Untranslated Nature - Kääntämätön Luonto

Leena Sainio

Leena Sainio is a poet, musician and visual artist from Helsinki. She prefers writing social criticism poems. Expressive poems are often flavored by black humor. Many of her poems contain intense rhythm and drama and are well suitable to read out aloud. Leena Sainio is also an active stage poet and can often be seen at poetry events in Finland. Sainio has published two poetry books: Särmää Serenadissa (trans. Edgy serenade) (Pesä) was published in 2019 and the children's poetry book Rapuooppera (trans. The Crab Opera) (Enostone) in 2021. She has illustrated both publications herself. Leena Sainio's texts have been published in several poetry journals and anthologies. She is a member of the poetry collective Runosvengi.

Pirjo Kotamäki

Pirjo Kotamäki is a poet from Helsinki. In 2010 she won "Työ, leikki ja luominen" -writing competition for the lyric series in Tampere. She has published five collection of poems, and the most recent "Villit linnut olkapäillä" (Basambooks, 2020) told the life story of Francis of Assisi as poems. In 2021, her poetry book "Tämä hento maailma, omassa kuolemassaan - runoja Pyhästä Birgitasta" (Basambooks) will be published. Kotamäki's texts have appeared in several cultural journals and anthologies. She is a member of the poetry collective Runosvengi.

Lauri Vanhala

Lauri Vanhala (b. 1953, Helsinki) is a Finnish poet and author. He started writing in 1978. Vanhala has written aphorisms, poems, short stories, essays and prose. He has published "Runot I" (Asatour, BoD, 2008), a short story, poems and musical composition "Hambarzum" (2015, Vanhala-Lakopoulos), "Hallituksia ja valtoja vastaan" (tr. Against Governments and Power, Mediapinta, Vanhala, 2017), "Graavatun tarunot ja lorunot" (Caravansei, 2019), and besides the short stories "Outoja kertomuksia" (tr. Strange stories, Neirol, 2008) and the novel "Myrkyllinen maailma" (tr. Toxic world, Neirol, 2013). Vanhala pays special attention to Armenian literature and writers and has translated the production of Armenian national writer Hovannes Tumanian. He is one of the founding members of the Finnish-Armenian cultural organization. Vanhala is also a former member of the Finnish Aphorism Association. Currently, he is the chairman of the Uusimaa Writers 'Association and the Vantaa Writers' Association, and an Active Member of the Helsinki Poetry Connection. Vanhala gives lectures in libraries, he also organizes and hosts poetry events, and recites his poems in schools, streets and events.

Kasper Salonen

Kasper Salonen (b. 1987) is a bilingual spoken word poet, translator, voice actor, and workshop director from Southern Finland. He has written and performed live poetry in English and Finnish since 2010, and worked as a translator for more than a decade. Salonen has published two spoken word EPs with various musicians as well as a chapbook of his early poems. In spring 2021, Enostone Publishing released his Finnish-language debut, Kiertoreittejä, in physical, ebook, and audiobook form later to be followed by a selection of English translations of the poetry of Finnish legend Arto Melleri a world first. Poetry videos are also available and forthcoming. Salonen has produced and hosted dozens of events for the Helsinki Poetry Connection collective, and teaches poetry at the HPCs Spoken Word Academy.