Author Visit: Liisa Lauerma – Lapsuus kohtauspaikkana 

Wednesday 4 March 2026, 6–7 pm, at the Stage of Entresse Library (Siltakatu 11, 3rd floor).

The interviewer is library pedagogue and literary therapy instructor Pirkko Ilmanen.

A new collection of childhood memories opens up the differences and similarities of childhood from a multicultural perspective.

What was it like when you were small and your senses were wide open? What do you remember about play, household chores, school, nature, and important people in your life? Which memories would you like to share with someone else? In this “bedtime storybook for adults,” we take a shared journey through time with contemporary Finnish women who spent their childhoods in different cultures. Based on interviews, the stories take us to Argentina, Iran, Japan, Colombia, the Soviet Union, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Estonia, and Finland.

Childhood is a stage of life that connects us all. Through the stories in the book, readers can reflect their own memories against the experiences carried by the storytellers and discover both similarities and differences.

This book is for everyone interested in multiculturalism, memories, and childhood. It challenges readers to examine their own cultural stereotypes and to consider whether sharing childhood memories could help us see one another in new ways.

Liisa Lauerma, M.A., is a nonfiction writer and literary therapy instructor based in Espoo. She has published children’s nonfiction books on cultural-historical topics and has received the Finnish Non-Fiction Writers’ Association’s Tietopöllö Award. Her first book for adults, Suvun jäljillä – löydä oma tarinasi (Kirjapaja 2021), explored the significance of family history for personal identity. Lauerma has also guided childhood memory work in her professional work with early childhood education staff.