Tuomas Anhava (5 June 1927,

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

– 22 January 2001, Helsinki) was a Finnish writer and recipient of the

Eino Leino Prize The Eino Leino Prize is an annual prize awarded to top writers in Finland since 1956, with particular emphasis on poets. It is named after Eino Leino, a pioneer of Finnish poetry. Recipients *1956 Viljo Kajava *1957 Helvi Juvonen *1958 Rabb ...

in 1989. Anhava's works closely follow the mold of modernist tradition of

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

and

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

. Anhava was a meticulous poet, always striving for a perfection in his verses. He was obsessed with the method of poetry and had an inclination toward the aesthetics of modern poetry. His Runoja, meaning ''Poems'', came out in 1953. It dealt with alienation and a quest for transcending everyday reality. As if to test himself as well as the technicalities of the modern poem, Anhava wrote the technically difficult poems of 36 runoja ''36 Poems'' in 1958. The poems closely resemble the Japanese and Chinese poetry that Anhava had translated during the same period. Anhava went to apply his acquaintance with the simplification and compression of Oriental epigrams in his later works like ''Runoja'' (1961) and Kuudes kirja ''The Sixth Book'' (1966). Anhava never attained any significant literary height with his poetry. Nevertheless, he is credited and revered for the great impact he had on Finnish poets (and by extension on Finnish poetry), which was a result of his unwavering devotion to attaining aesthetic perfection. In the period 1966–1979 Anhava was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the literary magazine ''

Parnasso ''Parnasso'' is a literary magazine published in Helsinki, Finland. The magazine has been in circulation since 1951. It is among the most respected literary magazines in the country. History and profile ''Parnasso'' was established in 1951. It ...

''. He was married to the poet, writer and translator Helena (Pohjanpää) Anhava (1925-2018). He is buried in the

Hietaniemi Cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery (, ) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state funeral services and is owned by the Evangelical Luthe ...

in Helsinki.

References

External links

Tuomas Anhava in 375 humanists 15.04.2015.
Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki. 1927 births 2001 deaths Writers from Helsinki Finnish male poets Recipients of the Eino Leino Prize Finnish literary critics 20th-century Finnish poets Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery 20th-century Finnish male writers {{Finland-writer-stub