Born 1949 · Finland
Finlandia 2021 · Shortlist
Title translated by AI:“Passion”
Pirkko Saisio · 72 when first published
Novel · 732 pages · Historical, Family
AI-generated summary:After Savonarola's execution in Florence, a princess is buried with a jewel whose painful secret she keeps; over the centuries the jewel passes from owner to owner across Europe, finally reaching Finland.
Finlandia 2008 · Shortlist
Title translated by AI:“Immoderation”
Pirkko Saisio · 59 when first published
Novel · 583 pages · Satire, Politics
AI-generated summary:In 1990s Helsinki, a grey, insecure journalist has a near-religious vision at Hakaniemi market: a tall, blond, dazzlingly charismatic man. He drops everything to follow him into television and then into politics.
Finlandia 2005 · Shortlist
Title translated by AI:“Powerlessness”
Pirkko Saisio · 56 when first published
Novel · 491 pages · Family, Love
AI-generated summary:Jaakko, a pastor, has been a faithful husband to Harriet for over three decades. One Midsummer their son's young friend Jokke turns up uninvited at the family's summer cottage.
Finlandia 2003 · Winner
Punainen erokirja
Pirkko Saisio · 54 when first published
Novel · 250 pages · Autofiction, Love, Politics
AI-generated summary:In the politically heated Helsinki of the early 1970s, a young student joins the student theatre, applies to drama school and discovers both her love for women and her calling as a writer.
Finlandia 2000 · Shortlist
Vastavalo
Pirkko Saisio · 51 when first published
Novel · 278 pages · Autofiction, Coming of age
AI-generated summary:A writer revisits her school years and the many roles of her later life, asking how a person builds a self, in a fragmentary continuation of an autobiographical story.