Kerttu Vuolab

Kerttu Maarit Kirsti Vuolab (May 1, 1951 Utsjoki, Finland) is a Finnish Sámi author, illustrator, translator and songwriter, who has made it her life mission to ensure that the Sámi oral tradition, language and culture are passed on to future generations of Sámi through multiple media types. Her works have been translated into other Sámi languages such as Inari and Skolt Sámi as well as non-Sámi languages such as Swedish, Finnish, and English.

Biography

Early life Kerttu Vuolab was born on May 1, 1951, in the village of Outakoski to Nils Ola Vuolab and Kristiina Kitti. She grew up on the Finnish side of the border in the Teno River Valley where she still lives today.

Awards In 1983, Vuolab won an award from the Sami Writers' Association (SGS) recognizing her contribution to children's literature in Sámi. The same year, she won another award for the same reason from the Finnish Reading Association (FinRa). From January 1, 1994, to December 31, 1998, Vuolab served as artist laureate of the Province of Lapland. On December 6, 2006, Vuolab was awarded the First Class Knight of the White Rose of Finland. In 2011, she was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for her novel Bárbmoáirras. In 2014, Vuolab won the pan-Nordic Sami language award Gollegiella along with Mikael Svonni and Seija Sivertsen in recognition and appreciation of her contributions to Northern Sámi literature.