Poetry Month

Poetry Month is a multidisciplinary literature and poetry festival organized by the Nuoren Voiman Liitto since 2005. The festival is known for its open-minded approach to bringing poetry into new settings and combining it with other art forms. Over the years, events have been held in places such as museums, parks, public transportation, churches, and private homes, and the festival has also expanded beyond Helsinki.
Poetry Month offers programming for all ages, from children to seniors, and strives to make poetry accessible through, for example, livestreams, visits to senior care facilities, and events held in urban spaces. Poets are at the heart of the festival, but the program also extends to prose, essays, and plays, as well as interdisciplinary experiments across various art forms. International guests, performances, workshops, discussions, and community events have made Runokuusta one of Finland’s most significant literary festivals and a recognized innovator in poetry.
Runokuu will take place August 19–23, 2026, in Sörnäinen, Helsinki, at Leipatehdas, both at Tekstin talo and the Caisa Cultural Center. The five-day festival will feature 16 events by over 40 performers.

Program recommendation:

Ansa Kurola’s spoken-word performance *Olotilautopiat* explores themes of rest, authenticity, and sensory euphoria. The work explores the boundaries of neuro-normativity in poetry and develops a neuroqueer poetics characterized by a methodology of overload, processing pauses, and hyperfixations. The poems ask: in what kind of sensory world are we able to rest?