tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post4694725017057901194..comments2024-02-11T09:55:50.468-08:00Comments on The Eastside View: RovaniemiCharles Sherehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-81555536450011854212016-01-03T13:33:35.438-08:002016-01-03T13:33:35.438-08:00I read poetry rarely, but a book of Anselm Hollo&#...<i>I read poetry rarely, but a book of Anselm Hollo's has a place on my shelves, and I turn to it with pleasure every now and then. <br />There should be a cultural history or biographical encyclopedia based on student exchanges: I think they are a very important component of world culture.<br />I'm interested that you've translated Reverdy, a poet I respect.<br />I'm working on a report on further Aalto experience on this trip. Spare, yes; austere, not quite; clinical, not at all.<br />What possesses me to do this? Intense curiosity, and a certain taste for physical discomfort — if it can be allayed by nightfall.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-25178249468276270112016-01-02T08:52:15.455-08:002016-01-02T08:52:15.455-08:00One of my poetry teachers at Iowa was Anselm Hollo...One of my poetry teachers at Iowa was Anselm Hollo, a native Finn who had first come to America--Iowa City in fact--as an "exchange student" in the 1950's, before returning years later. Anselm had lived for periods in Germany and England, before settling in America in the late 1960's. He died in 2013 in Colorado, where he'd been teaching for many years at Naropa. He kept in touch with his Finnish roots, translating contemporary poets (such as Penti Saarokiski (sp.?). Aside from a blog comment-box, I had no contact with him after 1972, when he gave me an undeserved A grade for my pathetic Reverdy translations. <br /><br />I once very much admired Alvar Aalto--a very individual take on Modernist design, applied to a cold climate. There's something spare and austere about all his work which is attractive in a clinical sort of way. Today I don't think I'd find it so inviting.<br /><br />I don't know whether to congratulate you or scold you for subjecting yourself to such harsh conditions over the holidays. What on earth possesses you to do this???Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.com