My best memories from the university are related to acquiring information. I have never had the experience that studying literature would make your own creative writing opportunities brittle – quite the opposite actually. The inspiration to work sprouted in me at the university. I did a lot of background research for my work, even if this way of working does not come to mind immediately when thinking about a book of poetry. It may not be directly seen from the finished work, but more in its internal structure, message or history.

The information I learned goes a long way – I think even into my current project Antikythera, an interactive poetry app for the iPad. My interest in digital literature arose in 2000, in a course taught by Teemu Ikonen, where the visiting lecturer was the author and researcher Markku Eskelinen. Literature seems to open endless possibilities to a new world.