In 1999 you moved to Japan, why did you choose this country? I've always been interested in Japan. I started training ninjutsu in 1990 and since then it has had […]
The perfect book to read in the toilet
What inspired you to write a book about shit? The idea came at my daughter’s one-year birthday party. My family and friends was there, people from different ages, and everybody […]
A noble prize impossible to duplicate
Having no boundaries at all at expressing his personal opinions, convinced Communist until the end, and atheist, Saramago has provoked polemic and admiration towards his creativity and integrity, plus he […]
A city of bubbles
French artist Achdé has been responsible for the Lucky Luke adventures since the death of Morris in 2001. Joakim Pirinen, from Sweden, is an artist well known among hardcore comic […]
The First Book of Hope
The main character in The First Book of Hope is seemingly an ordinary Finnish middle-aged man: a little bit overweight and slightly balding. His name is never mentioned and we […]
The polemic pencil
When did you publish your first comic? When I was 13 years old, I self-published a 50-paged album. It was an adventure influenced by Asterix, Corto Maltese and Indiana Jones. […]
Letters from Finland
The 31 letters can be read like short stories. Some tell of fatal incidents, like the "Faisan of Malmi" ending up as a delicious French dish in the casserole of […]
Running to the limit
Where were you born? In Oulu. I moved to the capital some years ago to study. Do you like living here in Helsinki? Yeah. The first months I missed my […]
Pedro Juan’s dirty Havana
FREE! Magazine had the honour to get an exclusive interview with one of the hottest contemporary authors in Latin American: Pedro Juan Gutierrez. A writer whose style, full of passion, […]
Mikael Niemi: A warm writer from the North
We have the good luck to meet him in the offices of his Finnish publishing house, few minutes before flying back to his home in the Swedish Artic Pole. A […]
Of pigs and ducks
{mosimage}This will come as no surprise to anybody as the Aku Ankka weekly magazine is still the biggest-selling magazine in Finland. In few other countries does Donald Duck gain such […]
Helsinki Book Fair
The fair became a paradise for book lovers. The biggest names of the industry placed huge stands where you could find all the newly-released books, but there was also plenty […]