Pauliina haasjoki

Photo: Tommi Nuopponen

"I am a writer and poetry activist living in Helsinki, Finland. I have published mostly books of poetry, the first Ikkunassa on huone in 1999 and the latest Planeetta in 2016. At the moment I'm writing my eighth poetry book and at the same time working on my first essay book. I am an active member and chairperson 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 books have taken part in the imagining of a relationship to the biosphere and the material reality of our planet in a way that has been called posthumanist. 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 we can have with other animals, and also the 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."