PAULIINA HAASJOKI

"I am a poet, essayist and poetry activist living in Helsinki, Finland. I have published eight books of poetry, the first Ikkunassa on huone in 1999 and the latest Promessa in 2019. This fall I also debuted as an essayist with a book called Himmeä sininen piste. I am an active member of Poesia, a co-operative publishing house owned and run by poets. I also have a PhD in Finnish literature.

In the recent years my poetry has taken part in the imagining of a relationship to the biosphere and the material reality of our planet, and the bodily realities of all living and sentient beings on it. My poems impart a sense of wonder probably because that is the feeling that for me supports writing on one hand; on the other, a strong fascination with language and its rhythms and structures. I often write in a continuous form, moving between prose poetry and free verse, improvising on description of real and imagined scenes. I often draw on natural sciences. I try to think poetically about world views and views on humanity, the relationships humans can have with other animals, and also the fragile concept of “we”: what things are shared in that pronoun and what are not. My essay book deals with similar questions more directly and also shows an interest in outer space and imagined futures.

This winter in Circolo I want to begin again: to read, to experience Rome and surroundings, and to start writing towards what will be my next book of poetry."