Finnish poet Arto Melleri (1956—2005) was a multitalented author, performer, and thinker of legendary proportions, with keen insights, a broad bibliography, and a staggering capacity for vivid poetic language. He lead a charmed yet tumultuous life, and he is remembered in Finland today for his wit and wisdom as well as his public persona.
Enostone Publishing and translator Kasper Salonen offer the English-speaking world a deep dive into this Finnish literary titan's poetry for the first time. Unspoken Words: Selected Poems of Arto Melleri contains the majority of the poet's lifelong lyrical production, with work from each of his collections.
Kasper Salonen (b. 1987) is a bilingual translator and spoken word poet from Southern Finland. He was first introduced to Melleri's writing as a teenager while working part-time at a bookstore, and had what amounted to a visionary experience while reading the poet's work. He later began translating Melleri's collected poems in 2013 at the Villa Sarkia literary residency. Salonen would also write his Master's thesis based on this translation process (2015, University of Helsinki).
Unspoken words emit their light between us, the same genus as the procession of fungus gnat maggots on a summer's night, the cold flames of dead wood... they give birth to will-o'-the-wisp tales of deep-delved underground holy grails All of them real, of course, in the dark, under the covers! Ssshhh!