Sofi Oksanen is a Finnish writer and a playwright. Oksanen has published five novels and sold more than two million copies in 40 languages. Her best-known work is Purge, which was first written as a theatre play (2007), from out the play grew the novel (2008) and in 2012 the novel was adapted into a film.

Oksanen is actively involved in public debate in Finland and comments on current issues in her columns and various talk shows. She has also written numerous articles published in international newspapers. The topics often are related to freedom of speech, women’s rights, Russian politics, information war, immigration, and LGBT+ rights. In 2009 she received an award from the organizers of Helsinki Pride for her activism on behalf of LGBT people in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia.