Ralf Andtbacka was born in Kronoby north of Vasa, he is a poet and critic passionate about English and American poetry. Since 2000 he has been the Lead Artist in Literature for the Ostrobothnian Arts Commission and is the Director of the Vaasa Littfest. He has published four collections including Café Sjöjungfrun (1999) and En fisk som man kan se (2004).
Ostrobothnia is a coastal area and in history migration, immigration, trade, tourism and livelihood are all closely linked to water. Furthermore, Yorkshire and Ostrobothnia are connected through Nordic history, Norse mythology, the Vikings etc.
But Ostrobothnia is of course also a border zone where Norse mythology meets the Finno-Ugric myths of the Kalevala - and there's a lot of water imagery and watery themes in Kalevala epic, one of my favourite passages is the story of the Osiris/Orpheus-like character of Lemminkäinen.
Ostrobothnia is rising out of the sea, land-uplift is the correct term, I think, whereas the North Sea is gnawing away at coastal parts of Yorkshire and Humberside. I remember Ann Sansom mentioning pavements washed into the sea and hotels tumbling down the cliff (that happened in Scarborough, didn't it?) Adam talks about hearing "water gurgling and bubbling under the kitchen floor" as the village he lives in built on seven deep wells. "I love the poetic idea of swimming from under my house, along tunnels and rivers, and across the North Sea to Finland." Isn't this a wonderful idea? Something we can all relate to: like Alice falling into a hole and ending up in Wonderland (which is not Finland, mind you).
And water is funny substance, a key element of life, of course, and it changes in remarkable ways - in Ostrobothnia you can even walk on the water in the winter, without having to be Jesus. I still find it mind-boggling when I'm out on the middle of the bay on a sunny day in January.
