Maija Mäkinen
August 20, 2023


Due to technical difficulties at Newtown Radio, the first part of this this show was lost. Apologies to all, especially Maija! We discuss her remarkable book The Ghosts of Other Immigrants, published 2023 by New American Press, winner of the New American Fiction Prize.

Maija Mäkinen has lived in Finland and Washington DC as a kid, Texas and Michigan as a teenager, New York and elsewhere as an adult, and her book of short stories tells some of the stories of what it means to be an immigrant. Maija’s grandmother was forcibly removed from her home when the boundaries of Finland and the Soviet Union were fixed. She never moved again, in great contrast to Maija’s parents, who moved to the United States when she was young, but who never considered themselves to be immigrants.

Connecting language to place—and particularly what it means to be an American—Maija’s stories are vivid pictures of displacements. She talks about train travel around the world and about NYC—living above an Indian restaurant, and harrowing episodes with a homicidal bathtubs and windows falling into apartments.

It’s a wonderful conversation, with songs divided by region, naturally. I only wish we were able to salvage the entire conversation. Thank you, Maija Mäkinen!

1. Onkija by Noitalinna Huraa, 1988
2. Sudenkorento/Life on Mars by Hector, 1974
3. Muistatko Monrepos’n by Annikki Tähti, 1957
4. Lapin tango by Tamara Lund, 1972
5. Hopeinen kuu/Guarda che luna by Olavi Virta, 2020

NYC

1. Lounging by Guru, feat. Donald Byrd, 1993
   
2. Creator Has a Master Plan by Brooklyn Funk Essentials, 1994
   
3. Brimful of Asha by Cornershop, 2006

Going Country

1. Papa Was a Rodeo by The Magnetic Fields, 1999
   
2. Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell, 1975
3. Kiss an Angel Good Morning by Charley Pride, 1971
   
4. Ghost Town by Sam Outlaw, 2015
   
5. Sunday Morning Coming Down by Johnny Cash, 1970
6. Kisses Sweeter Than Wine by Jimmie Rodgers, 1957

Internationals

1. Mackie Messer/Mack the Knife by Lotte Lenya, 1955
   
2. The Model by Belle & Sebastian, 2000
3. Condolence by Benjamin Clementine, 2014
4. Vaquinha mansa by Cesária Évora, 1999
5. Vem tänder stjärnorna by Eva Dahlgren, 1991
6. Bayou by Paul Cantelon, 2009
7. Van den Budenmayer Concerto en Mi Mineur by Zbigniew Preisner, 1991

Back to Finland

1. La Mer by Charles Trenet, 1992
2. Helsinki Shangri-la by Paleface, 2010
3. Cha cha cha by Käärijä, 2023
   

Maija Mäkinen is a Finnish-born writer and translator. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Boston University. Her work has appeared in The Iowa Review, Porter House Review, The Bare Life Review, SAND, and in Short, and Vigorous Roots: A Contemporary Flash Fiction Collection of Migrant Voices. She has worked as a forensics lab dishwasher, candy factory machine operator, copyeditor, camera operator and conference organizer. After seven transatlantic moves, she lives in Brooklyn and writes mostly in English.

Awards & Honors
Honorable Mention for "1993" in The Best American Short Stories 2022
2021 New American Fiction Prize for The Ghosts of Other Immigrants: Stories. Judge: Kristen Arnett
Finalist, 2021 Willow Springs Spokane Prize, for short story collection
Honorable Mention, 2021 Cincinnati Review Robert and Adele Schiff Award. Judge: Michael Griffith
Semifinalist, 2021 Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize, for short story collection
Winner, The Iowa Review Award in Fiction, 2020. Judge: Lan Samantha Chang
Top-10 Finalist, Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction, 2020. Judge: Lori Ostlund
Pushcart Nomination for "Country Fiction" from Porter House Review, 2019
Nadia Christensen Prize in Translation, American-Scandinavian Foundation, 2017
Editor’s Choice Award, Best New Writing, 2014
University of Cambridge Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, 2012
Finalist, Glimmer Train Press Short Story Award for New Writers, 2011

Residency Fellowships
Monson Arts
The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Residency
Art Omi: Writers
Key West Literary Seminar
Mary Sky Residency
Kone Foundation’s Saari Fellowship
The Studios of Key West