Like in many other European countries, first published literature in Finnish was for sacramental/religious use. While majority of Finns were Finnish speaking, first attempts in secular fine literature were written in Swedish. Since Finnish language didn’t exactly enjoy an official status the vocabulary and structure needed much refinement to be fitted for high class literature. First step to change this fact was Mikael Agricola’s New Testament in Finnish (published in 1548).  

First productive period for Finland’s literature was the nationalist movement in 1830s to 1860s – largely by Swedish writing poets like J.L. Runeberg or Zacharias Topelius, who besides hundreds of poems also wrote novels. Johann Ludvig Runeberg still has a place as one of the best writers of poetry in the Swedish language. His first collection of poetry was published in 1830. 

Elias Lönnrot from early on focused on enriching the Finnish literature. His national epic The Kalevala (based on Finnish and Karelian oral folk poetry) saw its first version as early as in 1835, and expanded and final setting in 1849. The value of this work in world history cannot be exaggerated. It stands out as rich in material and uniqueness without compare. Kalevala has been translated into dozens of languages and inspired artists around the world. The American writer Longfellow drew inspiration from Lönnrot’s epic, and from there took the structural model for his Hiawatha epic. Also Tolkien was aware of the Kalevala when writing his Lord of the Rings.

Jaakko Juteini was an early Finnish language pioneer. His collected works (in Finnish) were published already in 1850s. A notable fact is that publishing secular literature in Finnish was forbidden by the law from 1850s to 1860s.

From early on also women took their initiative in contributing for the Finnish literature. In fact, many of them are considered as the first true novel writers. Woman writer Fredrika Wilhelm Carstens published the first novel in Finland in 1840. In 1830s and 1840s emerged the first playwriters as well: J.F. Lagervall and Pietari Hannikainen. Kaarlo Bergbom focused on writing short stories in Finnish in the 1860s and K.J. Gummerus published one of the first important novels in Finnish language in 1870.

However, the credit for the ‘father’ of the Finnish novel is Aleksis Kivi. Kivi died at a relatively young age. However his only completed novel, The Seven Brothers, was an extremely brave attemp to write a modern naturalist-realistic novel. In this context, Kivi was not far from the appearing Central European tendencies – Zola and Ibsen. Therefore his appearance has been considered as that of a genious. His work met little or none support. Apparently this finally led into his untimely death. He was a pioneer and since his time it was ‘possible’ for the Finnish writers to publish novels in Finnish language.

Another modern radical was Minna Canth – a woman living in the northern part of Finland. Her play, The Wife of a Workerman, written in 1885, is one of the most radical works of its time. Canth took strong stand into issues of the society, women’s freedom and religion. In this aspect she is to be compared to the effect of Ibsen.

Juhani Aho was a younger friend of Canth. His several novels that he wrote since 1880s were highly artistic in manner, with impressionistic, realist and naturalist tendencies. In this aspect, he could be considered as the ‘Finnish Chekhov’. 

If Aho, was the ‘Finnish Chekhov’, then Arvid Järnefelt was the ‘Finnish Tolstoy’. In fact, Järnefelt was openly a follower of Tolstoy’s teachings and admired his character probably more than anyone else in Finland in his days.

Santeri Ivalo, Maila Talvio, Ilmari Kianto, Volter Kilpi, Joel Lehtonen and Johannes Linnakoski wrote successful novels depicting issues of the society and the life of the poor people. In this aspect, Ilmari Kianto and Joel Lehtonen were the most radical – somewhat ‘leftist’ and close to Maxim Gorki’s style in Russia.

Aino Kallas and Maria Jotuni viewed the world from the aspect of a woman individual - in this respect they were highly admired by the Finnish woman readers.  L. Onerva was a woman champion of Finnish language early 20th century poetry.

Even greater significance as a poet had Eino Leino, who is often considered as the classic of Finnish poetry. He had enormous technical skill and imagination in using the Finnish language. He has inspired numerous artists and younger poets. His subjects were deeply humane and easy to approach.

Other major Finnish poets of early 20th century period were Larin Kyösti and V.A. Koskenniemi, who wrote a massive output of poems. First representative of a new generation of poets was Aaro Hellaakoski.

Edith Södergran is internationally one of Finland’s most important poets. Like Kailas, she too died in tuberculosis. Her work inspired Uuno Kailas who translated her poems into Finnish. Södergran was ultra-modern in her own times and not far behind the Central European literature currents with deep expressionism and symbolism. Södergran has been highly appreciated in Sweden as well.

Uuno Kailas and Kaarlo Sarkia were two modern, cosmopolitan poets of 1920s who both died in tuberculosis. Kailas has been the most influental of modern Finnish poets with his expressionism, feelings of anxiety and prophecies of a second world war (he died in 1933).

Hella Wuolijoki wrote a number of plays. In her own times she was appreciated from her work as a feminist. However, she received jail sentences for her Communist work and friendship with the Soviet Union, and received a status of a persona non grata for many.

Frans Emil Sillanpää is the only Finnish writer who has won Nobel literature prize – in 1939. Sillanpää wrote much about the life of people in the countryside, from a warm, understanding and humane perspective.

Mika Waltari is another internationally known writer. His most well-known novel is The Egyptian – a story of Pharaoh’s doctor, Sinuhe. It has been translated to several dozens of languages (including Albanian, Arabic and Farsi). This book was a best-sellers in its time and also filmed in Hollywood (1950s).

Pentti Haanpää has become a classic in Finnish 20th century literature. His literature described realistic issues and problems, easily seen as left-wing sympathies. 

Väinö Linna described successfully the feelings of war. He wrote only few novels, but those describing war have been considered as genious. They are considered as pacifistic – or at least to be against the concept of war. They are non-patriotic and contain sharp criticism – not always direct, but psychological. His work, The Unknown Soldier,  among the top three of the most read Finnish novels (together with Waltari’s ‘Egyptian’, and Kivi’s ‘Seven Brothers’)

Pentti Saarikoski is the most important of the post-1950s poets and writers. His role in the young communist movements in late 1960s and early 1970s made him popular among young students. He didn’t lead a very healthy lifestyle and died in his 40s.

Arto Paasilinna is today’s best-known living Finnish writer abroad. He is known for his black humor and cyninism. His works have been extremely popular among all groups of Finnish readers and easy to approach due to their sharp and strong language.   

Concluding thoughts:

In the novel genre, Aleksis Kivi, Väinö Linna and Mika Waltari are the most legendaric. Interestingly, it was Frans Emil Sillanpää who was awarded the Nobel prize in literature, but he has not been as much read as the three mentioned above.

In poetry names Eino Leino, Edith Södergran and Uuno Kailas stand out clearly.  From a historical perspective Elias Lönnrot and Johan Ludvig Runeberg cannot be forgotten.

In terms of playwriters, Minna Canth deserves to be mentioned. He was brave and radical, and offered a totally new approach into Finnish conservative morals. Many of these ideas were shared by her younger colleague Juhani Aho in the form of short essays. In this genre, Aho is one to remember.