Our friend, Cheryl Fish, has written a book of poems, inspired by her many trips to Finland. Please find excerpts of our recent discussion about the book.
Q: What spurred you to write THE SAUNA IS FULL OF MAIDS, a book of poems accompanied by your own photographs, that mostly delves into your Finnish sauna experiences?
A: I want to thank Eero for asking me to write this guest blog post; also he was instrumental in my reading some of these poems at the Finland 100 block party in New York City in 2017. I started going to Finland in 2007 as a Fulbright professor of North American Studies and Environmental Humanities at University of Tampere. One of the first and most common experience of hospitality by my colleagues and the people I met was taking me to saunas. They ranged from fancy ones in spas to local community pools, to the one in the basement of my building that I scheduled. I came to learn about and appreciate the cultural aspect of this ritual of hot and cold, sweat and renewal, for health, for relaxation, and for contemplation. I am excited that your society’s mission is to promote the sauna experience in the U.S. and Canada as it is not really understood in most of the American saunas I have visited. They don’t seem to quite get it.
In the book, I want readers to understand the depth of the sauna experience; I connect particular sauna visits with friends I made during my many returns to Finland and the poems reflect that.
Q: Can you give a few examples of how your poetry links sauna experiences to friendships, travel, and local environments?
A: The poem that opens the book, “Gulf of Finland,” refers to my many returns to Finland as well as to that body of water itself. I begin with a line that alludes to the modern phenomenon of ‘frequent flier’ miles made ironic now due to travel restrictions we’ve experienced with COVID-19, and that the first thing I want to do is go to a favorite sauna:
“Can I use my miles to get more miles? They never expire…”
“A calm naked swim in Yrjökatu simhall, then smoke sauna.”
Next, that poem mentions various friends I would like to visit, so I need to “find out who is where”
“Angie sings and sways in Tampere’s pubs like Väinämöinen in The Kalevala.”
This poem refers to Kalevala, the Finnish epic poem based on oral history and folklore, which is another important component that I reference in the book, including the title, THE SAUNA IS FULL OF MAIDS. This particular swim hall in Helsinki, the oldest public swimming hall, offers a variety of saunas and optional nude swimming on separate days by gender. It is one of my favorite places in Helsinki. When I gave a reading from this new book in Iceland at an artist’s residency recently, several of the others knew this Yrjökatu swim hall. I have a poem dedicated to Yrjökatu later in the book.
The author, right, post-sauna, in Tampere with her friend, Angie
Another poem in the book, “Two Maids in Töölö Towers Sauna,” from which I quote here, uses the sauna experience in the building where I was staying to reflect on how a particular friendship deepened over the years. It refers to the bodies of water and our own bodies:
“Annika arrives at the small sauna in Töölö Towers.
Heat rises like tolerance. Our friendship expands and quiets over eleven years since I first visited Suomi. We eat and drink and shop and walk.
Two maids sharing a view of Helsinki from the 11th floor deck. Taking non-traditional paths, finding pleasure in in-betweens.
Pleasant for me to flit here. We pour water on the rocks, over nakedness. Leave imperfection and judgment. Sweat and cold, wood and skin. The time of dry smoke.
Annika collects lamps of artificial light that shine in the darkness of her living room. Omnipresent candles in the night.
She visits her aging father in their cottage near the archipelago where Russians purchase islands. I lost my father this year. He slipped out of the room.
The Gulf of Finland edges against moonlight, tumescent water resembling a lake.”
Iijoki River and dock, Ii, Finland
Q: What has the response been to the book of poems and your own photos and to featuring saunas as a focus?
A: I have been very pleased by the response as the poems are accessible and readers say it captures a sense of pleasure, culture, diversity of experience, and healing. Here is a comment from Tim Frandy:
“Steeped in the rich images of the Finnish north, Cheryl J. Fish’s latest collection of poetry is a meditation on how Finnish life and experiences entangle with mythic pasts and global modernities. Fish’s verse brilliantly captures the complex juxtapositions that characterize life in Finland today—from steaming saunas to nuclear reactors, from the Kalevala to Tom of Finland exhibitions, from Sámi lávvus to boozy Helsinki karaoke pubs. In her poetry, the mythologic remains with us, blooming in renewal in the everyday acts of diverse people: gay Helsinki; an immigrant from Afghanistan in a tiny northern village; a father rowing a boat with his dreadlocked son. The collection has a breath and cadence to it like a naked run over snow-covered ground, from a hot sauna to the cold sea.”
—Tim Frandy, editor and translator of Inari Sámi Folklore: Stories from Aanaar
Q: Where can we purchase a copy of the book?
A: It’s available for $15.95 from anywhere you buy books online these days, like Amazon, Bookshop, Target, Barnes & Noble, your local bookstore can order it for you, or direct from my publisher, Shanti Arts: https://www.shantiarts.co/uploads/files/def/FISH_SAUNA.html
You can also contact the author for a copy and to find out about her virtual and live readings at tribecagal312@gmail.com or go to her website, www.cheryljfish.com
View from Midtown Helsinki down south, all pictures by the author