Tamperelaistarinoita

Harald Birger Olausen spends half of the year "somewhere else" and half of it in Finland. He is proud of both of his identities; as a citizen of Kotka, a coastal town in southeastern Finland, and as a Norweigian. Olausen studied history of ideas at a university and has worked as an imago consultant, speech writer and a reporter, to name of few. Tales from Tampere is his eighth novel. In addition to writing, he has edited two books: as a biography of the Finnish movie director, Rauni Mollberg, and a kotka centered childrend`s book "Hugo Merellä" (Hugo at Sea), written by Heli Vähäsilta. Harald Birger Olausen has also written articles to two other books, he is also a playwright for both the stage and radio. His first book "Minun Loviisani" (My Loviisa), was published in 2011, and it is a satirical tale of the small-mindednes ans conspiring nature of people of smalla town, written in "the spirit of Marcel Proust and Alfred Hitchock. "The readers appreciated the beatiful use of language, bubbling humor and the fresh way of expression of the book to the point that it baecame a big succes. His poetic language, exceptional frankness, challenging truthfulness and witty intellectualism have been the source of many a praise. He knows how to break the cliches and romantic myths from around us by using humor, seeking truth, goodness an beaty with his writings. Olausen`s work reflect his ability control every aspect of his writing; the catchy rhythm, the flowing vocabulary, and both the internal and the external wiewpoint of both the surroundings and the context. He paints the world in astounding detail and offers his readers to see even the slightest nuances through his words. The clarity he offers brings sense and pleasure to the everyday crazines. Olausen uses his stories to shed light into secret corners of the minds of everyday Finns. He writes about the dream-like road that appears in between the sighs an pauses, which leads into heavily guarded room, where all your dreams come true. The idea of "Tales of Tampere" first came to be during the spring of 2011, while Olausen was staying in Turku. There he found out that stories how the people of Turku are rigid, somber, impolite and very much full of themselves, were not just the stereotypical badmouthing that is so common between different towns and cities but a glimpse of the real nature of Turku. He realized that even during a short visit, the natives managed to make the visitors feel like he was not welcomed into the closeknit circle of people of Turku, that he was constantly monitored, ignored and even ridiculed by his host. The popular folk tales about how the inhabitants of Tampere and Turku are like cats and dogs are still going strong. Then again, the people of Turku cannot just let things go, as they are still angry about how during the Great Fire of Turku (in 1827), most of the men spent that particular weekend at the Tampere Country Fair, chatting upp all the pretty maidens, instead of being home, listening to the constant nagging. When Finns selected Tampere as their favorite city in the spring of 2011, everyone in Turku turned green with envy. They declared in a city - council meeting shortly afterward that Turku will be the best town in Finland the following year. This potrayed massive amounts of overconfidence, as Turku is a town where smiling to starngers is a rare thing, and still to them it seems that their victory would be of a landslide nature. These kinds of declarations peeked Olausen`s intrest and he decided to go and find out just what it is that made Tampere so much more of a happy place than Turku. What he found out just in a few days managed to suprise him completely. People he met were happy, helpfull, kind, emphatic, had a great sense of humor, smiled a lot and...