The Sauna Is Full of Maids
By Cheryl J. Fish
Shanti Arts, 2021
Cheryl J. Fish first visited Finland as a Fulbright professor in 2007. Since then she has returned many times to research protest and resistance to mining and extraction in Arctic Fennoscandia in the works of Sami filmmakers, photographers, and artists. However, the landscapes and experiences of the country's saunas, lakes, villages, homes, streets, and parks evoked rich stories and poetry. This unique collection of poems, The Sauna Is Full of Maids, is a reflection on how present-day Finnish life intertwines with folklore and mythology-expressed in the Kalevala, a work of epic poetry compiled from long-lived ballads, songs, and incantations-and advancing modern developments. Accompanied by many of the poet's own photographs, this collection has the kind of rich cultural detail that warms and satisfies the reader with insight and appreciation.
“Steeped in the rich images of the Finnish north, Cheryl J. Fish’s latest collection of poetry is a meditation on how Finnish life and experiences entangle with mythic pasts and global modernities. Fish’s verse brilliantly captures the complex juxtapositions that characterize life in Finland today—from steaming saunas to nuclear reactors, from the Kalevala to Tom of Finland exhibitions, from Sámi lávvus to boozy Helsinki karaoke pubs. In her poetry, the mythologic remains with us, blooming in renewal in the everyday acts of diverse people: gay Helsinki; an immigrant from Afghanistan in a tiny northern village; a father rowing a boat with his dreadlocked son. The collection has a breath and cadence to it like a naked run over snow-covered ground, from a hot sauna to the cold sea.”
—Tim Frandy, editor and translator of Inari Sámi Folklore: Stories from Aanaar
Reviews of THE SAUNA IS FULL OF MAIDS:
Compulsive Reader
New Pages Blog
Q & A with Cheryl about writing the Sauna is Full of Maids (The North American Sauna Society)
Cheryl Reading from The Sauna is Full of Maids featured on Don Yorty's poetry blog.