Auteur

Paulus Utsi (1918-1975) became a writer one step at a time. He was primarily a reindeer herder and craftsman. Utsi taught Sami duodji (handicraft) at the Sami Folk High School in Jokkmokk in northern Sweden for a number of years. This school was one of the hotbeds of revitalization of Sami crafts and culture, which began around 1970. As adviser of many enthusiastic young people who sought admission to the school in Jokkmokk, Utsi played a central role in this process, and, in a way, he had the status of “elder” because of his role as a link between tradition and a modem era in Sapmi. Utsi could address the Sami’s dilemma, based on his own experiences; he had himself been forced to move because of the building of hydroelectric plants, and he had experienced the closing of the border between Norway and Sweden, which prohibited the normal, traditional movement of the reindeer. In his poetry he is occupied with the question of how our modem way of life undermines old values and how the Sami are losing their rights to land and water. But he sees hope in the younger generation and derives strength from a people who preserve their language and traditions. His main source of inspiration, however, is nature in the northern world, where Arctic birch and willow thrive on ground where no plants should be fit to exist. (bron: Harald Gaski 1996)

Publicaties

Overzicht publicaties (met vertalingen):

Het overzicht van de originele publicaties is niet per se compleet. Ik streef om praktische redenen geen volledigheid na.

Vertalingen