KROHN, LEENA

(1947-)

A Finnish novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist, Krohn began her literary career by publishing a collection offairy tales,Vihrea vallankumous(1970; The Green Revolution), which was followed by one more such volume and then by some stories,Viimeinen kesavieras(1974; The Last Summer Guest). Next Krohn published a fairy-tale-like novel,Ihmisen vaatteissa(1976; In Human Garb), that featured such conflicts as those betweennatureand civilization. Her career took off when she publishedDonna Quijote ja muita kaupunkilaisia(1983; tr.Donna Quixote and Other Citizens;Gold of Ophir, 1995); this book is a collection of short stories which share the same protagonist, an eccentric woman living in a city. In Krohn s next book,Tainaron(1985; tr. 2004), an epistolary novel of sorts, the characters are insects. Another book about the eccentric lady followed, entitledOofirin kultaa(1987; tr.Dona Quixote and Other Citizens;Gold of Ophir, 1995). In the novelUmbra(1990) the title character is a collector of paradoxes.

A later volume of short stories entitled somewhat paradoxicallyAla lue tata kirjaa(1994; Do Not Read This Book) was followed by another short story collection,Ettei etalsyys ikavaisi(1995; That Distance Shall Not Yearn). Then camePereat mundus, romaani, era-anlainen(1998; Pereat Mundus: A Novel of Sorts), several other novels, andUnelmakuolema(2004; A Dream Death), which tells about Lucia, an anesthetist who suffers from insomnia and works two jobs, one at a clinic that helps people to die easily and one where they freeze you in order to thaw you again once a cure for your illness has been found.

Krohn s essays have been published asRapina ja muita papereita(1989; Rustling and Other Papers),Tribar(1993),Kyna ja kone(1996; The Pen and the Machine), and3 sokeaa miesta ja 1 nakeva(2003; Three Blind Men and One You Can See). Krohn s poetry emphasizes metrical patterns.