The issue of writers that write in foreign languages in Finland was discussed with foundations and writers' unions
The following questions were treated in the two discussions: Are works of poets and writers with immigrant background Finnish literature? How could poets and writers who live in Finland but write in other languages than Finnish or Swedish participate better in the Finnish literary field and contribute to the Finnish society? How can literature written in different languages be understood and evaluated in the Finnish art-supporting systems? What kind of challenges do writers with immigrant background face in Finland?
The first conversation took place in Villa Kivi on Tuesday November 5th. It concentrated on the obstacles and possibilities of inclusion of foreign language writers in the Finnish literary field. The participants were leaders and/or other representatives of unions, organisations and variety of projects. The second conversation was organized in Arts Promotion Centre (Taike) on Wednesday November 6th, and it focused on possibilities and obstacles of funding literature written in foreign languages in Finland. The participants were representatives of the most important art-funding bodies in Finland.
Special Planning Officer Paula Karhunen presented the results of her study about the position of migrant writers within the state support showing statistics about the development of the percentages of different linguistic groups among the applicants and allocated grants. Leading representatives of Swedish Cultural Foundation, Kone Foundation and Finnish Cultural Foundation presented their different positions regarding funding foreign language literature in Finland.
A complete inform of the two conversations will be published later by Culture for All Service.
Additional information
Arts Promotion Centre/Uusimaa: Outi Korhonen, [email protected]
Culture for All Service: Rita Paqvalen, [email protected]
Lukukeskus: Tomi Purovaara, [email protected]
Sivuvalo: Roxana Crisólogo, [email protected]