The 25th Helsinki Book Fair

Programme for Helsinki Book Fair 2025

Helsinki Book Fair, held over four days last week, was a veritable wonderland for book lovers. Even if I could not understand, read or engage with most of the books on offer, I could still smell, touch and immerse myself in the buzz and the excitement of the author readings and the debates. I could witness the smiles and anticipation on people's faces, as they asked authors to sign their brand-new books, either for themselves or for friends.

Thank you to the organisers for organising a few English language events each day, which really helped to open up the book fair to those of us newly-arrived in Finland who don't speak the (notoriously difficult-to-learn) Finnish language yet, but who share the Finn's love of literature and good books.

To me, it was somewhat like being at the Dublin Horse Show or the Ideal Homes Exhibition in the RDS, but multiplied in size by at least two, but in this case, instead of horse people and DIYers, thousands of book-lovers were milling around the stages and lingering among the hundreds of stalls which were packed high with stacks and stacks of books. Within the Messekesus event centre, there were nine different stages for various author readings and discussions, all of which ran like clockwork in half-hour slots over the four days.

This was the 25th book fair and its theme this year was joy and knowledge. It set out to offer space and time to talk about what the best literature gives us: the knowledge and power of our civilisation and the pure joy of reading, by bringing together writers, artists, politicians, experts, as well as the reading public, to discuss the major issues of our time. The fair's website states that freedom of speech, tolerance and respect for human rights are some of the most important values of the fair, which, to me at least, was a breath of refreshing air in today's world.

When I looked at the programme, I felt compelled to attend the reading and book signing of the only Irish author to feature, the wonderful Liz Nugent. I am a big fan of all Liz's novels, but Strange Sally Diamond is my favourite. It has changed the way I think of rubbish bins forever, and I have stopped telling my family they can do whatever they want with me when I die ... just in case they do exactly that!

On a related tangent, and not to be morbid, but I recently ordered the Think Ahead Planning Pack from the Irish Hospice Foundation. It's one of the most affordable 'books' you'll buy this year at a mere €5. When all of the excitement from the launch of my new book, Love, Lycra and Tattoos – (see what I've done there, I've just quietly revealed the name of my upcoming novella and collection of short stories) – dies down, one of my New Year's resolutions will be to write my wishes down so that, hopefully, there will be less stress for those left behind, whenever my time does come. Though I have been known to break into a rendition of Johnny Jump Up after one too many beers, I'm not sure I want my ashes scattered while it's playing – even if I am lucky enough to live to a hundred or a hundred and ten.

Back to the Helsinki Book Fair! Liz Nugent featured on the Esplanadi stage on Friday morning. Even though Strange Sally Diamond was published in 2023, it has only recently been translated into Finnish, so I hope she gets lots of new fans here. Judging by the reaction to her interview and the queue for her signing, I'm sure she will. I will certainly be recommending it as a read in my IWCH book club here. I have heard Liz speak and read a few times, most recently at Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas in 2024, and had got a book signed by her there. However, I was going to buy a Christmas present for my book-loving sister, but it turns out that only Finnish versions of Liz's book were available to purchase at her publisher's stand. I didn't think Aileen would be up for the Finnish translation, so instead I started chatting with a very nice man who was standing around like myself, and who turned out to be Liz's husband. In true Irish style, once we had established where each of us was from, we discovered mututal acquaintances/relations from Beaufort outside Killarney! Is it only the Irish do this within our first few minutes of meeting a fellow country man or woman?

The Irish author Liz Nugent being interviewed at Helsinki Book Fair

The next event I attended was one with the lofty title of Unlocking the Joy of Reading through UNICEF's AI-Powered Digital Textbooks. I was fascinated to hear how story books and text books are being converted into accessible, interactive books, using an open source AI tool. It took me back to twenty-five years ago when I worked as the ICT official within the Irish National Teachers' Organisation and we developed the Children of Lir as one of the first interactive Irish children's books. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The exciting difference now is that, if I am understanding the process correctly, once a PDF version of the book is uploaded to the UNICEF-developed 'pipeline', within ten minutes, an accessible version of the book is created. This has the potential of unlocking the gift of reading to deaf, blind and other children with disabilities around the world who cannot easily access books currently. I always was a strong believer in the potential of technology to change the educational landscape but, just as there were when we launched IT2000 in Ireland back then, there are enormous threats and challenges too. Human interaction and teacher implementation will always be crucial in a high-quality education system and in every classroom, but technology can be a wonderful tool for agentic, effective teachers.

UNICEF currently works with twelve countries on this project, but Cambodia is not one of them. It struck me as I was listening to the presentation that my friends who work so hard with the wonderful Irish-Cambodia education charity, See Beyond Borders, may be interested in finding out more. When I went up to chat to the presenters afterwards, they demonstrated some of the possibilities available on their website.

On another aside, I thought for one moment I was at an INTO Congress when I saw one of the stands, but on further investigation, it turned out to be a Finnish publisher with the same name/acronym.

In between events, I met up with one of my lovely book club ladies, Ana, who is originally from Colombia, at one of the many cafés in the event centre. We discussed why the Finns love their books so much. One of our theories is that, now that the days are getting colder and darker here, the inclination is to hunker down, and what better way to do that than with a good book? The clocks changed yesterday and it is getting noticeably darker now from around 4.15pm.

The only downside to my genuinely uplifting experience at the book fair was the price I paid for my flat white. I heard Hector Ó hEochagáin being interviewed about his new book, The Irish Words You Should Know, and the price of my báinín was enough to make me almost choke on it.