Oodi Book Fest: celebrating literature and Central Library’s fourth anniversary
Literature, music, illustration art and game culture are at the heart of the two-day book festival organised at Helsinki Central Library Oodi. The literary discussions held in the third floor Book Heaven over the weekend feature visitors such as Susinukke Kosola, Heikki Kännö, Monika Fagerholm, Linda Bondestam, Sirpa Kähkönen and Mart Sander. Siri Kolu will be interviewed by young people as part of the book festival’s pre-party on Friday, 2 December.
On Saturday, 3 December, the connections between games and literature are discussed at Oodi’s second floor Urban Workshop. Aura Nurmi and Tuukka Hämäläinen discuss games as tools for storytelling as well as literary influences of games.
Graphic designer Jussi Karjalainen and author and visual artist Heikki Kännö evaluate book cover art in a playful cover panel in Oodi’s first floor lobby. The audience also gets to vote for their favourite among the covers selected by the library staff.
On Saturday, we explore our western and northern connection at the Maijansali hall. Our much anticipated guest, Alex Schulman, has had to cancel his book tour in Finland due to illness. Fortunately, esteemed author Rosa Liksom, who was scheduled to interview Schulman, will be present to talk about his latest novel, Malman asema. Rap artist Áilu Valle arrives from Inari to give us a performance and an interview on his lyrics. He is interviewed in Finnish by Niillas Holmberg from the Utsjoki Library via remote connections. Oodi also takes the opportunity to congratulate the Utsjoki Pedar Jalvi Library on its 140th anniversary.
On Sunday, 4 December, Oodi is full of Oddville hustle and bustle. The creators of the beloved Tatu and Patu book series, Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen, answer children’s questions in an author interview at the Maijansali hall. Naturally, Tatu and Patu are also at the library, bungling things up.
The festival weekend events are free of charge and open to all. The discussions are in Finnish, Swedish and English.