Westö, Kjell

Kjell Westö is a Finnish writer and journalist, born and raised in an upper middle-class family in Helsinki with roots in Ostrobothnia. Thus, his family spoke Swedish but Westö learned to speak Finnish fluently as a kid. In his younger years he was very interested in music and sports. He studied journalism at the Swedish School of Social Science, and the history of literature at the University of Helsinki. Before he became a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist at the daily Hufvudstadsbladet and the magazine Ny Tid.