Saara Turunen

Saara Turunen is an internationally acclaimed award-winning author, playwright and director.

Much of her work examines the themes of art, identity and social norms. Turunen is known for her four highly acclaimed novels: Hyena Days (2024), Irrational Things (2021), The Bystander (2018), and Love/Monster (2015), but also for her plays, which have been translated into 16 languages and performed all around the world: The Bunny Girl (2008), The Broken Heart Story (2011), The Phanton of Normality (2016), Kim, Lekki & Namwaan (2017), Medusa’s Room (2019) and The Grapes of Reason (2022).

Turunen has received the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize in 2015, the Finland Prize in 2016, the City of Helsinki’s The Artist of the Year Award in 2018 and the Lea-Prize in 2020, all high-profile awards given in Finland.