Kari Hotakainen
Illustration — Kari Hotakainen Kari Hotakainen (born 9 January 1957 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish writer. Hotakainen started his writing career as a reporter in Pori. In 1986, he moved to Helsinki.
Kari Hotakainen

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- Full name
- Kari Matti Hotakainen.
- Born
- 1957. · Pori.
- Nationality
- Finland.
- Occupation
- writer, screenwriter, poet, journalist and playwright.
- Education
- University of Helsinki.
- Honours
- Kalevi Jäntti Award, Savonia Prize, Thanks for the Book Award, Finlandia Award, Nordic Council Literature Prize and Runeberg Prize.
- Languages
- Finnish.
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Illustration — Kari Hotakainen Kari Hotakainen (born 9 January 1957 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish writer. Hotakainen started his writing career as a reporter in Pori. In 1986, he moved to Helsinki.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q381104 · wikipedia · Kari Hotakainen
In this article
Life and career
Life and career
He became a full-time writer in 1996. He has two children with his wife, sound technician Tarja Laaksonen, whom he married in 1983. He has also worked as a copywriter and as a columnist for the Helsingin Sanomat.
His father, Keijo Hotakainen, worked as a storekeeper and photographer while his mother, Meeri Ala-Kuusisto, worked as a sales clerk. Kari Hotakainen passed his matriculation examination in 1976 and graduated from Rautalampi High School the same year. He has a Bachelor of Arts. Hotakainen kicked off his career as an author in the beginning of the 1980s by writing poetry. His debut collection Harmittavat takaiskut (Unfortunate setbacks) was published in 1982. From poetry, Hotakainen moved on to writing books for children and young adults and then on to writing novels for adults. Before he started writing full-time, Hotakainen worked as a news reporter, in the advertising department of WSOY, etc. Hotakainen's breakthrough came when he was nominated for the 1997 Finlandia Prize, for his semi-autobiographical work titled Klassikko (The Classic). In 2002, Hotakainen received the Finlandia Prize for his book titled Juoksuhaudantie (Battle Trench Avenue) published the same year. Later on, the book was turned into a movie with the same name. In 2004, Hotakainen received the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for the same book. In 2006, he received the Nordic Drama Award for his play Punahukka. Hotakainen has also written children's plays, radio dramas, newspaper columns and the scripts for a 10-part TV series titled Tummien vesien tulkit. Hotakainen was seriously injured in a car accident on 3 March 2012.
Novels
Novels
• Buster Keaton: elämä ja teot (1991) • Bronks (1993) • Syntisäkki (1995) • Pariskunta, pukki ja pieni mies (1997) • Klassikko (1997) • Sydänkohtauksia, eli kuinka tehtiin Kummisetä (1999) • Juoksuhaudantie (2002) – Finlandia Prize winner 2002 • Iisakin kirkko (2004) • Huolimattomat (2006) – nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2006. • Ihmisen osa (2009)
Poetry
Poetry
• Harmittavat takaiskut (1982) • Kuka pelkää mustaa miestä (1985) • Hot (1987) • Runokirja (1988) • Kalikkakasa, kootut runot (2000)
Radio dramas
Radio dramas
• Puutteellinen (1996) • Hurmaus (1997) • Keihäänheittäjä (1997) • Tulisuihku (1999) • Sitten kun kaikki on ohi (2000)
Plays
Plays
• Hukassa on hyvä paikka (1999) • Sydänkohtauksia (2002) • Punahukka (2005)
TV series
TV series
• Tummien vesien tulkit
Identity
Identity
Kari Hotakainen is recorded as having received Kalevi Jäntti Award, Savonia Prize and Thanks for the Book Award. Recorded at birth as Kari Matti Hotakainen. Recognition and collections. Hotakainen received Kalevi Jäntti Award, Savonia Prize, Thanks for the Book Award, Finlandia Award, Nordic Council Literature Prize and Runeberg Prize.

Kari Hotakainen - modtageren af Nordisk råds litteraturpris 2004
Magnus Fröderberg · Magnus Fröderberg/norden.org · Nordic Co-operation website (norden.org)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1957
Kari Hotakainen born at Pori.
2007
Aus dem leben eines unglücklichen Mannes – Kari Hotakainen (2007) (2007) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Pakila.
Residences
Pori.
Birth place
Children's and young adults' books
• Lastenkirja (1990) • Ritva (1997) • Näytän hyvältä ilman paitaa (2000) • Satukirja (2004)
Citations
References
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reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q381104: Kari HotakainenWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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