The Out of Scandinavia artist-in-residence will soon have a movie starring Steve Carrell based on his work.
He鈥檚 been dubbed both 鈥渢he king of Helsinki noir鈥 and 鈥渢he funniest writer in Europe.鈥 Think: Coen Brothers but even further north than Fargo. A movie adaptation of his novel , about an actuary who inherits an adventure park, . Two of his other books have already been adapted for screen, (a series now streaming on Acorn), and the movie , which just wrapped filming and is coming to Netflix in 2025.
During Tuomainen鈥檚 visit April 21鈥27, he will visit classes, meet with students, and hold a public lecture, 鈥淔inland is Fun,鈥 at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, in Wallenburg Auditorium, Nobel Hall of Science. He will also hold Saint Peter and Minneapolis events.
Here are 麻豆视频鈥檚 five questions with him.
GUSTAVUS 1: You seem to have had quite a liberal arts career, majoring in English and philosophy. (Oh, the humanities!). How did your major(s) inform them, as well as your work as a fiction writer?
AT: To make a really long story overtly short: the two years I spent at the university鈥攂efore setting out to gather some life experience, to put it in polite terms鈥攚ere of crucial importance. I truly enjoyed English and especially the literature part of the studies, and I think it has benefited me in numerous ways ranging from the knowledge of history to learning how language can be used. This is true both for my long-ago career as a copywriter and it is true for my work today as a full-time novelist.
G 2: You have written a variety of different types of stories. What topics, themes, and approaches do you like to explore in your work? Having now been published in more than 30 countries, what is the universal appeal to your work, do you think?
"I like to write, in one form or another, about the big things in life: love, family, faith, finding happiness, friendship, death, and, lately, sauna."
AT: When I start thinking about a book, I always start with the main character and her/his problem. There also needs to be a theme or a question in my head that I want to think about for at least a year. (Writing a book is always slower and a lot more work than one thinks.) I like to write, in one form or another, about the big things in life: love, family, faith, finding happiness, friendship, death, and, lately, sauna. I suppose that is where it becomes universal. Apart from the sauna, perhaps. (And more about that in my talk, rest assured.)
G 3: Finland is often cited as one of the 鈥渉appiest鈥 countries on Earth. And yet, your most popular books are dark comedies. Why do you think this is, and what makes Finland such a ripe environment for the darkly comic stories you tell? (Note: Our college was founded by Swedish Lutheran immigrants, and the state of Minnesota is a wintry one filled with generations of Nordic immigrants, including Finns. In a way, I鈥檓 talking about our own Minnesotan propensity for dark comedy.)
AT: I鈥檓 beginning to think that perhaps the dark humor is some kind of a survival mechanism. When the winter lasts six months you really need to come up with something witty to say. Also, I should probably mention that the first time Finland was cited as the happiest country on Earth, the Finnish people were very upset. We are not happy, everybody seemed to be saying.
G 4: What are your favorite parts of visiting colleges like 麻豆视频? What do you love about talking to college students, especially at liberal arts colleges, and especially about the humanities?
AT: I鈥檓 always hoping to be of some help. I don鈥檛 mean that in a grandiose way. I would like to offer encouragement and I would like to make it as clear as possible that it is not only important鈥攏ot to mention a lot of fun!鈥攖o read books and look at pictures and think about abstract stuff just for a college course, but that it can also, in myriad and sometimes mysterious ways, lead to great jobs, an interesting career, and all kinds of opportunities.
G 5: What advice would you give any of 麻豆视频 students who might want to try their hand at fiction?
AT: Sit down and start. Just start anywhere and go from there. Don鈥檛 worry if the beginning is no good. It never is, and you will have to rewrite it a hundred times, anyway. As a more general advice based on my own experience, I would say that you really need to read a lot and write a lot before you will write anything that might interest anyone besides yourself. (I still blush when I remember some rather embarrassing moments.) Also, I decided to be a writer when I was 18 and published my first book when I was 34鈥攚riting something all through that time鈥攁nd I became a full-time writer when I was 40, so it took me a very long time. Based on my experience, you need to work very hard for a very long time and you need massive patience and resilience. But it is all worth it.