Dear HPC member!

Welcome to Helsinki Poetry Connection’s annual meeting on Tuesday 2.6.2026 at 6-7:30 PM on the fourth floor of Tekstin talo (kahvihuone / cafe-room), in Lintulahdenkatu 3 (Helsinki).

All members who have paid their 2026 membership fee, as well as honorary members, may attend the annual meeting and stand for election to the board. If you haven’t yet paid the current year’s fee (€20/40/10), click this link to open the 2026 member invoice.

During the annual meeting, HPC t-shirts for sale, and our two poetry anthologies: Lava-antologia (Poesia, 2013) and Lavarunous-Vallankumous! (Enostone, 2019) are available at €15/ea. Complimentary tea/coffee and light snacks will be served.

Would you be interested in joining the board? If you are a recent graduate and/or willing to expand your knowledge of the literary field, HPC board work is a great way to add to your CV with organizational experience and/or practice useful workplace skills such as funding, cultural production, project coordination and reporting as well as network management. Board members are expected to attend board meetings once a month (approx. 3 h of meeting time) and to have the enthusiasm and time to work on the activities of the association. We will guide new board members on board work and other tasks.

If you wish, you can have a look at the HPC’s 2025 Annual Report and 2026 Action Plan before the annual meeting. This is highly recommended, especially for new board members. You’ll find all the annual meeting materials here including the aforementioned, the financial report 2025, and meeting agenda. Unfortunately, the documents are in Finnish only, but please request a summary in English if needed.These materials can also be available during the meeting.

At the Annual Meeting, the following representatives will be elected:

Chairperson
Vice-chair
Secretary
Vice-secretary
Treasurer
and 3-7 board members

The Board enables the basic activities of the Association to be carried out through active and reciprocal volunteering. Here is a brief summary of the board members’ respective roles:

Chairperson is the representative of the association and the primary contact person with those outside the association. They are responsible for disseminating information about HPC’s activities both within the Board and to the wider membership, for planning the association’s activities in the long term and for maintaining national and international contacts.

Vice-chair works alongside the Chairperson and deputizes for them when necessary. They have special responsibility for internal board matters and for monitoring and updating the observance of the values of the collective.

Treasurer is responsible for the financial management of the association: monitoring the budget, paying fees, invoices and collecting and submitting financial receipts to the accountant.

Secretary prepares agendas for board meetings, writes meeting minutes and buys snacks for meetings.

Deputy Secretary assists the Secretary when necessary.

Board members are expected to respect, adhere to and develop the principles and values of our Safer Space Guidelines. Previous experience in association work is an advantage but not essential. As a board member, a wide range of skills and knowledge are useful.

This summer’s upcoming events:

• Ruusu Open Mic 31.5.2026; 17-20, Sörkan Ruusu (Pääskylänrinne 3, Helsinki). Featuring Mirjam Marras. Open Mic for all over 18-year-olds.
• Konepaja Spoken Word #5: “Cliffhangers” 6.6.2026, 7 PM-10PM – English-language open mic at Kino Konepaja (Vallila).
• HPC Goes Puisto – three outdoor summer open mics. Info tba. (25.7. confirmed)
• Poetry Jam: NIGHT 20.8. at Runokuu / Poetry Moon festival, Helsinki  Info tba.

Thank you for being a HPC member and helping us promote stage poetry, rap and spoken word culture in Finland and beyond!

Best,

Vinski Valos Ratalahti
Chair of the Board,
Helsinki Poetry Connection ry