Heikki Kännö

Two-time Finlandia-nominee Heikki Kännö approaches fiction with the curiosity of an artist and rigor of a scholar. His critically acclaimed novels draw together art, philosophy, history, and literature into richly layered narratives where ideas are inseparable from exciting storytelling. In his latest novel The Gaze Behind the Lock, speculative fiction, art history, and literary mystery converge in a meditation on creativity, power, and obsession.

One of Finland’s most distinctive contemporary writers, Kännö was nominated for the Finlandia Prize for his novels Ihmishämärä (The Twilight of the Humans, 2022) and Runoilija (The Poet, 2020). Sömnö (Dream Island, 2018) was the winner of the Runeberg Prize and a nominee for the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL). Throughout his career as an author, Kännö has also been nominated for a number of other literary prizes.

The Gaze Behind the Lock is Heikki Kännö’s sixth work of fiction. His works have been translated into Estonian, Latvian and Polish. The Gaze Behind the Lock is his first agented novel.

Author photo © Jussi Vierimaa / WSOY