Jarkko Laine

17 March 1947 (Turku) - 19 August 2006 (Turku)

Jarkko Laine was a Finnish poet and songwriter. He released several novels, short stories and plays and also translated for example Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, Richard Brautingan, William Shakespeare and some American literature to Finnish.

Laine was well known for his lyrics that he provided for various top line artists in Finland including [a=Rauli Badding Somerjoki], [a=Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940], [a=M.A. Numminen], [a=Maarit] and so on. He wrote over a hundred songs in his career.

Besides being a songwriter and novelist, Laine was also involved with the 1960s underground movement in Finland deriving inspiration from popular culture, pop music and comics. He was the editorial assistant for the literature magazine Parnasso in the years 1969-1986 and its editor-in-chief in the years 1987-2002. He was also the President of The Union of Finnish Writers in the years 1987-2002.

Laine had also two pseudonyms, Lauri Kenttä and Toivo Saksa.