Keija Parssinen

Photo: Shane Epping

Keija Parssinen is the author of the novels The Ruins of Us, which received the Michener-Copernicus Award, and The Unraveling of Mercy Louis, which earned an Alex Award from the American Library Association. She is currently an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Kenyon College.

Always More Than a Place: A Conversation about Palestine with Isabella Hammad

Summer 2021
Keija Parssinen

Maher Naji, Palestinian Girl in Jerusalem Dress / Courtesy of the artist I’ve been thinking about literary imprints lately, and how difficult it is to discern the books of one hou...
Writing as Spiritual Offering: A Conversation with Leila Aboulela

Winter 2020
Keija Parssinen

Photo © Judy Laing Leila Aboulela is a Sudanese-born writer who moved to Scotland in her mid-twenties and now resides there, where she writes her critically acclaimed fiction in English. T...
The View from Elsewhere: A Conversation with Aminatta Forna

Summer 2019
Keija Parssinen

Photo: Nina Subin Happiness, Aminatta Forna’s fourth novel, is a complex love letter to London that examines with great delicacy how the city both shelters and challenges the people—and animals...
Playtime in Vienna: The Austrian Literary Scene Finds Its Sense of Humor

November 2018
Mandakini Pachauri, Keija Parssinen

The O-Töne literary festival brings hundreds of people to the central square of MuseumsQuartier. Photo courtesy of O-Töne. At the new Literaturmuseum, nestled in a historic building on Johannesgasse...