Just a girl in the woods

Maija Mäkelä is a writer and musician from Galway, Ireland.

Her poetry has been published in The Stinging Fly, Banshee and elsewhere, and she has written various texts for installation and performance. From 2020-2023 she hosted a monthly experimental radio show called Invocations on Dublin Digital Radio. She has also written music criticism for Hot Press and The Thin Air and writes *mystes *a sporadic newsletter on language, poetry and mysticism.

A highly acclaimed songwriter, she traverses idiosyncratic and lyrical styles of freak-folk and experimental pop. She has released two albums under the name Maija Sofia; Bath Time (Trapped Animal, 2019) which was nominated for the Choice Music Prize; and True Love (Tulle Collective, 2023) which was praised in The Guardian, and in The Quietus as “a knotty tangle of irresistible earworms... the work of someone with an enviable talent.” She has toured extensively as a musician, performing anywhere from DIY art spaces to haunted churches to national opera houses and concert halls, on her own and opening for artists such as Sharon Van Etten, Julian Baker and Mega Bog.

She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and a recipient of the Arts Council of Ireland’s Next Generation Award, as well as music bursary awards from Dublin City arts office and the Arts Council. She has been commissioned to write new music by National Concert Hall, Sirius Arts Centre, Dublin Digital Radio, Solas Nua and Cork Midsummer Festival. Her work has been arranged and performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra and she has performed several times on national television and radio.

You can find her at:

Contact: maijasofiamusic at gmail dot com