Helsinki

I spent a couple of nights, last month, in a Finnish prison.

And it was all Jan Erola’s fault.

Or maybe it was Eetu Alvik’s.

The mug shots above are of the two people in question, the ones who conspired to lure me to Helsinki and lodge me in the slammer.

But I gotta admit – I loved it.

It was this way:

Jan is my Finnish Publisher and Eetu is his talented and charming sales manager.

Their company, Helsinki-kirjat (Helsinki Books), has just launched the Finnish version of Buried Strangers,

and they were kind enough to invite me up to their lovely city to chat with some readers, sign some books and do a few interviews. One of those interviews was shot on video – and, if you haven’t seen it already, you can see it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03_vSOfh1xw

But I digress.
I was going to tell you about my time in jail.

This is the joint.

And here’s the story: In 1809, Sweden lost Finland to Russia. Some years later, Tsar Nicholas I set out to modernize the conditions of Finnish prisons and built one in the new capital of Helsinki. It’s the white wing that you see in the aerial photograph, completed in 1837. A half century later, the place was enlarged (the three redbrick wings) by Tsar Alexander III. In its heyday,  more than 40% of all the prisoners in Finland passed through this place.

The cells were  7 m² in size and none of them had a toilet or a shower.

Fast forward to 2002. The prison was closed and the last prisoners were transported to a brand-new prison in Vantaa, near Helsinki’s international airport. And the city was stuck with this big, white (and red) elephant. But then, in 2005, somebody got a bright idea. Why not turn the place into a hotel?

And so they did. Construction began in 2006 and was completed in 2007. The bars were removed, new windows added and tons of soil carried away. But the high walls surrounding the yard, the outer walls surrounding the building and the central hallway were preserved in their original form.

And these days, folks, it’s the Best Western Premier Hotel Katajanokka, just one of the agreeable surprises for visitors to Helsinki. It wasn't my first visit to that lovely town, but it has been many years since I was last there, and I'm happy to report that jail conditions have improved immeasurably.
This time my cell had a sauna.  

Another agreeable surprise was the place where I gave a little talk:

It was the Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, the Academic Bookstore, the most prestigious establishment of its type in all of Finland and the largest bookstore in all of the Nordic countries.
It's pictured above.
A brilliant piece of minimalist design, and the work of one of Finland’s (many) architectural geniuses,

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto, the “Father of Modernism”.

Don’t think you know Aalto?
Sure you do. Maybe not by name, but you must have seen one of these:

That's Aalto's work, as is a lot of furniture design - and many, many buildings.

Ah, to be treated, once again, like a jailbird in Helsinki!
It’s an experience every author should have. And every author can. If she/he is lucky enough to be published by the wonderful folks at Helsinki Books.

Leighton - Monday