina Katajavuori (b. 1968) has published eight poetry collections, four novels, short stories, around twenty children’s books, radio plays, audio essays, and song lyrics. Katajavuori’s poems have been translated into approximately thirty languages; most recently, she performed them at a poetry festival in Kenya in autumn 2025. Her awards and nominations include Helsinki Writer of the Year (2015), the Punni Prize (2017), the Alfred Kordelin Prize (2018), and a nomination for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize (Oravien sota) in 2022. In August 2026, Katajavuori’s jazz-inflected work Laula sisko, laula (Sing, Sister, Sing), a hybrid of verse novel and travelogue, will be published by Tammi. Katajavuori sings in the band Merry Ladies & Olohuoneorkesteri.
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro