Eira Stenberg

I am a writer and poet from Helsinki but spent an important portion of my childhood in the great forest scenery of Häme and Varsinais-Suomi districts in Finland.

At the Saari Residence, I will be writing a novel in which I discuss people’s relationship with nature and the myths related to it, and people as beings that create culture and art. An individual’s relationship with himself as a biological and spiritual being, and the attempt to explain the mysteries of birth, growth and death are some of the themes I discuss in my novel. Therefore, the centuries-old nature and cultural landscape of Saari offer an inspirational milieu for such contemplation.

The city renders the experience and contemplation of a relationship with nature rather abstract, and an emotional dimension is very important when writing a novel or a poem. I feel that the Saari Residence is an ideal place for my project and it is completed by the international group of artists that reside there and our interesting conversations.