Mike in Finland

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Reading from The Finn´s Tale

Here´s a video of me reading a passage from my novel, The Finn´s Tale. The passage occurs a little after half way through the novel when Len, a 3rd generation Finnish-American who is visiting his Finnish relatives, and Päivi, his second cousin, go to pick chanterelles. The book´s cover picture alludes to this scene.







The Finn´s Tale is available online from:

www.bookdepository.co.uk

www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk

www.amazon.com / www.amazon.co.uk (also in Kindle version)

from selected branches of Akateeminen Kirjakauppa and Suomalainen Kirjakauppa and from Pocket Books in Helsinki railway station.

Friday 20 July 2012

In Finnish

I´ve translated one of the poems from my collection, Midas Touch, into Finnish, with some help from Eevi Apponen (acknowledgement duly rendered). The poem is `Family´ from the prologue, `Two Poems From Finland´. This is what it looks like in Finnish:


Perhe

Rappu, puutarha
polku, pensas, ruohon
tuoksu sateen jälkeen,

pehmeä pip kun vettä
putoaa lehdille,

hohto autotallin
seinävalon ympärillä.

Ja tuolla
emo-janis
kahden poikasensa keskellä,

kuusi korvaa silhuettina
lampujen valaisemassa
asfaltissa.


... and this is how it sounds when read aloud by an Englishman with a poor accent. Still, non-Finnish visitors to my blog can at least get an idea of the Finnish version, I think. You can hear the same poem read in English on the video `Two Poems From Finland´ below; `Family´ is the second.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Readings of some poems from Midas Touch

I´ve uploaded two videos of me reading poems from my collection, Midas Touch. These poems are on YouTube as well. I plan to add some more poems in the future and also an excerpt from my novel, The Finn´s Tale.


Claire Clairmont and Allegra

Claire Clairmont was briefly the lover of the poet, Lord Byron and Allegra was their daughter. Allegra died at the age of five. Claire later lived with Percy Shelley and his wife, Mary Shelley. It is not known whether Claire and Percy were lovers but there is no doubt that she loved him. The shawl referred to in the poem was a gift from Percy to Claire. After Percy´s death Claire spent many years living in Russia and other countries.





Two Poems From Finland

The second video should interest blog readers in Finland as it includes the two poems from Finland that make up the prologue to Midas Touch, Winter Swans and Family.




I hope you enjoy listening to these poems. Do leave comments if you feel inclined.