Bob and Andy bring their work home

Fresh from a trip to Finland to launch a Finnish translation of their work, Teesside University academics Bob Beagrie and Andy Willoughby will present an intimate gig closer to home.

The poets, performance artists and creative writing lecturers were recently in Finland to launch the Finnish language version of their anthology SAMPO: Heading Further North.

Described as an 'exhilarating roller coaster ride of gritting beauty and shamanic magic' SAMPO: Heading Further North explores links between 21st century Teesside and ancient Finnish mythology.

Bob and Andy will bring their homecoming performance of SAMPO: Heading Further North to Middlesbrough Central Library on Thursday 22 October, as part of the Discover Middlesbrough Festival.

Their invitation to Finland came from the country’s First Lady Jenni Haukio, wife of Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and programme director of Finland’s Turku Book Fair, where Bob and Andy have performed. She is also familiar with Bob and Andy’s work through their involvement in a 12-year cultural exchange scheme involving Finnish poetry which culminated in the creation of SAMPO: Heading Further North.

Bob said: 'SAMPO: Heading Further North connects Teesside culture, heritage and landscapes to the ancient Finnish myth cycle of Kalevala and is an ethnographic reinterpretation and an attempt to re-establish lost connections to the past and to the area.

'Many of the traditions and key aspects of folklore from our area were lost during and since the Industrial Revolution. Our collection of poems, inspired by the deep rooted connections between people and the lands we have seen on our travels, invites local readers and audiences to reconnect to their local and regional identity, while also looking outward at an international arena.'

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