Kone Foundation granted for two years (2023-2024) Sivuvalo Platform project «New Havens & Humanoids».
Sivuvalo Platform team is composed by José Luis Rico Carrillo and Roxana Crisólogo
Link to Kone Foundation
Our aim is to accomplish two goals: 1) A qualitative intensification of Sivuvalo’s core lines of work, including the translation and publication of Finnish literature abroad; the fostering/professionalization of immigrated writers; and the promotion of foreign contemporary literature in Finland. 2) The widening of the association’s international network by way of collaborations with key institutions, such as the Nordic House in Reykjavik, the Finnish Institute in Madrid, and key promoters of multilingual literature in Northern Europe. Our different lines of work are informed by a zeal of aesthetic inquiry, inclusion as a matter of democracy, and a culture of translation. Such foundation has been laid out by many collaborators throughout the last decade. As a result, nowadays Sivuvalo constantly receives orientation requests from immigrant writers or their Finnish advisors. To this influx, Sivuvalo’s members answer to the best of their ability and resources. Rowing against the tide of the COVID pandemic, the last three years the association has seen an increase in funded activities, sparked by a renovated approach. Recent publications of Finnish poetry abroad, an international poetry festival in Helsinki, and the publication of recent articles in Finnish media bear witness to Sivuvalo’s new approach. This change was met by an enthusiastic response from the public and supporting institutions. On the other hand, such increase has produced a strain in our organization. In this current situation, language-specific literary workshops, one-on-one advisory for migrant writers, and other grassroots endeavors have borne the brunt of our expansion.