Kirsi Marjatta Kunnas (14 December 1924 – 8 November 2021) was a Finnish poet,

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

author and translator into

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Her oeuvre consists of

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

s, fairy tale books,

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

s (e.g.

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

) and non-fiction. Her books have been translated into

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, French, Hungarian, Estonian and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

. She received several awards in Finland for her life's work.

Personal life

Kunnas married author

Jaakko Syrjä Jaakko Syrjä (7 March 1926 – 22 May 2022) was a Finnish writer. He served as the president of the Union of Finnish Writers from 1975 to 1980. Biography Syrjä was born in Pälkäne, the son of Martta née Niemiö and Juho Nestori Syrjä, w ...

in 1957. Their sons are singer/songwriter Martti Syrjä and guitarist Mikko Syrjä of

Eppu Normaali Eppu Normaali is one of the most popular rock bands in Finland. The band formed in 1976 in Ylöjärvi, a small town near Tampere. The band is the best-selling music artist in Finland, with certified sales of nearly two million records, and it ...

. Her parents were visual artists Väinö and Sylvi Kunnas. Her father died when she was four. Her mother married art critic Einari Vehmas. Kunnas died in her sleep at her home in Ylöjärvi on 8 November 2021, at the age of 96. Her widower Jaakko Syrjä died six months later on 22 May 2022, also at the age of 96.

Bibliography

Poetry

*''Villiomenapuu'' (1947) *''Uivat saaret'' (1950) *''Tuuli nousee'' (1953) *''Vaeltanut'' (1956) *''Valikoima runoja'' (1958) *''Kuun kuva meissä'' (1980) *''Kaunis hallayö'' (1984) *''Valoa kaikki kätketty'' (1986) *''Puut kantavat valoa'', poems 1947–1986 and translated work (1999)

Children's poetry, nursery rhymes

*''Tiitiäisen satupuu'' (1956) *''Puupuu ja käpypoika'' (1972) *''Hassut aakkoset'' (1975) *''Hanhiemon iloinen lipas'' (1978), the Finnish translation of

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

*''Kani Koipeliinin kuperkeikat'' (1979) *''Sirkusjuttuja'' (1985) *''Tiitiäisen pippurimylly'' (1991) *''Tiitiäisen tuluskukkaro'' (2000) *''Tiitiäisen runolelu'' (2002) *''Tapahtui Tiitiäisen maassa'' (selection from books Tiitiäisen satupuu, Tiitiäisen tarinoita, Puupuu ja Käpypoika, Sirkusjuttuja, Kani Koipeliinin kuperkeikat, Tiitiäisen pippurimylly, Tiitiäisen tuluskukkaro, Puut kantavat valoa, Tiitiäisen runolelu) (2004)

Fairy tale books, primers

*''Tiitiäisen tarinoita'' (1957) *''Aikamme aapinen'' / by Kirsi Kunnas and workgroup (1968) *''Aikamme lukukirja: 2–5'' / by Kirsi Kunnas and workgroup (1969–1972)

Picture books

*''Kuin kissat ja koirat'' (1967) *''Kutut kotona'' (1967) *''Pikku lemmikit'' (1967) *''Terveisiä Afrikasta'' (1967) *''Hau hau koiranpennut'' (1968) *''Kis kis kissanpennut'' (1968) *''Etelän eläimiä – Tiedätkö että. 1–6.'' Together with Kyllikki Röman (1969) *''Lintuystävämme – Tietoa linnuista. 1–6.'' Together with Kyllikki Röman (1969) *''Pohjolan eläimiä – Tarua ja totta. 1–6.'' Together with Kyllikki Röman (1969)

Notable translations into Finnish

*''The Tall Book of Mother Goose'' (''Hanhiemon iloinen lipas'', 1954) *

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collections ...

: ''Skrinet med det rare i'' (''Merkillinen lipas'', 1955) *

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and ...

: '' Vem ska trösta knyttet?'' (''Kuka lohduttaisi Nyytiä?'' 1960) * Astrid Lindgren: ''Skrållan och sjörövarna'' (''Saariston lapset merirosvoina'', 1968) *

: '' Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'' (''Liisan seikkailut ihmemaassa'', 1972, with

Eeva-Liisa Manner Eeva-Liisa Manner (5 December 1921 – 7 July 1995) was a Finnish poet, playwright and translator. Biography She was born in Helsinki, 5 December 1921, but spent her youth in Vyborg (Viipuri). Manner started as a poet in 1944 with ''Mustaa ja ...

) * Maurice Sendak: '' In the Night Kitchen'' (''Mikko maitomies'', 1972) *Lewis Carroll: ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'' (''Liisan seikkailut peilimaailmassa'', 1974, with Eeva-Liisa Manner) *Federico García Lorca: ''Romancero gitano'' (''Mustalaisromansseja'', 1976)

References

External links

*
The Pan And The Potatoes
– A poem of Kunnas with an English translation by Herbert Lomas {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunnas, Kirsi 1924 births 2021 deaths Writers from Helsinki Finnish children's writers 20th-century Finnish poets Finnish translators Translators to Finnish Finnish dramatists and playwrights Finnish-language writers Finnish women children's writers Finnish women poets Finnish women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Finnish poets 20th-century Finnish women writers 21st-century Finnish women writers