Ortjo Stepanov

Ortjo Stepanov is one of the classics in Karelian literature. His greatest work is a novel series in six parts Kotikunnan tarina (The Story of My Homeland), which tells about life in Viena Karelia form 1920s until 1960s. In addition to that he has written a novella, movie script, a story collection and other prose.

When he began writing, Ortjo Stepanov worked as a prose editor of a literature and culture magazine Red Flag (Punalippu) – nowadays Carelia – for several years in Petrozavodsk. He was accepted in the Union of writers of the Soviet Union in 1970. In 1985 he was given a state literature reward carrying the name of Arhippa Perttunen. Ortjo Stepanov received the honorary title of national writer in 1990.