Postcolonial theories have been applied in various contexts all over the globe. The article deals with the ways postcolonial thought, especially in combination with gender concerns, has been used in Finnish literary studies. I look at the broader problem of applying postcolonial theories in new contexts and pay close attention to the Nordic European space and its special features. I map the process through which postcolonial theories arrived in Finnish literary studies and then show how postcolonial thought has been applied, in a gender-conscious way, in two particular cases. The first one is the study of the Sámi, the indigenous population of the European North, and their literature, the second one is the study of the Finnish Roma and their literature. In conclusion, I consider the latest developments, i.e. combining postcolonial theoretical framework with multilingual, transnational and cross-border literary studies in Finland and outline some present and future tasks and challenges.