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4|2007CONTENTSYou can read some of Books from Finland here: click the links.
Editorial: Against time?
This’n’thatFrom Finnish Literature Information Centre to the Finnish Literature Exchange; Bror Rönnholm on Lars Sund’s new novel; Lauri Sihvonen on Tuomas Kyrö’s fourth novel; literary prizes; Väinö Kirstinä in memoriam; errata
Lars SundDead calmExtracts from the novel En lycklig liten ö (‘A happy little island’, Söderströms, 2007; Finnish translation: Onnellinen pieni saari, Otava), translated by Silvester Mazzarella An idyllic little village in the Finnish archipelago finds itself dealing with a crowd of unidentified dead people washing ashore. Who are they? Why did they die? And why should the villagers have to bury the dead strangers in their idyllic little graveyard? Lars Sund (born 1953) portrays people and idylls perhaps tinged with xenophobia
Tuomas KyröOn the makeExtracts from the novel Benjamin Kivi (WSOY, 2007), translated by Lola Rogers Benjamin Kivi always wants to be on the winning side: the story of this hardboiled adventurer reflects the violent history of an entire century — and of independent Finland. In this fourth novel by Tuomas Kyrö (born 1976), guilt and reconciliation, facts and fiction, hard opportunism and true love take turns
Trygve SöderlingWord and non-wordThe poet Gunnar Björling (1887—1960) was a uncompromising explorer of his native Swedish and an inveterate coiner of new words, a linguistic minimalist whose highly original lyrical idiom was a strong influence on a whole generation of younger writers. Trygve Söderling takes a look at Björling’s oeuvre
Gunnar BjörlingIt takes a life to sayPoems translated by Fredrik Hertzberg, published in You go the words / Du går de ord (Action Books, Scandinavian Series #2, Indiana, 2007, edited by Johannes Göransson) The poet goes and searches, and it is ‘not in the words / it is not words’
Finland at 90On 6 December Finland celebrated its 90th birthday as an independent nation. We asked six authors to contemplate the words ‘Finland’ and ‘90’: the result is a poem, fiction, facts or a mixture of them, by Jyrki Kiiskinen, Kristina Carlson, Jani Saxell, Sirpa Kähkönen, Teemu Manninen and Katarina Gäddnäs
Umayya Abu-HannaWho do you think you are?An extract from the collection of articles, Sinut (‘On first name terms’, WSOY, 2007), translated by Hildi Hawkins The journalist and writer Umayya Abu-Hanna (born 1961, in Israel) has been living in Finland for a quarter of a century, and she now defines herself a Finnish Palestinian, or a Finn and an Arab. In her view, her second homeland still cultivates a monocultural myth, and Finnishness can be a narrow concept
Merete MazzarellaA womanly pursuitFredrika Runeberg (1807—1879) was the wife of the ‘national poet’ of Finland, the idolised Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804—1877). In the 19th century women’s time was to be consumed by family and housework, but Fredrika published some books, and in pursuing her dreams of writing she also experienced the conflicts of modern women, Merete Mazzarella argues
Fredrika RunebergHearth, home — and writingExtracts from the Swedish-language autobiography Min pennas saga (‘The story of my pen’, ca. 1869—1877; new edition by Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland/Atlantis, 2007, edited by Hedvig Rask), translated by David Hackston In these extracts, the wife, mother of eight and writer Fredrika Runeberg takes a look at her life, dreams and writing
Jyrki LehtolaTunnel vision?Would there possibly be something tautologic in the Finnish way of looking at things Finnish — even when they are not that Finnish? Jyrki Lehtola takes a look at the media
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Jürjo Indrek