Aila Johanna Sinisalo is a Finnish science fiction and fantasy writer. She studied comparative literature and drama, amongst other subjects, at the University of Tampere. Professionally she worked in the advertising business, rising to the level of marketing designer. An important figure in the Finnish science fiction scene in the late 1980s and early '90s, she was also the first Finnish science fiction writer to make a mainstream breakthrough by breaking genre barriers.
Fiction
Sinisalo was awarded the Finlandia Prize for literature in 2000 for her first novel, Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi. The novel has been translated into several languages. Movie rights were acquired by Carter Smith in 2006. An English translation of Linnunaivot was published in 2010 by Peter Owen Publishers under the title Birdbrain. She has named the 1967 novel Friday, or, The Other Island by French writer Michel Tournier as a major influence on her career.
Sinisalo was awarded the Finlandia Prize for literature in 2000 for Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi. The novel was also awarded The James Tiptree Jr. award in 2004.
She has published over 40 short stories, most of them fantasy and science fiction in various in sci fi magazines, journals and women's magazines. Her work has also appeared in the following anthologies:
Vuosirengas 74
*short stories Kilometripylväät and Jäinen kaupunki
Jäinen vaeltaja
* short stories Tarina kuolleesta metsästä and Sorsapuisto
Atoroxin perilliset
* short stories Hanna, Yövesi and Suklaalaput
Ensimmäinen yhteys
*short story Transit
Illan tähti yksinäinen edited by Raija Hämäläinen
*short story Illan tähti yksinäinen
Kultainen naamio
*short story Me vakuutamme sinut
Onnellinen kuolema
*mini novel Tango merellä
Linnées boreales
*short story Le Transit
Kärlek på finska
*short story Låset
Intohimosta rikokseen
*short story Baby Doll
Utopiae 2005
*novelli Baby Doll
Editor
Anthology Verkon silmässä
* Selection of short stories about the internet from several writers.
The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy
*Anthology in English, a selection of Finnish speculative fiction from the 19th century to the present day, translated by David Hackston.
co-edited with Toni Jerrman, Giants at the End of the World: A Showcase of the Finnish Weird
*Anthology in English, a selection of Finnish weird fiction
Television
Toinen todellisuus, TV2, 1991
Maa on litteä, TV2, 1992
Tulevaisuuden kuvia, TV2, 1995
Ainoa elämä, TV2, 1997
Elämän suola, TV 2, 1995
Samaa sukua, eri maata, MTV3, 1997
SunRadio, TV1, 1998
Salatut elämät, MTV3
Kotikatu, TV1
Käenpesä, MTV3
Comics
Tiskivuoro in Uusi Nainen -magazine ', art by Hannu Mänttäri
Scripts for Moomin related comics for Semic and ToTo-tuotanto, several artists
Pikku eläinpuoti in *Oma Ystävä -magazine, art by Hannu Mänttäri
Kimppakämppä in Trendi -magazine, art by Johanna Rojola
Several science fiction and fantasy themed comics from the year 1982 onwards, several artists