Elämäntarina

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Magazines : Elämäntarina
Interview : Anja Vähäaho / Editor in chief

When was your magazine first published?
"Elämäntarina" (The Biography) was first published in July 2000 published by the Society for Autobiography in Finland.

Who's idea or concept was it?
As I was the project leader in the Finnish Life Story Academy (opened in April 1999), I also got the idea of the Society for Autobiography. The society was established in August 1999. I was elected to the chairperson of the society, and I thought that a magazine is also needed.

Would you say that your magazine now is different from the first edition? If so, how is it different?
The appearance of Elämäntarina is clearer and the contents is multifaceted. There are articles from specialists and extracts of biographies. Intresting persons and biographical literature are introduced, letters from readers are commented. The writers and the editors introduce themselves in their minibiographies.

How would yuou present your magazine to our readers who don't know it?
"Elämäntarina" is the first magazine of biographical theme in Finland. Scholarsip and art, the writers of biography, the scholars of biography and the amateurs meet in the magazine. The magazine is aimed to everyone who is interested in her own history.

What are the main topics or areas that your magazine covers?
There are articles about biographical writing and studies. The extracts of biographies and autobiographies depend on the theme of the issue. The theme of the first issue in 2003 is the milieu of memories.

What is the periodicity of your magazine?
Four times per year.

Could you present your "editorial line"?
The magazine wants to be a national and international meeting place for spesialists and amateurs of biography. We have different kind of points of view, and we aim to interaction with the readers. Sensations do not belong to the magazine. The texts are edited if needed.

Who are your readers? Do you aim to touch focus on a certain part of the population?
The readers are writers and scholars of biography and autobiography, and also people who are interested in their own history. Many of them are members in the Finnish Society for the Autobiography.

Do you have any competitors? If so, who are they?
No, "Elämäntarina" being the only one in Finland.

Is your magazine distributed all over Finland?
"Elämäntarina" has subscribers and readers in 113 localities and towns in Finland, from the capital city Helsinki to the north of Lappland. Newsstand copies are availeble only in Kärsämäki and the biggiest cities in Finland: Helsinki, Turku, Tampere.

Do you know ir it is available abroad?
We have subscribers in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and France. For the time being the newstand copies are not available abroad.

If your readers who live abroad would like to subscribe, how could they proceed?
They have to contact the email address anjav@saunalahti.fi
or write to the editor: Anja Vähäaho, Saunatie 15, 86710 Kärsämäki, Finland.

How is the situation with the Finnish press (newspapers, magazines) nowadays?
The Finnish newspapers are diversfied and pluralistic. The magazines are specialized for different groups of readers.

Do you think that this situation will continue or are there many chances that it will change in the future?
The situaiton of Finnish papers depends of the economical view of the country. Probably the newspapers and magazines continue diversing.

Would you say that the "traditional magazines" suffer or benefit from the internet?
I think they benefit. Internet is a practical way to get acquaintance with a new publication. If the internet magazine is interesting, one might want to subscribe it in the paperform.

Do you have a web site?
For the time being the web site http://www.karsamaki.fi/elamantarina is only in Finnish.

What kind of information do you publish on-line?
Information about the Finnish Society for Autobiography and the magazine "Elämäntarina". In the web site we also publish the most interesting articles from the magazine.

Have you ever considered the possibility to propose an identical version of your magazine in an electronic format?
No, but if it was economically possible, we loved to publish the magazine for instance in English.

And to conclude this interview, what are the projects for the magazine in the near future?
We aim to expand and deepen the biographical theme, get international contacts and add the interaction between the scholars, writers and amateurs. We hope to find new readers.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2003