Literature The literary magazine Parnasso claimed that the living father of the author Meri Valkama had died – Producer Karo Hämäläinen: “Shame”

Literary magazine In his latest issue, Parnasso published an article on DDR nostalgia in art and strongly writes about the author Meri Valkaman a debut novel published last fall Yours, Margot (WSOY, 2021).

In extensive writing, a translator and author Jukka Mallinen claimed that Valkama ‘s father had died. Valkama took a stand on Friday On Facebook. He lists several factual errors in the Model text.

According to Valkama, the most incomprehensible of them is the claim about the death of his father. According to Parnasso, “Iisalo later died alone in a small town in Eastern Uusimaa. With East Berlin and real socialism, he reportedly went into Jacob’s wrestling to the end. ”

“The most incomprehensible part of this is because my father is not dead,” Valkama writes. I haven’t seen any signs of Jacob’s wrestling either, although along with my book and the rest of our common interest, we’ve certainly been discussing the GDR and real socialism for dozens of hours. “

Valkama wonders how information that “could have been checked in one phone call” ends up in the magazine.

“The correctness of the facts is the a and o of all journalism and this is because false claims and lies can destroy entire lives and careers. Most of the true allegations are wrong with this thing. It is irresponsible and amateurish and contrary to everything that can be considered high-quality journalism. ”

Parnasso subsequently issued a brief correction.

Jukka Mallinen tells HS that he apologized to Valkama’s father for the mistake. According to him, the apology will be published later in Parnasso as well.

In any other way, Mallinen does not want to comment.

Also the corresponding producer in Parnasso Karo Hämäläinen is sorry about that. He says that he had an e-mail exchange with Valkama about the subject and apologized for the mistake. According to Hämäläinen, the text of the model is not an estimate but a thesis, but he admits that the same requirements for correct information apply to it as to other content.

“There has been a terrible mistake in our process. It never occurred to me that an experienced writer like Mallinen could confuse the events of a novel with true events and claim a living person dead. I couldn’t suspect it at all. It was a blind spot,” says Hämäläinen.

According to the producer in charge, the model text was read before printing by two people: himself and the editor.

Literary magazine In terms of Yours, Margot has received commendable reviews throughout.

The work also received Helsingin Sanomat’s first prize last year. According to the jury, it is “an extremely mature and controlled great work that carries two levels of time and numerous themes from European history to the problems of close relationships and the impact of changing ideologies on an individual’s life”.

Hämäläinen says that he himself read Valkama’s novel. He does not consider it autofiction but a fictional novel.

“Sure, the author has taken advantage of his own personal experiences, but wherever in the book it wouldn’t be,” he says.

Meri Valkama (b. 1980) spent his childhood years in East Berlin and studied political science and journalism as an adult at the Freie Universität Berlin, where he did research on journalists working in the GDR.

In an interview with HS he is said to have lived in East Berlin for the happiest years of his childhood, but after the fall of the wall, the social image of East Germany changed overnight from white to pitch black.

“Suddenly, the safe homeland of my childhood turned out to be a socially criminal environment,” Valkama describes.

In his Facebook message, Valkama also presents other points he thinks are problematic about Mallinen’s text. Valkama thinks that equating his leftism with Putinism, for example, is purposeful and outrageous. The author says that the positive aspects of the GDR in the novel are based on research.

“The fact that the country was bankrupt is a matter for itself,” Valkama writes.

“The GDR was a prime example of how many things in society can work no matter how weak the state’s economy is. To say it out loud does not mean that there were no other major problems and grievances in the same society. This was an all-encompassing idea throughout my writing process – as long as the GDR is only talked about through Stas or restrictions on freedom of travel, the story is not true and it is not complete. ”

“I have to ask: has Malli read my book at all?”

Hämäläinen acknowledges that the entire text published in Parnasso becomes problematic in part because of a misconception of reality. However, he defends Mallinen’s right to his opinion.

“Personally, I interpreted the text as the main point was to criticize the nostalgia that might be in the novel. And I understand that a person with Jukka Mallinen’s life experience sees it as a cause for outrage, ”says Hämäläinen.

“So hard to write, but the facts have to be in place. It wasn’t now. ”

Jukka Mallinen has once had a career in Eastern trade. In addition, he has translated, written essays, led the Finnish Institute in St. Petersburg and served as chairman of the Pen Club. In an interview with HS, he described the current state of Russia as sad.

“Russia’s enlightened intellectuals are in a sad state and contemporary literature has stalled. Many writers, artists and filmmakers have left the country. The most interesting Russian literature is now being created in Tallinn, Riga, Berlin, Tel Aviv and New York ”, The model said 2020.

Hämäläinen regrets what has happened to readers as well.

“I apologize, of course. It does not meet the criteria set for Parnasso’s stuff, and with misinformation, it has caused suffering to the author and his loved ones. Shame on hell. It was a miserable failure. ”