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Editorial

This’n’that
Tove Jansson in memoriam; Helena Sinervo on new poems by Eva-Stina Byggmästar; Jouni Inkala on Markku Paasonen’s short prose; Maria Säntti on the Lahti International Writers’ Reunion; Hannu Raittila on the virtues of stupidity; reader survey; literary prize; erratum

Eva-Stina Byggmästar
Strange songs
Poems from Den harhjärtade människan (‘Hare-heart’, Söderström & Co., 2001), translated by David McDuff
In her eighth collection of poems, Eva-Stina Byggmästar (born 1967) forsakes the human world for that of fauns, hares and other grass-eaters

Maria Antas
Pleasures of war
An interview of Ulla-Lena Lundberg
Ulla-Lena Lundberg
A life at the front
Extracts from the novel Marsipansoldaten (‘The marzipan soldier’, Söderström & Co., 2001; Marsipaanisotilas, Gummerus, 2001), translated by David McDuff
This big novel by Ulla-Lena Lundberg (born 1947) begins with the Finnish Winter War against the Soviet Union of 1939. Instead of describing fighting, however, it focuses on a group of young, Swedish-speaking soldiers, their meagre everyday lives and their families

Markku Paasonen
No longer I:
Short prose from Voittokulku (‘Triumphal march’, Tammi, 2001), translated by Hildi Hawkins
In these dream-like prose poems by Markku Paasonen (born 1967) there are glimpses of worlds, familiar or weirdly foreign, in which it is often uncertain where the body ends and the city begins

Rainer Knapas
From small town to metropolis
Introduction to J.V. Snellman’s travel book
J.V. Snellman
A visit to Vienna
Extracts from Tyskland, skildringar och omdömen från en resa (‘Germany, descriptions and opinions from a journey’, Stockholm, 1842), translated by Silvester Mazzarella
A serious young man of letters from the remote Grand Duchy of Finland acquaints himself with the pleasures of Europe. Johan Vilhelm Snellman (1806–1881) – later an important nationalist and the ‘national philosopher’ of a Finland of growing aspirations towards an independence – is captivated by Vienna, brimming with music, big parties and beautiful women

Jukka Relander
How to kow-tow
The nationalist and idealist tradition in Finland contains the seeds of Finlandisation, argues the historian Jukka Relander (born 1965) in an account of the broader implications of the phenomenon of Finlandisation, its history and politics.
The essay, translated by Hildi Hawkins, is an edited version from a selection of articles Entäs kun tulee se yhdestoista? Suomettumisen uusi historia (‘And what about the eleventh? A new history of Finlandisation’, edited by Johan Bäckman, WSOY, 2001)

Reviews

Pekka Tarkka
Publishing with principles
Kai Häggman: Piispankadulta Bulevardille. Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö 1878–1939 [From Piispankatu street to the Boulevard. Werner Söderström Oy 1878–1939]

Hildi Hawkins
The long goodbye
Connecting Souls. Finnish voices in North America, edited by Varpu Lindström and Börje Vähämäki

Frankfurt supplement

Arto Suninen
Steady state
Arto Suninen surveys the book business in Finland

Publishing news

Statistics

New translations

Select bibliography

Letter from Tallinn
Hildi Hawkins visits the Estonian capital on the tenth anniversary of the country’s independence – and remembers the dramatic events of August 1991



 
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