Tove Jansson spent much of her life on a barren, wind-swept island in the Gulf of Finland, painting, writing, and constructing a universe that would become one of the most beloved in modern literature.
A writer of crystalline prose and a cartoonist of effortless wit, she is best known for The Summer Book, a novel of quiet, elemental beauty, and for the Moomins — those strange, tender creatures who have, for eight decades, inspired an almost cult-like devotion across Europe and beyond.
Jansson’s work — unruly, melancholic, fiercely independent — transcends easy categorization. It is queer in every sense of the word. It is at once intimate and grand, defiant and gentle, deeply personal and utterly transportive. The Moomins, ostensibly for children, explore exile, loss, and the search for home with a depth that has drawn comparisons to The Little Prince — and Proust. Meanwhile, her novels and short stories, many only recently rediscovered by English-speaking audiences, reveal a writer of astonishing range, as deft at psychological nuance as she was at capturing the wild beauty of the Nordic landscape.
Now, as Tove Jansson becomes the subject of a film starring Glenn Close, and as The Moomins and the Great Flood marks its 80th anniversary, a panel of writers deeply attuned to Jansson’s work — Alexander Chee, Leanne Shapton, Rivka Galchen, and Kate Zambreno — join moderator Makenna Goodman for a conversation about the restless imagination that fueled Jansson’s life and art. What was it about her vision that continues to captivate? Why does her world feel more necessary than ever? Join us for an evening of readings, reflection, and celebration of a singular literary force.
The conversation was recorded on March 10th, 2025, at The 92nd Street Y, New York.
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