Outsider Art Festival OAF’s literary program highlights new, fresh voices and explores what kind of literature can be found outside of the established literature. This year, the theme of outsider will be explored through texts that delve into life on the autism spectrum, sign language poetry, multidisciplinary poetry performances, and powerful personal monologues. The program is presented on 14th-15th of August at Permantosali of Tekstin talo and on the wavelengths of Radio Helsinki.
The traditional joint Poetry Stage of poets from OAF and WSOY will be held in the Permantosali of the House of Text on the Night of the Arts on August 14th. During the evening, OAF poets Hanna Heino & Nilas Lindell, Elisa Poutanen, Juuso Juntunen, Kaisa Leppikangas, Olli Huusko, Satu Kankaanpää, Suvi Miettinen, Veikko Pohjalainen and a guest poet from WSOY, who will be announced later, will present their own texts.
Juuso Juntunen will perform a monologue at Runostage that tells about life on the autism spectrum, including childhood, relationships and family life. We asked Juntunen what expectations he has for the festival and his own performance:
“I expect good cooperation from the festival and the literary program, new potential friends, and that my monologue would speak to people. I would at least hope that listeners would gain a new, positive, real view of the autism spectrum through my text. In other words, that my text could reduce bullying at school and that choices could be made in workplaces according to the enthusiasm and resources of people on the autism spectrum. In addition, I hope that my text would generally better highlight the skills and opportunities for social influence of people on the autism spectrum through my own life.”
On the day after the Poetry Stage 15th of August, the program at Permantosali will continue with a literary discussion in collaboration with the Runokuu festival, which will consider the intersections of poetry and song lyrics and the joys and challenges of small publishing. The guests in the discussion are poet-songwriter Aatos Ketvel and artist Minna-Kaisa Kallinen, known from the Minna Records label. The interviewer will be literary critic Vesa Rantama. The evening will culminate in Pertti’s Choice X Minna Records gig at the Cultural Center Caisa, where Aatos Ketvel and Takay-Sin will perform.
The Outsider Art Festival’s literary program is based on a joint literary mentoring program between OAF and WSOY, where outsider artists get to know the areas and actors of the literary industry. Writers receive feedback on their own texts and learn about the different stages of publishing. The mentors of the program are poet Sanni Purhonen and literary critic Aleksis Salusjärvi, who have also curated this year’s literary program.
Sanni Purhonen talks about her expectations for the festival and describes the content of the program:
”As in previous years, I am looking forward to the event. We have a diverse program that features a wide range of literature and inter-arts. For example, works that involve interfaces between poetry and movement, sound or visual art.”
Read more: OAF Runostage, OAF X Runokuu talks, Tekstin talo, Minna Records, Runokuu, Kulttuurikeskus Caisa, WSOY, kirjallisuuden mentorointiohjelma, Radio helsinki
