The competition extended the entry deadline to March 19, Minna Canth's Day. Turku in 800 Characters is part of broader cultural efforts linked to the city's anniversary year and aims to strengthen participation in local cultural life while giving visibility to diverse voices across the region.
March 2026.- A new literary initiative, Turku in 800 Characters, is inviting residents of the Turku region to capture life in the city through short written works. The project centres on an annual writing competition encouraging participants to submit stories, poems or other texts of up to 800 characters reflecting memories, hopes, dreams and everyday realities connected to Turku.
Due to the high interest in the contest, the organizers announced that the deadline for submitting written entries has been extended until March 19, the day commemorating Minna Canth.
The initiative, called Turku in 800 Characters (Turku 800 merkillä - Åbo i 800 tecken), is led by Kulttuurisaattori, a group of artists and cultural producers from Turku, whose aim is to give residents of the region the opportunity to share their feelings, ideas, dreams, and impressions about the city, which will celebrate its 800th anniversary in 2029.
Turku in 800 Characters is part of broader cultural efforts linked to the city’s anniversary year and aims to strengthen participation in local cultural life while giving visibility to diverse voices across the region.
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"The project is built on the idea that everyone has a story to tell — and that sharing these stories helps communities grow stronger together", explains Éva Chovanecz-Molnár Project Manager, one of the members of Kulttuurisaattori.
Beyond collecting texts, the project seeks to bring them into public space and cultural dialogue. Selected works will be presented in multiple formats, including public installations around the city, thematic cultural events and multidisciplinary artistic collaborations. The texts may also inspire interpretations in other art forms such as music, visual art and dance, encouraging cross-disciplinary engagement with urban memory and identity.
Turku in 800 Characters puts a strong focus on inclusion. The organisers aim to ensure participation from people of different linguistic, cultural, gender, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, with the ambition of creating a new cultural platform that reflects the diversity of contemporary Turku and supports a more connected civic future.
Call for submissions
The competition is open not only to the residents of the Turku region, but to anyone who has a Turku-related story to tell. Participants may submit up to three original texts, each with a maximum length of 800 characters (spaces excluded). Entries can be written in Finnish, Swedish or English and must be original works created by the author without the use of AI or plagiarism.
Texts may take the form of prose, poetry or other written formats and should relate in some way to Turku — whether through personal memories, observations of daily life, or reflections on the city’s past or future.
Submissions must be sent in PDF format to [email protected], with the sender’s name or pseudonym included in the subject line. Applicants will be contacted via the email address used for submission, and personal data will only be used for correspondence related to the competition.
The new deadline for submission is 19.3.2026
Selection process and awards
All submissions will first be reviewed to create a long list of 15 texts considered to be of the highest quality. In the second stage, a jury will select first, second and third prize winners, with the possibility of additional recognitions such as youth or language awards.
Selected works will be published in a compilation and performed as part of an event organised in collaboration with Runoviikko. Through cooperation with the University of Turku, selected texts will also be translated into multiple languages, extending their reach beyond the region.
By combining literary participation, public art and community storytelling, Turku in 800 Characters aims to highlight the lived experiences of residents while reinforcing Turku’s role as a city where culture is created collectively.