Jari Tervo (born 2 February 1959)
is a
Finnish author, columnist, and former
TV personality. He is a major name in
Finnish literature
Finnish literature refers to literature written in Finland. During the European early Middle Ages, the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-century Birch bark letter no. 292 from Novgorod. The text was written in Cyrilli ...
.
Writing
Tervo mainly writes traditional plot-driven
prose fiction, in genres ranging from
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
(''Poliisin poika'') to
detective fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...
(''Myyrä''). His works often include autobiographical elements; for example, ''Kallellaan'' is a diary, and ''Minun sukuni tarina'' has a protagonist who is the author himself, all but in name. Despite his renown in Finland, only one of his novels has been translated into English: ''Pyhiesi Yhteyteen'', translated as ''Among the Saints'' in 2014.. Tervo has also written books of poetry, as well as
newspaper column
A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, where a writer expresses their own opinion in few columns allotted to them by the newspaper organization. People who write columns are described as columnis ...
s for
Yle Uutiset,
Helsingin Sanomat
, abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
, and
Iltalehti, among other publications.
He was given the
Veijo Meri Award in 2018.
Tervo was published by
WSOY until 2016, but followed his editor, , to
Otava.
Television
Tervo was a team captain on ''
Uutisvuoto'',
a Finnish television
panel show
A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...
based on the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's ''
Have I Got News For You'', from its debut in 1998 until he quit the show in 2017.
Personal life
Tervo is married to the writer .
Novels
* ''Pohjan hovi'', 1992 (''The Court of the North'')
* ''Poliisin poika'', 1993 (''Policeman's Son'')
* ''Pyhiesi yhteyteen'', 1995, published in English as ''Among the Saints'' in 2014
* ''Tuulikaappimaa'', 1997 (''Windswept Expanse'')
* ''Minun sukuni tarina'', 1999 (''My Family Chronicle'')
* ''Kallellaan'', 2000
* ''Suomemme heimo'', 2001
* ''Rautapää'', 2002
* ''Myyrä'', 2004 (''The Mole'')
* ''Ohrana'', 2006
* ''Troikka'', 2008
* ''Koljatti'', 2009
* ''Layla'', 2011
* ''Jarrusukka'', 2013
* ''Esikoinen'', 2013
* ''Revontultentie'', 2014
* ''Pyrstötähti'', 2015
* ''Matriarkka'', 2016
* ''Aamen'', 2018
* ''Pääskyt talvehtivat järven pohjassa'', 2021
Short story collections
* ''Siat ja naudat'', 1994
* ''Taksirengin rakkaus'', 1998
* ''Siperian tango: Valitut novellit, 1993–2003'', 2003
Poetry
* ''Tuulen keinutuoli'', 1980
* ''Sillankorvassa, illansuussa'', 1983
* ''Kaistan taivasta'', 1988
* ''Muistoja Pohjolasta'', 1990
* ''Intialainen lippalakki: Valitut runot, 1978–90'', 1999
Non-fiction
* ''Loiri'', 2019
* ''Ukko'', with Kati Tervo, 2022
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tervo, Jari
1959 births
Living people
People from Rovaniemi
Writers from Lapland (Finland)
Finnish television personalities