Pentti Saarikoski Days 8/2026

Teacher

Kähkönen Sirpa

In Pentti Saarikoski's poetry, metaphysics is expressed at the interface between everyday life and philosophy, often through irony and social commentary. His poems do not aim for mysticism or religious metaphysics, but rather for reflection on everyday reality and existence. For example, in the work What is really happening? (1962), he discusses the change of time, existence and society, combining observations of spaceflight and socialism with everyday events.



Sirpa Kähkönen (b. 1964) is a Helsinki-based writer specializing in social and historical topics. According to Kähkönen's own words, her passion for writing was first influenced by her grandfather from Savo, who was a good storyteller, and her grandmother, from whose "whispers" she tried as a child to understand everything that was not said out loud at home. Later, the writer was inspired by Minna Canth and Juhani Aho, who were active in her hometown of Kuopio. Other important literary influences have included Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust.

Photo: Laura Malmivaara

Teacher

Hurskainen Antti

“I haven't escaped anything: anxiety, a sense of sin, abnormal desires, the terrible fatigue of mornings…” The 19-year-old Pentti Saarikoski of his youth diaries knows that there is no point in dreaming of escape in the future either. Antti Hurskainen approaches Saarikoski's work and persona through the concept of sin. If God is “the thickest fog,” does the sinner understand Him most profoundly? Hurskainen examines Saarikoski's diaries, a superficially sinful life that intensifies into the devotion of penitential phrases.



Antti Hurskainen (b. 1986) is an essayist and novelist originally from Lapinlahti who has moved to Helsinki. His works deal with Christian, popular cultural, and literary themes. His novel Suntio (2023) was a Finlandia Prize nominee. Hurskainen favors sparse sentences and black-and-grey thinking. His writings have been published in Image, Long Play, Suomen Kuvalehti, and Nuori Voima, among others.

Photo: Laura Malmivaara

Teacher

Teräs Mila

"A good poet / does not write poems / but seeks them," wrote Pentti Saarikoski. Mila Teräs speaks about the possibilities of lyricism in children's and young adult literature, both at the level of words and images. Children's and young adult literature is intended for readers of all ages; it is a strong growth area of literature that can, at its best, create experiences that last throughout life.



Mila Teräs (b. 1975) is a writer from Orimattila who has published over 30 works, most of which are children's and young adult books. Her works have addressed, among other things, the pain points and identity of youth, as well as intergenerational interaction. Teräs has been awarded the Kaarina Helakisa, Punni, and Topelius prizes, among others, and her works have also been nominated for the Finlandia Prize

Photo: Otava

Teacher

Kemppainen Lauri

When Nietzsche wrote at the end of the 19th century that “God is dead!” he did not mean that people had fired a cannon into the sky and killed some kind of divine being. Nietzsche's profundity lay in his observation of the upheaval in which the continental plates of European thought were situated. The belief in the metaphysical structure of reality was disappearing, and it wasn't long before the philosopher Emil Cioran already stated that the fact that life has no meaning is the only reason to live.



Lauri Kemppainen (b. 1983) discusses the experience of meaning and meaninglessness in the light of the philosophy of religion. Kemppainen is a priest, Doctor of Theology, and rapper from Kainuu. His debut novel Jumalan kämmenellä (In the Palm of God) combines thriller traditions, the northern mindscape, and major philosophical questions.

Photo: Heini-Maari Kemppainen

Teacher

Silveri Sini

Timo K. Mukka, a contemporary, colleague and acquaintance of Pentti Saarikoski, was a multidisciplinary writer and visual artist whose work sparked widespread discussion in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s. Mukka's religious thinking combined nature, sexuality and society. Sini Silveri, who wrote the biography of Timo K. Mukka, introduces Mukka to the meaning of religion and also presents the thoughts of her own colleagues and other contemporary artists on the meaning of religion and spirituality. The focus of the study is on the experiences of anxiety, worry and the search for meaning that strongly define the present.



Sini Silveri (born 1987) is a poet, performance artist and non-fiction writer, whose poetry works Smells of All Scents (Khaos Publishing, 2023) and Titanidisko (2020), which won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, have been published. In addition, she has published a Finnish translation of Kathy Acker's New York City 1979 (Poesiavihkot 2024) and What Does It Feel Like to Be a Pine - The Life of Timo K. Mukan (Gummerus, 2024). For Silver, spirituality is a subtle experience of being outside oneself.

Photo: Marek Sabogal

Teacher

Köykkä Arto

Pentti Saarikoski spoke of a bunker within himself, to which even he had no access. Thus, his religiosity ultimately remains a mystery. It can easily be said that Jesus was his hero and that he felt alienation towards the Lutheran church. God Himself, however, remains shrouded in mystery, although something can be surmised. Köykkä's lecture focuses on Saarikoski's last years.



Arto Köykkä (b. 1957) is a Doctor of Theology living in Pirkkala, who has moved between the realms of literature and theology. Most profoundly, he has delved into Fyodor Dostoevsky's work. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Pentti Saarikoski's religious language. As a counterbalance to books, he has sought to maintain a connection with everyday matters. Football and working with young people have helped him in this.

Teacher

Wallén Björn

Pentti Saarikoski's colorful life has offered fascinating reading starting from his youth diaries. The topic of the presentation – the holy fool – connects to the author's own positioning at the border of West and East, at the edge of Europe. To this geopolitical situation, PS offers an interesting cultural anchor point. Björn Wallén serves as the chairman of Vapaa Sivistystyö ry (Association for Liberal Adult Education), a fearless defender of education and living culture. His book Syväsivistys (Deep Education) (2021) is written in the Grundtvigian historical-poetic writing style, https://peda.net/yhdistykset/vst/syvasivistys-verkkojulkaisu In addition, Wallén has written aphorisms and essays, including an essay on Pentti Saarikoski.

Photo: Nina Ahtola