author
Yrjö Jylhä
1903–1956
A Finnish poet and translator best known for bringing the Winter War into verse, he wrote with unusual force and clarity. His work helped make wartime experience feel immediate, human, and unforgettable.
3 Audiobooks
Ruoskanjäljet : Runoja
by Yrjö Jylhä
Hurmioituneet kasvot : Runoja
by Elina Vaara, Yrjö Jylhä, Olavi Paavolainen, Ilmari Pimiä, Katri Vala, Lauri Viljanen
Kurimus : Runoja
by Yrjö Jylhä
About the author
Born in Tampere in 1903, he became part of Finland’s literary life while still young and was associated with the Torch Bearers generation. Alongside poetry, he also worked as a translator, and his writing earned a lasting place in Finnish literature.
Jylhä is especially remembered for Kiirastuli (Purgatory), his Winter War collection, widely regarded as one of the major classics of Finnish lyric poetry. His poems drew power from firsthand experience at the front, combining discipline, intensity, and deep feeling without losing their plainspoken strength.
He died in Turku in 1956. Even today, he is remembered as one of the defining poetic voices of wartime Finland.