tops the nesting box
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Nancy Mattson: Finns and Amazons; Lines From Karelia
Two fascinting new publications about Finns and their history
I´ve just been reading two very interesting books, both published by Arrowhead Press: Finns and Amazons, a poetry collection by Nancy Mattson, and Lines From Karelia, which is actually a pamphlet containing mainly letters written by Nancy Mattson´s great-aunt from the Soviet Union before the outbreak of the Second World War. The two publications complement each other since one section of Finns and Amazons is based on, and includes excerpts from, the letters in Lines From Karelia, which in turn contains a few of the poems. Another section in Finns and Amazons is inspired by the work of women Russian painters and some of these speculate about a possible connection between the great-aunt as a child and one of the painters.
Some background is needed. Nancy Mattson is a Canadian Finn who now lives in London. Both Nancy´s grandmother, Anna, and Anna´s sister, Lisi, writer of the letters, emigrated from Finland to Canada in their youth. Anna settled in Canada, raised a family, her children had families of their own. Lisi left Canada with her husband, Eino Hirvonen, for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Like thousands of other Finns, they believed in the socialist utopia that was being built in the Soviet Union at that time. The letters tell a part of the story of what happened to them.
I say, `a part of the story´ because Lisi Hirvonen does not fill in all the details of her life in the Soviet Union of the 30s. Perhaps she felt it wouldn´t have been safe, or she wanted to hide the truth, or she was just not the kind of writer who supplied details. Her writing style is also rather idiosyncratic: there is no punctuation in the original Finnish versions of the letters. The translator has preserved this feature in the English versions, wisely, I think. The reader doesn´t always know where one sentence ends and the next begins. Occasionally, one has to back-track a few words. But the sentences (if there were any!) and the general use of language, is fairly simple. It´s easy to follow the sense. And the effect of having no punctuation gives a terrific sense of momentum to her narrative and brings Lisi´s personality closer to the reader.
Perhaps, for me, and I imagine for many readers, the most poignant aspect of the letters is what Lisi doesn´t say. She and Eino obviously went with high hopes and great expectations. At some point they began to feel disappointment and betrayal. Lisi never says this outright, but the tone of the letters changes over the years. Lisi´s and Eino´s marriage also broke up. Again, Lisi doesn´t go into this in the letters that have survived. Alone and nearing 40, Lisi comments in her final letter that perhaps it might have been better if she hadn´t left Canada. It´s heart-breaking. And in nearly every letter she writes to her sister: `don´t worry about me´.
The last letter is dated 1939. After that, Anna didn´t receive another letter from her sister. Nobody knows what happened to her.
There is a fascinating extension to this true life story in the poems. In the first section Nancy Mattson speculates that the painter, Sonia Delaunay, might have painted Lisi as a child. And later, that a photo of a girl in a Soviet tourist guide, in whom Mattson sees a strong family resemblance, could just possibly be Lisi´s daughter.
Compelling reading. Anyone interested in Finland, Finnish culture and history, and the dramas of life will love these two slim volumes.
I´ve just been reading two very interesting books, both published by Arrowhead Press: Finns and Amazons, a poetry collection by Nancy Mattson, and Lines From Karelia, which is actually a pamphlet containing mainly letters written by Nancy Mattson´s great-aunt from the Soviet Union before the outbreak of the Second World War. The two publications complement each other since one section of Finns and Amazons is based on, and includes excerpts from, the letters in Lines From Karelia, which in turn contains a few of the poems. Another section in Finns and Amazons is inspired by the work of women Russian painters and some of these speculate about a possible connection between the great-aunt as a child and one of the painters.
Some background is needed. Nancy Mattson is a Canadian Finn who now lives in London. Both Nancy´s grandmother, Anna, and Anna´s sister, Lisi, writer of the letters, emigrated from Finland to Canada in their youth. Anna settled in Canada, raised a family, her children had families of their own. Lisi left Canada with her husband, Eino Hirvonen, for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Like thousands of other Finns, they believed in the socialist utopia that was being built in the Soviet Union at that time. The letters tell a part of the story of what happened to them.
I say, `a part of the story´ because Lisi Hirvonen does not fill in all the details of her life in the Soviet Union of the 30s. Perhaps she felt it wouldn´t have been safe, or she wanted to hide the truth, or she was just not the kind of writer who supplied details. Her writing style is also rather idiosyncratic: there is no punctuation in the original Finnish versions of the letters. The translator has preserved this feature in the English versions, wisely, I think. The reader doesn´t always know where one sentence ends and the next begins. Occasionally, one has to back-track a few words. But the sentences (if there were any!) and the general use of language, is fairly simple. It´s easy to follow the sense. And the effect of having no punctuation gives a terrific sense of momentum to her narrative and brings Lisi´s personality closer to the reader.
Perhaps, for me, and I imagine for many readers, the most poignant aspect of the letters is what Lisi doesn´t say. She and Eino obviously went with high hopes and great expectations. At some point they began to feel disappointment and betrayal. Lisi never says this outright, but the tone of the letters changes over the years. Lisi´s and Eino´s marriage also broke up. Again, Lisi doesn´t go into this in the letters that have survived. Alone and nearing 40, Lisi comments in her final letter that perhaps it might have been better if she hadn´t left Canada. It´s heart-breaking. And in nearly every letter she writes to her sister: `don´t worry about me´.
The last letter is dated 1939. After that, Anna didn´t receive another letter from her sister. Nobody knows what happened to her.
There is a fascinating extension to this true life story in the poems. In the first section Nancy Mattson speculates that the painter, Sonia Delaunay, might have painted Lisi as a child. And later, that a photo of a girl in a Soviet tourist guide, in whom Mattson sees a strong family resemblance, could just possibly be Lisi´s daughter.
Compelling reading. Anyone interested in Finland, Finnish culture and history, and the dramas of life will love these two slim volumes.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
The Finn´s Tale is in the shops again
Good news for readers in Finland: Akateeminen Kirjakauppa has re-stocked my novel, The Finn´s Tale. I don´t know what the situation had been in stores around Finland, but the Tampere branch had sold out several weeks ago. However, they now have new stock.
The book is also available online, direct from the publishers:
http://www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-mh-tft.htm
or from The Book Depository:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/
And don´t forget that you can read the opening two chapters (almost) from the Kindle version on Amazon.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
What are you working on now?
Like most writers, I imagine, that´s a question I often get asked. So I thought I´d give an update on work in progress here on my blog.
Firstly, I´m producing poems for my second collection... very slowly. I´ve tried to estimate the rate at which I produce poems that I want to keep, and possibly publish, and very approximately it works out at about 10 a year. However, I sometimes write three or four in as many weeks and then go months without writing one. It´s always been like that with me and I never let it bother me: the dreaded writer´s block. Right from when I started writing, I always had the attitude: I don´t have to do this. If the flow dries up, then I don´t write. I´m not sure how I´d feel if the dry period stretched to years rather than months, but I think my attitude probably wouldn´t change.
Now, though, there´s another element in the mix because the work that I´m producing now is also part of my doctorate in creative and critical writing. I need to have sufficient work to meet the requirements by the due date. The terminology makes it sound like accountancy rather than poetry. That was intentional, but I don´t like it much. When I did my MA I had enough ready poems to have submitted my final portfolio even if I hadn´t produced a single new poem. It took the pressure off and in the event I wrote a lot of new poems (at the usual rate, just about). I´m not in that position now, though. I´m trying not to think about it.
And then there´s the new novel, Arthur´s Eventful Weekend. It´s a rather quaint title, I think. One friend asked if it was a children´s book when I told him what it´s called and I can see that it has that kind of tone. It´s about a chap called Arthur, who is telling the story. Over the course of one weekend he goes over his whole life, remembering and taking stock of events and stages that he has passed through. Between those memories, the events of the weekend are unfolding. At the end we learn that something from his past has just resurfaced in his present life and this leads him into a momentous decision. One of the techniques I´ve used in the structure of the narrative is to take events, characters and themes from the Arthurian legends and transpose them into a modern setting and given them a realistic tone. That means they are radically altered from the magical world of the legends, but they are still recognisable.
I´ve just about completed the main part of the writing but I keep tinkering with it
and will probably continue to do so until it´s taken away from me!
Firstly, I´m producing poems for my second collection... very slowly. I´ve tried to estimate the rate at which I produce poems that I want to keep, and possibly publish, and very approximately it works out at about 10 a year. However, I sometimes write three or four in as many weeks and then go months without writing one. It´s always been like that with me and I never let it bother me: the dreaded writer´s block. Right from when I started writing, I always had the attitude: I don´t have to do this. If the flow dries up, then I don´t write. I´m not sure how I´d feel if the dry period stretched to years rather than months, but I think my attitude probably wouldn´t change.
Now, though, there´s another element in the mix because the work that I´m producing now is also part of my doctorate in creative and critical writing. I need to have sufficient work to meet the requirements by the due date. The terminology makes it sound like accountancy rather than poetry. That was intentional, but I don´t like it much. When I did my MA I had enough ready poems to have submitted my final portfolio even if I hadn´t produced a single new poem. It took the pressure off and in the event I wrote a lot of new poems (at the usual rate, just about). I´m not in that position now, though. I´m trying not to think about it.
And then there´s the new novel, Arthur´s Eventful Weekend. It´s a rather quaint title, I think. One friend asked if it was a children´s book when I told him what it´s called and I can see that it has that kind of tone. It´s about a chap called Arthur, who is telling the story. Over the course of one weekend he goes over his whole life, remembering and taking stock of events and stages that he has passed through. Between those memories, the events of the weekend are unfolding. At the end we learn that something from his past has just resurfaced in his present life and this leads him into a momentous decision. One of the techniques I´ve used in the structure of the narrative is to take events, characters and themes from the Arthurian legends and transpose them into a modern setting and given them a realistic tone. That means they are radically altered from the magical world of the legends, but they are still recognisable.
I´ve just about completed the main part of the writing but I keep tinkering with it
and will probably continue to do so until it´s taken away from me!
Monday, 9 January 2012
Presenting The Finn´s Tale in Tampere
I shall be giving a talk to the Tampere branch of the Finnish-British society on Friday 20 January at 19.00 at the Kansainvälinen Kohtauspaikka, Suvantokatu 13, Tampere. Everyone is welcome.
I´m going to talk about the process of writing my novel, The Finn´s Tale, describing some of the decisions I had to make about plot, characterisation and language, and also commenting a little on the publishing process. After that, I will go on to read a few short passages.
Any visitors to my blog who are in the Tampere area and interested in hearing about my writing are especially welcome. I´d love to meet you.
Copies of The Finn´s Tale will be available for purchase at the advantageous price of 9 euros. I will also bring along some copies of my poetry collection, Midas Touch, and the English translation of Martti Hynynen´s, island, nameless rock.
I´m looking forward to seeing you there.
I´m going to talk about the process of writing my novel, The Finn´s Tale, describing some of the decisions I had to make about plot, characterisation and language, and also commenting a little on the publishing process. After that, I will go on to read a few short passages.
Any visitors to my blog who are in the Tampere area and interested in hearing about my writing are especially welcome. I´d love to meet you.
Copies of The Finn´s Tale will be available for purchase at the advantageous price of 9 euros. I will also bring along some copies of my poetry collection, Midas Touch, and the English translation of Martti Hynynen´s, island, nameless rock.
I´m looking forward to seeing you there.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
The Finn´s Tale available in a Kindle version
My novel, The Finn´s Tale, is now available from Amazon in a Kindle version. I don´t have a Kindle reader myself yet, but I´m seriously thinking about getting one. There´s also a `Look inside the book´ feature on the novel´s Amazon page. I think this is such a good idea. It gives you the chance to read the opening of a book that you are interested in but not sure that you would really want to buy and read. I often use the feature when it´s available. For The Finn´s Tale the excerpt that you can read on the Amazon page is almost the whole of the first two chapters. I think it gives a good idea of what the book´s about, although those first two chapters are set in America, before Len travels to Finland. The atmosphere changes a lot once he arrives in the country. Well, I guess there´s only one way to find out what that part is like.
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Poetry Reading
It´s more than a month ago now, that I gave a reading from my collection, Midas Touch, at The Poetry Cafe, with fellow Ward Wood poets, Peter Phillips and David Cooke. At last, I´ve got round to posting a report and a couple of pictures from the event on my blog.
The Poetry Cafe is a great venue, very cosy and intimate and we had an appreciative audience that comfortably filled the basement of the cafe. Peter read poems from his collection, No School Tie, as well as some others.
Some of his poems were wonderfully comic and others very sensitive, and some were both at once. I can highly recommend this collection.
David read poems from a variety of publications: magazines and earlier collections, including some poignant memories of family members.
We each did a 15-minute slot, followed by poets from the floor. A very pleasant evening. Thanks to Adele Ward for organising and hosting the event with her customary flair and charm.
Here I am, doing my bit. One of the poems I read was `Things´. I have included the text of the poem, just in case any readers of my blog don´t know it, to give you a flavour of the evening.
Things
There are these things:
one half of a double door stands ajar,
through the frosted pane of its closed partner
the curtain´s blue stain visible on the wall.
The empty floor echoes to no footfall.
A mirror reflects a key on the hallstand.
These things are troubled -
they know exactly what´s happened.
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