Polar Queen of Literature

Writer, animation director Katja Kettu (b. 1978) is a multifarious artist who perceives the world through words and pictures. She views writing as a form of translation – from reality to another potential reality. She hails from Rovaniemi, graduated as an animator director from the Turku Arts Academy and studied Finnish literature at the University of Tampere. Kettu later ended up in Helsinki, via Tallinn and London, where she teaches scriptwriting, makes music videos and works as a freelancer with writing and movies.

The beautiful and the ugly, sublime and sordid alternate in Kettu’s writing. Her idiosyncratic way of using language draws on the tradition of northern grotesque but with a sprinkling of magical realism.

Kettu considers herself a humorist of misfortune as well as a feminist and a person. She likes silence and dreams of devoting herself to her dog’s happiness again.