author
Martti Merenmaa
1896–1972
A prolific Finnish journalist and novelist, he wrote dozens of books and became known for richly observed stories and a strong personal voice. His best-known work came in the mid-20th century, when his fiction and essays earned several major literary honors.
1 Audiobook
Kolmen teinin lauluja
by Heikki Asunta, Martti Merenmaa, Einari Vuorela
About the author
Born in Oulu in 1896, he was a Finnish journalist, writer, poet, and lyricist. He was originally named Martti Henrik Karjala and changed his surname to Merenmaa in 1921. He died in Kuopio in 1972.
Merenmaa built an unusually wide-ranging career. Library and archival sources describe him as the author of more than a hundred works in various roles, while biographical summaries note that his own output included dozens of novels published from the 1920s into the 1960s, along with poems and a large body of journalism.
He is remembered as a versatile literary figure whose strongest period is often placed in the 1940s and 1950s. During his career he received several Finnish literary prizes, and he was later awarded the Pro Finlandia medal.