LIISA KOVALA
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Based on actual events, Surviving Stutthof is a tale of survival, hope, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit.
Surviving Stutthof was nominated for a Northern Lit Award in 2018.
Praise
Liisa Kovala has achieved something extraordinary in telling her father’s remarkable story: she has turned living history into living art. Surviving Stutthof reads like a novel, but there is never any question that it is delivering a universal truth.
Wayne Grady,
Award-winning author of EMANCIPATION DAY
The suffering is palpable, yet readers will rejoice in each of the minor victories. In this personal labor of love, the care Kovala takes in recounting her father’s experience is evident on every page. A valuable, unique addition to the canon of survivor stories.
Kirkus Reviews
Liisa Kovala’s Surviving Stutthof is a poignant, lyrical and atmospheric memoir ... the book is not only filled with tension and vivid imagery, but also with the complexity and unique layers of humanity.
Mark Leslie,
Author & Editor
Bio
Photo Credit: Gerry Kingsley
Liisa Kovala is a Finnish-Canadian teacher and writer living in Sudbury, Ontario with her husband, Michael, and two children, Mia and Kieran.
Surviving Stutthof, published by Latitude 46, recounts her father’s experiences as a Finnish merchant marine imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. It was short-listed for a Northern Lit Award in 2018.
Her current writing, for which she received a Literary Creation Project Grant from the Ontario Arts Council, explores the life of a former Lotta Svärd as she navigates a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's and her fading memories of life during the Winter War.
Liisa is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada, the Canadian Authors Association, and secretary of the Sudbury Writers' Guild. Her work explores her Finnish heritage and celebrates the northern landscape she calls home.
Events
Publications
Media
A full life: Sudburian who survived German prison camp, helped build Superstack passes away at age 90
Heidi Ulrichsen, Sudbury Star, November 1, 2018
A man who survived being taken prisoner by the Germans as a teenage Finnish merchant marine during the Second World War and later went on to help build the Superstack here in Sudbury passed away Oct. 30 at the age of 90.
Contact
Please contact Liisa Kovala:
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