Finland’s Gandalf is real. She forges fantastic fireworks, the like of which were never seen before. They dazzle the locals who’ve never been over the next hill – or heard of anyone under it. “You shall not pass!” she cries,…
Blog Archives
Tolkien’s Translator
Tagged with: books, Finnish, Kersti Juva, Lord of the Rings, SKS, Speculative fiction, Tolkien, Tolkienin tulkkina, Translation
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Aino A!
Living in a building designed by Alvar Aalto is both unparalleled and uncomfortable. I have just moved out of Viitatorni (the “skyscraper” he finally got built in Jyväskylä after years of trying) into Säynätsalo Town Hall, into Säynätsalo Town Hall,…
Tagged with: Aino A!, Aino Marsio-Aalto, architecture, biofiction, books, Finnish, Jari Järvelä, Translation, Wivi Lönn
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
Waiting for translation: Margarita
A real old-school holiday resort. Sauna, muscle-reviving massage for the old biddies with health problems, berry and mushroom picking, rowboats to the island in the middle of the lake, home-cooked food with produce from the estate. A local community where…
Tagged with: Anni Kytomäki, books, Finlandia Prize, Finnish, Margarita, Translation, waitingfortranslation
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
A window left open
If some of these poems feel like song lyrics, that’s because they are. Pentti Saarikoski’s best-loved work was set to music for the sixties folk group, Muksut. You can watch their original videos in the national treasure trove that is…
Tagged with: books, Dublin Literary Award, Emily Jeremiah, Finland, Finnish, Fleur Jeremiah, Muksut, Norvik Press, Pentti Saarikoski, Poetry, Translation
Posted in books, Dublin Literary Award, poetry
Posted in books, Dublin Literary Award, poetry
Fifty islands I have not visited and never will
This is the subtitle to Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands. I discovered it eleven years late, because this year Marko Niemi translated it into Finnish. I ordered the German original straight away and despite the pandemic it arrived promptly…
Tagged with: Atlas of Remote Islands, books, Christine Lo, Finnish, German, Mare, Marko Niemi, Poesia, Translation
Posted in books, history, Illustration, translation
Posted in books, history, Illustration, translation
The snow banks are high, the snow drifts deep
Christmas is almost here. Deep snow drifts is what we want, but will we get them? At least we can sing about them. My choir sang this carol by Jean Sibelius at our Christmas concert this year. We do not…
Tagged with: Christmas, Christmas Carols, Finland, Finnish, On hanget korkeat nietokset, Sibelius, Translation
Posted in Christmas, music, translation
Posted in Christmas, music, translation
Come into the story
I’m on the way home from Gdańsk, from the choral festival which my choir achieved silver in the equal-voice category yesterday – we are thrilled. For the competition we had to sing two songs in our own language and two…
Tagged with: Finland, Finnish, international, music, Pentti Linkola, Poetry, Sirkka Turkka, Translation, Tule kanssani satuun
Posted in international, music, poetry, translation
Posted in international, music, poetry, translation
Maresi’s Power
Maresi is home from the abbey. She has left her sisters behind. She has left the horror of death behind too, it seems. It isn’t easy coming home. The journey is hard, and long. And when she gets there, the…
Tagged with: Annie Prime, books, Dublin Literary Award, Finland, Finnish, Maresi, Maresi Red Mantle, Maria Kyrö, Maria Turtschaninoff, Swedish, Translation, YA
Posted in books, gender, translation
Posted in books, gender, translation
Oh, to be in Finland, now December’s there
It’s too warm. It should be colder – a lot colder. It’s unseasonable. It’s beautiful, delightful, but it all feels wrong. It’s just all a bit too much, not cosy enough, not delicate enough, perhaps? Things should be the same,…
Tagged with: Christmas Carols, Finland, Finnish, Karl Collan, Poetry, Robert Browning, Swedish, Sylvian joululaulu, Sylvias hälsning från Sicilien, Translation, Zachris Topelius
Posted in Christmas, music, poetry, translation
Posted in Christmas, music, poetry, translation
They know not what they do
When Jussi Valtonen’s book won the Finlandia Prize for the best novel of 2014, my friend recommended it to me. Her husband had loved it, I would find it really interesting. But it looked so weighty, and back then, my…
Tagged with: books, Finland, Finlandia Prize, Finnish, Jussi Valtonen, Kristian London, Oneworld, They Know Not What They Do, Translation
Posted in books, translation
Posted in books, translation
found in translation 