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Editorial: We and I
This 'n' that
Poetry prize for rock lyrics; Jukka Koskelainen on Jouni Inkala's
poems; Fredrik Hertzberg on Birgitta Boucht's travel stories; Satu
Koskimies on Kaarina Valoaalto's memoir of a Helsinki childhood;
Lahti International Writers' Reunion; literary prizes; Pekka Lounela
in memoriam
Jouni Inkala
Could you drop me a line?
Poems from Kirjoittamaton ('Unwritten', WSOY, 2002),
translated by Anselm Hollo
Jouni Inkala (born 1966) encounters Anton Chekhov, Joseph Brodsky
and Ludwig Wittgenstein, among others, in his new collection of
poetry, which approaches its semi-fictional subjects with sharp
twists and sarcastic asides
Birgitta Boucht
Close encounters
Stories from Konservatorns blick ('A conservator's gaze'.
Schildts, 2002), translated by Silvester Mazzarella
The teller of these travel tales likes opening the door to a new
hotel room for the first time. All sorts of unexpected things happen
to her, from a fist-fight with a Florentine hotel-keeper to an almost
tryst with a businessman in Baghdad
Kaarina Valoaalto
Family mysteries
Extracts from Einen keittiö, Eines kök ('Eine's
kitchen', Tammi, 2002), translated by Herbert Lomas
Kaarina Valoaalto (born 1948) has written a memoir of her childhood
in the Töölö district of Helsinki in the form of
a tragicomic prose-poem to a war-wounded family that 'rears not
white doves but white lies' and specialises in epic bouts of farting
Stranger than fiction?
Three columnists take a look at what is going on in Finland
today
Hannu Raittila
The daily grind
Texts from Rahat vai kolmipyörä ja muita kirjoituksia
('The money or the tricycle and other stories', WSOY, 2002), translated
by Hildi Hawkins
Minna Lindgren
Moments musicaux
Texts from Pianon palkeilta orkesterin koskettimille ('From
the stage of the piano to the keyboard of the orchestra', Tammi,
2002), translated by Hildi Hawkins
Tuomas Nevanlinna
Thinking and being
Texts from Surullinen tapiiri ja muita kirjotuksia ('The
sad tapir and other writings', Tammi, 2002), translated by Hildi
Hawkins
Anna Kortelainen
La vie bohème
The art historian Anna Kortelainen introduces Albert Edelfelt
(1854–1905), who lived in Paris as a successful artist for
almost 30 years. This ladies' man wrote more than 1,200 letters
to his beloved mother, confessing in one of them – written
under the influence of champagne – that 'women exist for man'
– except his dearest mother, of course, who is 'my better
self, my idol, my in all my strongest passion'
Albert Edelfelt
Dearest Mother!
Extracts from Niin kutsuttu sydämeni. Albert Edelfeltin
kirjeet äidilleen 1873–1901 ('My so-called heart.
Albert Edelfelt's letters to his mother 1873–1901', Otava,
2001; edited by Anna Kortelainen, letters translated [from Swedish]
by Sirpa Kähkönen), translated by Herbert Lomas
Seppo Heiskanen
Canine capers
Over the past 20 years, Mauri Kunnas (born 1950) has written and
illustrated more than 40 children's books, of which there are now
more than 100 translations. Seitsemän koiraveljestä
('Seven dog brothers', Otava, 2002) is a pastiche of the most popular
Finnish novel of all time, Aleksis Kivi's Seitsemän veljestä
(Seven Brothers, 1870). Kunnas's favourite characters are
dogs – he is also the author of a canine version of the Finnish
national epic, Kalevala.
This is the first of a series on book illustrators that will run
in this year's issues of Books from Finland
Stefan Moster
Birthday blues
Translators encounter the strangest of problems in conveying literature
from one language and culture to another. The German translator
Stefan Moster (born 1964) kicks off with the first of a series,
in which a particular date casts an entire book in a new light
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