Published in 1987, ‘Sukupolveni unta’ (‘Dreams of My Generation’) is a collection of poems by Finnish writer Helvi Hämäläinen that won the ‘Finlandia Prize‘ in 1987. Helvi Heleena Hämäläinen (16.06.1907 – 17.01.98) was a Finnish writer who published dozens of books of prose and poetry during her six decade writing career. Born in Hamina, she moved to Helsinki with her parents Aaro and Iida Hämäläinen while still a pre-schooler. Hämäläinen’s first published novel, ‘Hyväntekijä’ (‘The Benefactor’) appeared in 1930, but her breakthrough came five years later with her feminist depiction of the working-class, ‘Katuojan vettä’ (‘Water in a Gutter’). Hämäläinen’s best-known book, the roman à clef ‘Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä’ (‘A Decent Tragedy’), appeared in 1941, causing a great sensation: readers were able to identify several notable cultural personalities of the day, Hämäläinen’s former lover Olavi Paavolainen among them. Hämäläinen’s actual first novel, the modernist first-person text ‘Kaunis sielu’ (‘The Beautiful Soul’), was written in the winter of 1927–28, but it wasn’t published until 2001, assumedly because of its portrayal of same-sex desire. In 1987, after two decades out of the spotlight, Hämäläinen returned to the public eye when her book of poems, ‘Sukupolveni unta’ (‘Dreams of My Generation’) that won the ‘Finlandia Prize’: at that time, the already 80-year-old word artist still did not shy away from saying things directly. She doesn’t hide behind poetic language, she just writes. The poems in the collection tell the reader about the past decades, events that have left their mark on the world view of his generation, created heroes, made victims of others, gave a face to humanity in its most brutal cruelty. The poems are a clear statement against the insanity of war as well as the irresponsible behavior of man towards nature; on the other hand, they let us understand that nothing earthly is final. In the end, everything is fleeting, like a dream, the dream of my generation: we can sink into our dreams, try to forget, ignore reality. This does not mean that it is desirable, it just is ‘human’.
