Sleep more need. Words. Not enough. Sleep now.

Final night at Saari and sunset over the Baltic Sea, 11:15 p.m.

Today I realized that I haven't posted anything since Tuesday. I'm at a loss to explain why this happened, but my best explanation is that I am going to bed much later than normal because of the increased daylight, and once I realize how late it is, I haven't had the energy to write anything. Since tonight is our last night here at Saari and I have to pack for tomorrow, I probably will not write anything substantial tonight. The problem is that returning to Helsinki until Tuesday means no internet. Sigh. And right now, I don't have access to important parts of my brain that store words or can spell Finnish names. Sigh again.

To fill in the gaps of Wednesday through Friday, I will refer you to Geof. I will, however, definitely finish writing my own account of this week's events.

Here's a brief run down, details to be filled in later:

Wednesday through Friday, we heard presentations from most of the workshop's participants, but we also heard from several guests including Tony Trehy, whom we met in Manchester, UK, this spring for the Text Festival. It was a pleasure to see him again, and I enjoyed meeting the other guests as well.

Yesterday, the whole "core" group made and had dinner together, enjoying our last real night together with Christian leaving today for his home in Calgary. We enjoyed several bottles of wine and other beverages, some good conversation about poetry, families, teaching, significant others, and other random but interesting topics.

In between, we splintered off into smaller groups to go to sauna, with the majority of the group always remaining to continue the conversation and the drinking of the wine. Once Christian and Geof returned, Henriikka and I left for sauna only to find a pre-wedding ritual in full swing. Now, we had heard about this but didn't think it would still be going strong. What we found was the sauna packed with those celebrating the groom's impending marriage today. Keeping in mind the old Finnish adage our Virgil, Karri, taught us, I cannot divulge all the secrets of Friday night's sauna.* Suffice to say that Henriikka and I enjoyed some interesting conversation with some members of the wedding party, had a couple swigs of wine from a box, and eventually had the sauna to ourselves. When we returned, far longer than we had imagined, the next group of us went, and the rest of us sat around the kitchen table trading more stories until 3:00 a.m.

Since it is after midnight now and I still have to finish packing, I will have to save today's adventures, which included an abbreviated drive around the archipelago, and a wedding reception in a yurt, for later.

Karri Kokko, Marko Niemi, Mikael Brygger, Kristian Blomberg,

Christian Bök, me, Henriikka Tavi

*but apparently Geof does not accept this adage.

So much poetry we didn't mind not seeing moose.

Yesterday was a big day, so big that I was too tired to write when we returned home. Part of me thinks I should wait to write about it, but I think I will disregard that little voice and just do it.

We left for Turku about 2:00 so we would have time to visit Turku Castle, an avant-garde exhibit of Russian art, have dinner and find the Turku Student Theater in time for the reading at 7:00. We accomplished all this, and more. As I said, it was a big day.

Turku Castle is interesting because of its huge size but also because it proudly wears its many renovations from its first incarnation in the 1200s. I enjoyed its many twisting passageways that opened, surprisingly, into massive rooms.

The afternoon sunlight was beautiful through the wavy windowpanes.

With just enough time, we left the castle to see the Wäinö Aaltosen museo and have a quick dinner. The student theater was quite close to the restaurant (thanks to Karri's fine planning), so it was an easy walk there.
The reading started pretty much right on time, which is unusual for most poetry readings. And it was a good thing it did since it lasted for three hours, again, unusual for most poetry readings. With 13 of us reading, it was a fast-paced and interesting night. I enjoyed the diversity of the poets Karri assembled, and those of use who haven't read in public since the 1980s (ahem), appreciated his informal MC style, as well as the fact that the audience was attentive and enthusiastic. The theater has good acoustics and is an intimate (without being crowded) space. While I provide some pictures here, I must save some for Geof to use in his more thorough discussion, and unfortunately, we don't have usable pictures of all the participants. We do have lots of video (which may not be posted anywhere for a bit, but which will be eventually).

Henriikka Tavi

Quo Vadis Band

Karri Kokko introducing Christian Bök

Geof Huth

To borrow Karri's quote about the reading, "It was the fastest three hours I've ever spent."

For a slightly different perspective of the reading, Satu Kaikkonen has written a kind and thoughtful (and much more thorough than mine!) discussion of the reading, with pictures of everyone involved. Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to her and her husband after the reading, but I know I will read her blogs often to keep up with all the interesting and varied work she does.

After the reading, many of us walked to a nearby beer garden and restaurant for drinks. We sat outside enjoying the warm summer night and the company. I tried one good darkish beer and then had a lempi mustikka, a blueberry hard cider, which was really good. Eventually, we noticed that the night had actually become dark, so we knew it was quite late. And as I noted at the beginning, we were so tired, we did not stay up to record the day's events but went straight to bed.

It is hard for me to express the significance of being able to read with such talented writers and performers. An amazing experience I will always cherish.

Holey ice-cream, winding river, tassled grain . . . but still no moose . . .

The day began with frustration as Geof tried to finish a booklet for tomorrow night's reading in Turku. Geof settled on a work-around solution, and Karri arranged for it to be printed. At 1:00, we gathered downstairs for a group picture and then to listen to Satu's presentation of her emergence and process as a visual poet. She is amazingly productive, and her work is ever-changing and beautiful. She is also an elementary teacher, so I've enjoyed talking to her and learning a little about Finnish education.

After Satu's presentation, Geof and I prepared our scripts for tomorrow night's reading. Even though I will still have to use my reading glasses, we blew my poems up to a bigger font just in case. With that finally out of the way, Karri drove Geof, Christian and me to Turku to pick up Geof's booklets and to have dinner. We spent a bit of time scouting out stationery supply stores but when Karri found us a shopping mall right in downtown Turku, we were set.

Not only did we find a book/stationery store, but we also found more Mövenpick ice-cream, our new favorite. Since it was likely the shop would be closed by the time we finished eating dinner, we decided to have this as a pre-dinner dessert. I had an intense banana flavor. As the counter girl dug craters into the ice-cream containers, Karri and I joked that Christian and Geof were struggling to resist the compulsion to smooth out her scoop-holes (as had been previously discussed at dinner). Geof has been smoothing out my ice-cream holes for years, a thing that never ceases to amuse me. She offered to allow them behind the counter to smooth out all the uneven spots, but they declined.

We had yet another great dinner and then walked along the Aura River. I took many pictures as Karri, Geof and Christian walked ahead and talked.

Once again, the main topic of conversation on the ride home was whether we would see any moose, what we would do IF we saw any moose, and how to avoid death if we happened to be surprised by a moose on the road. The conversation took a strange turn when Karri said he'd seen an article about a man who supposedly jumped on a swimming moose and rode him for a few meters. From moose, the topic became a discussion of which grain we were passing--rye, wheat or barley. Although I didn't contribute much to this discussion, I did helpfully supply the word "tassle."

Once again I find myself sitting here, feeling pretty darn awake with light still outside my window, only to realize that it's heading towards midnight. Since tomorrow is a big day, and since I'm trying to get to bed before 2:30 a.m., I will finish by posting some pictures from our visit to Turku.

Turku Market

Inside the Turku market

Turku Cathedral