Alexander Chuck sounds Finnish for the first time! Finnish poet Heli Laksonen is fascinated by Alexander Chuck and writes him poetry in response, which will soon be published in the book “Take My Heart Off the Shelf”. In turn, Guntars Godins has not cooled Laksonen’s poems for the first time. He creates his own language bridge between Chuck and Laxonen, highlighting the ability of both peculiar poets to hit deep and painfully. It should be noted that the Finnish poet thinks about Chuck not only in poetry, but also in visual art.
Thirty poems by Alexander Chuck and a reply by Finnish author Heli Laksonen will soon be published in the book “Take My Heart from the Shelf” by the Finnish publishing house “Kynälä” (“Pen”). It will also be supplemented by an audiobook in Finnish. As far as we know, the voice of Alexander Chuck has not been preserved in the ears of future generations, so the creators of the project call to imagine the voice of the modern Finnish poet Hari Hertell as the voice of Chuck.
The story of Aleksandrs Čaks’ poetry coming to the attention of the Finnish poet Heli Lāksonenen is as follows: poet, poet Guntars Godiņš once helped translator Līvija Vītola to deceive Čaka’s poems for the Estonian collection “Eternal Riga”, and this edition was bought by But he only opened it when he returned to his country house in Rauna, Finland.
Already with the first lines, the Finnish poet liked the poems of our city’s singer so much that she shared her enthusiasm later, arriving at the Ventspils International House of Writers and Translators for a month-long residence.
In turn, the authors of Ieva Lešinska’s selection of Chaka poems, translated into English, led to the discovery of even more poems.
Photo: Publicity image
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With a slight retreat, it must be said that Alexander Chuck’s poems have been in the content of school curricula for several generations, so this poetry was like a permitted window to modernism in the conditions of increased censorship and even ideological pressure. His works address new and enthusiastic hearts even today, starting from the school bench. Godiņš also joins this observation about the phenomenon of Chuck’s lyrics in the Latvian Radio program “Kultūras rondo”: “In the days when I was studying, when those crazy Soviet times were, we could look for modernism and modernism poetry in Latvian literature with fire. Then Chuck was its brightest torch, looking at modernism. [..]
Even now, Chuck is a white crow or an unprecedented bird in poetry. So it’s very natural that Heli liked it too. [..] I think she is unique by nature – also a modernist.
We might as well say that she is naive, surreal, etc. ”
Heli Laksonen’s poems are written in the Finnish dialect of her native Uusikaupunki. Guntars Godins them cools in the Liv dialect of Vidzeme, therefore, for the most part, the poet ‘s narrative is imbued with humor and kind – hearted impudence, which is also engulfed by the peculiar sound of the language as opposed to the literary Latvian language. We were especially able to experience this in the first meeting with the texts of Laaksonen, when they greeted our readers from the collection “When gos smei” already nine years ago.
But the expression of a Finnish poet can also be harsh and drunk, just like that of her predecessor Alexander Chuck.
“People laugh, they laugh, but then they start crying because those poems are deep, painful. They are not just joke poems, ”adds Godiņš about the poet’s work.
He knows that Laksonen has shown some of the poems in the upcoming book to people close to him, and they also show that they have experienced their different nature.
Godiņš says about Laksonen’s recollections that it is also a huge achievement – Chuck will sound in Finnish for the first time.
Photo: Publicity image
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Another creative form in which Chuck and Laxonen’s poetry will come to life will be visual art – the book will be supplemented by a poster with a collage of Laaksonen’s own works and smaller-format works. And that’s not all. “In the summer, we will be able to see an exhibition by Heli Laksonen in the Chuck Museum, which will feature works dedicated to these poems, which can be found in both Finnish and Latvian books – hence the motifs of Chuck and her response poems. It will be possible to look there, as well as visually Heli sees Chaka’s poetry, ”reveals Godiņš.
In July, readings of the new book on the Liv coast in Mazirbe and a wider trip around Latgale are planned, introducing this literary dialogue to readers of Ludza and Rēzekne, as well as other cities.
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