Reijo Valta

During a future of poetry class, the professor used Guillaume Apollinaire, Vito Acconci, and Karri Kokko as examples of tomorrow’s literature. That was in the 1980s, and I was very excited about learning these “new” techniques. In a couple of years, I used these techniques in my own writing. But in late 1980s I didn’t find a place to publish, or anyone else working in the same way. So I forgot “new poetry.” The future of poetry, at least for me, started in Finland about a decade ago. The Internet was the only way to publish, to find other poets and get feedback. Also, the poetry society Huutomerkki! was founded in my home town of Oulu, and it offered me the possibility to perform. This was a fascinating time, and I got drawn to poetry — to visual poetry. — Reijo Valta

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