Runoropinoita

Runoropinoita is the creative practice of Finnish poet and children’s culture professional Ulla-Maija Vanhala. Drawing on her experience as an early childhood educator and cultural producer, she brings poetry to audiences through performances, workshops and commissioned works. Her services are designed for a range of settings and ages, including cultural venues, libraries, kindergartens, schools, families, adult groups and older people.

Runoropinoita offers nature-themed poetry suitcase performances for young children, participatory poetry karaoke for families, schoolchildren and older audiences, and performances for children aged zero to six. The programme also includes Runoropinoita poetry dance, poetry recordings and other poetry works. Vanhala leads creative, craft-oriented workshops for children, families and adults, with sessions available in English and Swedish on request. Customers can choose an existing workshop or develop a new concept together with her.

Commissioned projects include poetry advent calendars for cultural venues, poetry wind chimes and small exhibition collections. Vanhala writes poems both spontaneously and to order, and shares her work on social media.