Joel Willans

Biography

Before moving to Finland, Willans spent his early adult life studying history at University of Greenwich in London, working in the advertising business and writing short stories.

In Finland, Willans worked as a copywriter before founding an ad agency with his wife. The couple also have two kids.

Work

Willans’ first book, Spellbound – Stories of Women’s Magic over Men, was published in England in 2013. The book’s short stories describe men falling in love with women.

The second book, 101 Very Finnish Problems – The Foreigner's Guide to Surviving Finland, was published in 2017 by Gummerus. The work is a collection of short, causerie-style essays, which use a humorous tone to describe Finnish culture from an outside point of view.

Willans based this second book on his Facebook page, Very Finnish Problems, which publishes image memes on Finland to a major audience. Peculiarities in Finnish culture, nature, geography etc. are humorously described as “problems”. Across different social media, the Very Finnish Problems brand has more than 250.000 followers.

In both his writing and interviews by media, Willans tends to discuss what he sees as a contrast between positive aspects of Nordic life, compared to the deep rooted and “shallow” class system of British society.

In Great Britain, some of Willans’ short stories have been awarded the Yeovil Literary Prize and been read on BBC Radio Somerset.

Willans’ company also publishes a podcast titled Very Finnish Problems, on the Ink Tank web publication.