Khaya Ronkainen's Blog

Finnish winters have a kind of magic, but it’s a quiet one — not glittering, not showy. Some people romanticize the snow, but they often forget the cold, the darkness, the long stretch of it all. For a girl born under the African sun, among people who speak in warmth and laughter, winter here can...

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Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Helsinki Book Fair embraced “knowledge and joy” as the core theme described by organisers as “what the best literature gives us: the power of civilization and the joy of reading.” The fair was alive with the unmistakable energy of people brought together by the love of literature. Book fairs’ true...

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This is my way of looking at October, not just as a month, but as a state of being. A season of celebration, of stretching joy beyond a single day, of noticing beauty in unexpected places. This year, I started celebrating my birthday early — a gentle rebellion against time and a love letter to...

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In June, I mentioned I was taking a break for the summer — a break from words, a pause in the rhythm of drafting, editing, and rewriting. I thought, perhaps naively, that absence might spark inspiration. That I’d return with fresh scenes and unexpected ideas tumbling out of me, and new wings as my character...

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In spring, the air receives birdsong as a promise of return. In autumn, the air answers back with rustling leaves, crisp winds, golden light, and the scent of ripened fruits. Migration doesn’t leave silence but a swelling reply from the earth, alive with harvest and change. The days grow shorter, shadows lengthen, and the sky...

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They say rain isn’t universal—No two cultures see it quite the same.To one, it’s grace falling from the skycoaxing green from brown, life from stillness.To another, it’s a restless spiritcapable of washing away as much as it gives.And to a few, it’s a sacred veil between two worldswhere the divine meets the living.But it sure...

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Yes, I’m still on a break. But I’m dropping by because I’m excited to share that last month, when Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was in Helsinki, our Finnish-African Society’s chair, Sarah Laaru had a fascinating conversation with the author about her book, Dream Count. My Finnish friends, check out Otava for the Finnish translation, Unelmia! My...

The post Still on Break, But Had to Share This: Reflections on Dream Count appeared first on Khaya Ronkainen.

It was summer when a nameless writer finally packed her tools away. At last, the character she’d been writing for was content. With countless years spent working on a useless story, the writer wanted to double-check what she’d just heard. “So, this is it, right?” “Great job,” said the character, looking at the writer’s calloused...

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I was told to write about my preoccupation. For once, I don’t want to resist, edit my emotions, or ruminate endlessly about the state of the world. ‘Cause there’s untamed freedom outside, defying constraints of a poetic form. It’s not the starlings with their soft, murmuring calls that fill this April morning. A chorus of...

The post Home Is a Moving Thing appeared first on Khaya Ronkainen.

About four years ago, the world was grappling with a pandemic. Some were breathing a sigh of relief from the end of a [fill in your favourite word] presidency. And others were oblivious to an impending invasion. Many other significant events happened worldwide that same year. Then there was the personal… Exhausted and despondent, I...

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