Blog
Time for another LIWRE!
Time for another LIWRE Lahti International Writers’ Reunion (LIWRE) is back again! We have overcome all the obstacles posed by the pandemic and will finally be able to convene and discuss as before. Or not quite as before, because the 30th Reunion in June 2022 is something more. As the world changes around us, places…
Eino Leino’s poem for Ukraine
In 1917 Finnish poet Eino Leino wrote a poem for Ukraine. Leino wrote this on 29 June 1917, less than three weeks after the declaration of the Ukrainian People’s Republic on 10 June. Hail to Ukraine! Hail to Ukraine! To the glorious sounding,Cry of white haze of the early morn’s light!March of your strength and…
Elisa af Hällström: Strange Times Made Us Find Something New
Strange Times Made Us Find Something New In Social Media Theatre Koronankohottamat there are 200 artists, and scores of them write for a living. It all began with covid-19, longing and Hamlet. In March last year everyday life went out of joint. Events turned virtual, we practiced social distancing and everybody over 70 was was…
Anni Kytömäki: An Author’s Responsibility for the Environment
Anni Kytömäki: An Author’s Responsibility for the Environment An author works in a field that has long been dependent on logging. Although audiobooks and e-books are on the rise while the number of printed books is diminishing, our words can not enter the consciousness of a reader without leaving a trace in the actual…
Veera Tyhtilä: Electronic freedom of speech and burning books
Electronic freedom of speech and burning books In China, the first automatic newscaster has been deployed. Guided by artificial intelligence, the avatar learns by “watching” live videos, and repeats news input fed to it, looking amazingly lifelike. Its advantages in comparison to traditional, human newscasters reportedly include its ability to work incessantly 24/7 and react…
Jaakko Kankaanpää: The Translator’s Art – And What Does it Mean, Exactly?
Is a literary translator an artist and is literary translating an art form? Those are two questions one sometimes finds oneself answering as a professional literary translator. In a way the answer is self-evident: if a translated book is considered a literary work of artistic merit, it seems inevitable that the translator, as an important…
New old meeting
As the Lahti International Writers’ Reunion was launched fifty-six years ago, it immediately grasped the essential. Its theme was “The Writer and Prejudice “. Under the loop was society, the international situation, as well as the writer. The same multi-faceted inspection has continued ever since, and the Reunion has grown into a unique institution, a…