Finnish Literature Book CluB
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Join us!
We are an informal gathering of people who enjoy reading, listening, exchanging ideas, and learning from and with others. We read Finnish literature in English translation to create a community of belonging among readers.
Have you read all of the book? Part of it? None of it? It doesn't matter. Come.
Do you have strong ties to Finland? Zero ties to Finland? Yes, and yes, and come!
The sessions are designed to be meaningful for everyone, regardless of your relationship to Finland and its literature. Anyone should feel welcome to come, regardless of how much, how little, or how zero you found a chance to read.
Your take-aways to participating in our book club might be endless:
-a new idea about history or language
-a passage that is tailor-made just for you
-a revelation for your own book project
-feeling heard
-a new way to see or a confirmation of your private dream
-encouragement to make that change or befriend what cannot
-a new friend or a chance to hang out with an old one.
-new books to add to your library and introduce to friends and relatives
-new ideas for travel destinations
-inspiration for poems you write
-a greater appreciation for the art-making happening around the world
-a chance to learn in a company of friends and fellow sojourners
What you might take-away from our time together is as full of possibility as the books we read.
The point is to gather using literature as a hub of human belonging, creativity, and discovery. As Rumi says, "Come, come, whoever you are."
The only prerequisite is that you are a human being. And even that prerequisite is loose, as Finnish writer Leena Krohn in her breathtaking novella, Tainaron: Mail from Another City, explores!
You will gain from our time together. Join us!
Upcoming book-club session: January 12, 2025
Book: The Rabbit Back Literature Society, by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, transl. by Lola Rogers
Date and Time
Sunday, January 12, 2025
1:00-2:15 p.m., EDT
20:00-21:15, Finland time
Zoom
Come to share your thoughts, listen to others' ideas, or just knit and drink coffee. Join us!
Please email Ben, the facilitator, using the "Contact" link above for more information and the Zoom link.
November 2024 book-club session
Book: Things That Fall from the Sky, by Selja Ahava; transl. by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah.
Date and Time
Sunday, November 3, 2024
1:00-2:15 p.m., EDT
Zoom
Group Take-Away Poem
At the end of each gathering, we write a group poem that captures our take-aways from the session. Below please find our poem:
Things that Fall from the Sky
We are not what we want to be, we are what we are.
Strange things can happen, but still, we can choose again.
We are all things that have fallen from the sky.
We are not the parents we want to be we are the parents we are.
Life is random acts of kindness and grief.
We want to be alive and take care of our children. That's why we have to take good care of ourselves, too.
Life goes on even after a tragedy.
Time can stay backwards when things fall from the sky and we can choose our action.
~~~
The novel won the 2016 European Union Prize for Literature and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize, Finland's highest literary honor.
Come to share your thoughts, listen to others' ideas, or just knit and drink coffee. Join us!
Please email Ben, the facilitator, using the "Contact" link above for more information and the Zoom link.
Further resources
-Author Selja Ahava on a panel about contemporary Finnish literature, moderated by translator Lola Rogers:
https://www.youtube.com/@scandinaviahouse/search?query=liksom
Previous gatherings
November 3, 2024
Book: Things That Fall From the Sky, by Selja Ahava, transl. by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
1:00-2:15 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
20:00-21:30, Finland time
Zoom
September 8, 2024
Book: Compartment No. 6, by Rosa Liksom, transl. by Lola Rogers
1:00-2:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time
20:00-21:30, Finland time
Zoom.
July 13, 2024
Book: The Union of Synchronized Swimmers, by Cristina Sandu (translated into English by the author)
4:15-5:45 p.m., EDT
11:15 p.m. to 12:45 a.m., Finland time
Zoom.
May 15, 2024
Book: The End of Drum-Time, by Hanna Pylvainen
2:30-4:00 p.m., EDT
Zoom.
When and where?
We meet on Zoom once every month and a half or so, typically in the evenings, Eastern Time Zone, for about 1.5 hours. The time goes by quickly!
No matter where in the world you are, please reach out so we can accommodate your time zone, too.
Please email Ben, the facilitator, using the "Contact" link above for more information and the Zoom link.
Why Finnish literature in English translation?
Why not! The Finnish language is unique among European languages; it is neither Germanic, Slavic, nor Romance. Thus, it offers the world a different kind of everyday poetry. For instance, English indicates the future in verbs. Finnish indicates the future in objects. Finnish creates a different kind of future.
Finland's geography, too, is distinctive. It neighbors Western Europe and shares a border with Russia; it lies north of one of the world's most powerful countries -- Germany -- and lies underneath one of the world's most vulnerable communities -- the Sami. Though Finland is often associated with the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, its people typically do not consider themselves Scandinavian. A significant body of water -- a Gulf -- separates Finland from Viking ways, thank you very much.
Consequently, Finnish writers see, hear, and write the world in ways that can surprise Anglophone readers to new realities and fresh ways of being. In its pages, you will encounter darks and lights, whimsy and profundity, this world and otherworldliness. New futures.
Join us!
Our Reading List
These titles are by award-winning authors and translators. This list is not exhaustive! Please let Ben know about any new titles to add. See also the Finnish-English Literary Translation Collective for more titles.
The End of Drum-Time, by Hanna Pylvainen (original language, English)
The Union of Synchronized Swimmers, by Cristina Sandu, translated by the author
Memory of Water, by Emmi Itaranta, written by the author in both Finnish and English versions
The Moonday Letters, by Emmi Itaranta, written by the author in both Finnish and English versions
The City of Woven Streets, by Emmi Itaranta, written by the author in both Finnish and English versions
A Landscape Blossoms Within Me / Poems, by Eeva Kilpi, translated by Donald Adamson
The Core of the Sun, by Johanna Sinisalo, translated by Lola Rogers
Compartment No. 6, by Rosa Liksom, translated by Lola Rogers
The Rabbit Back Literature Society, by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, translated by Lola Rogers
Secret Passages in a Hillside Town, by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, translated by Lola Rogers
Dog Park, by Sofi Oksanen, translated by Owen F. Witesman
The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal
The Red Book of Farewells, by Pirkko Saisio, translated by Mia Spangenberg
Lowest Common Denominator, by Pirkko Saisio, translated by Mia Spangenberg, forthcoming
Things That Fall from the Sky, by Selja Ahava, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
White Hunger, by Aki Ollikainen, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
The Brothers, by Asko Sahlberg, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
Mr. Darwin’s Gardener, by Kristina Carlson, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah
The Man Who Died, by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston
The Collected Fiction (including the novellas “Dona Quixote and Other Citizens,” “Tainaron. Mail from Another City,” “Datura, or a Figment Seen by Everyone,” and more), by Leena Krohn, translated by a collection of writers.
When I Forgot, by Elina Hirvonen, translated by Douglas Robinson
Further Resources
Here you'll find articles and archives on Finnish literature in translation.
“An Introduction to Finnish Literature,” by Lola Rogers.
-A wonderful overview of what makes Finnish literature both unique and universal.
“Finnish authors you should know,” video panel of contemporary Finnish writers, moderated by Lola Rogers, YouTube.com.
-An inspiring conversation moderated by a leading translator among some of Finland’s contemporary writers and thinkers.
The Finnish-English Literary Translation Cooperative
-A fantastic archive of Finnish books in translation; translators’ reflections on the art and practice of translation.
FILI: Finnish Literature Exchange
-A department of the Finnish Literature Society whose mission is "to support and promote the publication of Finnish literature in translation around the world."
“Why Translate?” by Herbert Lomas
-A beautiful reflection on the vocation of translating Finnish literature into English.
-Rosa Liksom's novel Compartment No. 6 has been adapted into an award-winning film, which you can find more about here.