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Joel Willans

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Color photograph of author Joel Willans standing next to a portrait of himself at a book fair booth
Joel Willans at Helsinki Book Fair, 2018

Joel Willans (born 11 May 1972 in Sudbury, Suffolk in Great Britain) is a British copywriter and author. He moved to Finland in 2002 with his Finnish girlfriend, now his wife.[1][2][3]

Biography

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Before moving to Finland, Willans spent his early adult life studying history at University of Greenwich in London, working in the advertising business and writing short stories.

In Finland, Willans worked as a copywriter before founding an ad agency with his wife.[4] The couple also have two children.[1]

Work

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Willans’ first book, Spellbound – Stories of Women's Magic over Men, was published in England in 2013.[5] The book's short stories describe men falling in love with women.[6]

The second book, 101 Very Finnish Problems – The Foreigner's Guide to Surviving in Finland, was published in 2017 by Gummerus.[7] The work is a collection of short, causerie-style essays, which use a humorous tone to describe Finnish culture from an outside point of view.

Willans based this second book on his Facebook page, Very Finnish Problems, which publishes image memes on Finland to a major audience.[8] Peculiarities in Finnish culture, nature, geography etc. are humorously described as "problems".[9] Across different social media, the Very Finnish Problems brand has more than 650,000 followers.[10][11][12][13] Gummerus published a sequel, More Very Finnish Problems – An Even More Essential Guide To Surviving in Finland, in 2018, in which Willans explores his observations on Finnish culture with added depth, while adding illustrations from his social media accounts.[14][15][16]

In both his writing[17] and interviews[1][2][18] by media, Willans tends to discuss what he sees as a contrast between positive aspects of Nordic life, compared to the deep-rooted yet "shallow" class system of British society.

In Great Britain, some of Willans’ short stories have been awarded the Yeovil Literary Prize and been read on BBC Radio Somerset.[19][20]

Willans’ company also publishes a podcast titled Very Finnish Problems, on the Ink Tank web publication.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c assiabi. "Spellbound by words". www.6d.fi. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Britti Joel Willans muutti Suomeen ja hämmästyi uskollista sääntöjen tottelemista – "Ehkä suomalaiset juovat itsensä niin humalaan juuri sääntöjen takia"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 22 June 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Brittimies löi tiskiin sarkastisen listan: Miksei Suomeen kannata tulla kesäisin?". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 26 May 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Very Finnish Problems -sarjan luoja juhannuskolumnissa: Sisukasta sekoilua satoi tai paistoi". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 22 June 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  5. ^ Media, Quba New. "Spellbound : Route Online". www.route-online.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Proosaa naisen voimalla". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 5 August 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  7. ^ "101 Very Finnish Problems". www.gummerus.fi. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Britti Joel listaa: 10 asiaa, joilla ilahdutat suomalaista: "Mutta älä vaan kutsu virtahevoksi"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Self-deprecating Finnish memes a big online hit". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Very Finnish Problems". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Very Finnish Problems (@veryfinnishproblems) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  12. ^ "VeryFinnishProblems (@SoVeryFinnish) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  13. ^ "VeryFinnishProblems (@veryfinnishproblems) TikTok | Watch VeryFinnishProblems's Newest TikTok Videos". TikTok. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  14. ^ "More Very Finnish Problems". www.gummerus.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Very Finnish Problems -kuvien tekijä Joel Willans sai suomalaiset nauramaan: "Meemit ovat saaneet monet ymmärtäneet, kuinka hyvin asiat täällä ovat"". Seura.fi (in Finnish). 28 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  16. ^ "More Very Finnish Problems : An even more essential guide to surviving Finland (Joel Willans)". Kirjavinkit (in Finnish). 26 October 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  17. ^ Willans, Joel (2017). 101 Very Finnish Problems – The Foreigner's Guide to Surviving in Finland. Helsinki, Finland: Gummerus. p. 8. ISBN 978-951-24-0750-7.
  18. ^ "Brittikirjailija ihmettelee juhannuksen romantisointia: "On vain pakko esittää, että on kivaa"". Me Naiset (in Finnish). 23 June 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  19. ^ "Joel Willans wins Yeovil Prize". Bristol Prize. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ "Shortlisted story broadcast on BBC Radio Somerset". Bristol Prize. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ "The Very Finnish Problems Podcast With Joel Willans -". Retrieved 2 July 2017.
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