Finnish interwar period writer, who poured her heart into poetry, and died young. Saima Harmaja's four collections of poems appeared in five years period from 1932 to 1937, and gained a cult status after young female readers discovered them. Her works have been published more posthumously than during her lifetime.

This night the lake is freezing.
The water is almost still.
Under the white moon-shine
Dead-still are wood and hill.
Only dumbly standing sentry
Trees meet the night-time's entry
With their long shadow's gloom.
Far off a dog is barking.
A horrible dog, it is barking
Into the darkness black as the tomb.
— This night the lake is freezing.
The moon to a standstill has run.
Hold fast my hand in thy grasp, O,
Inconceivable One!

Tänä yönä jäätyy järvi.
Vesi tuskin liikahtaa.
Kuun valkean paisteen alla
on kuolemanhiljaa maa.
Vain mykässä vartiossa
puut seisovat pimennossa,
puut pitkine varjoineen.
Ja kaukana koira haukkuu.
Se on hirveä koira, se haukkuu
sysimustaan pimeyteen.

— Tänä yönä jäätyy järvi.
Kuu pysähtynyt on.
Pidä kädestäni kiinni,
sinä Tajuamaton.

('The Freezing Lake,' translated by C. E. T. [Cid Erik Tallqvist], in Voices from Finland: An Anthology of Finland's Verse and Prose in English, Finnish and Swedish, edited by Elli Tompuri, Helsinki: Sanoma Osakeyhtiö, 1947, p. 113; 'Jäätyvä järvi,' first published in Huhtikuu by Saima Harmaja, 1932)

Saima Harmaja was born in Helsingissä into a well-to-do family. Her father, Leo Harmaja (1880-1949), and mother, Laura Harmaja (1881-1954), were both economists and university teachers. Leo Harmaja had a distinguished career as a civil servant. He was editor of Kauppalehti and professor of ecomomics, and published a number of books in the field of social sciences. Saima's mother was the daughter of the famous poet Arvid Genetz. She wrote a number of pioneering artices in domestic science for the magazine Kotiliesi, but also published non-fiction.

Harmaja began to write prose and poems at early age. In the 1920s she contributed to the children's magazine Pääskynen, edited by Helmi Setälä, but otherwise her parents did not encourage her literary aspirations. She suffered bouts of depression was sent, at the age of thirteen, to the Tyynelä rest home in Oitti. After this, she spent nearly every year a few weeks in some rest home or hospital  to recover. Moreover, like so many teenage girls, Harmaja was obsessed with her weight and her big nose made her miserable. Encouraged by her sister Outi, who was at home her most trustworthy critic, Harmaja joined the young literary association Nuoren Voiman Liitto (NVL).

To record her thoughts Harmaja began to keep a diary. She feels that life is "so empty, empty. There is nothing to fill it. Everything is meaningless." And she fears that she will never be well again. On June 16, 1927: "Tänään on minulle selvinnyt, että minun on kuoltava. Kuoltava pian." (Today I realized I must die. Die soon.) (Kootut runot: sekä runoilijakehitys päiväkirjojen ja kirjeiden valossa by Saima Harmaja, edited by Laura Harmaja, Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, 1959, p. 49) Watching a military parade, she waves enthusiastically the Finnish flag with other children at General Mannerheim, and soon she fights with her father, who tells her to focus more on school work than writing poetry. After composing a poem in a state mania, she feels herself exhausted. She has great time at the family's summer cottage in Lohjansaari. The notes show a little bit more of her sense of humour than her poems, which were dated, too.

At the age of sixteen Harmaja made with her mother a journey abroad to cure her Weltschmerz. In a short autobiographical piece, written for her publisher, she mentioned openly her weak health and sleeplessness. "Kerran olin koko lukuvuoden poissa koulustakin, 16-vuotiaana, mutta silloin pääsin äitini kanssa ulkomaille, jolta matkalta palasin takaisin kouluun, todellakin parantuneena katarristani, unettomuudesta ja ennen kaikkea 'maailmantuskasta'." (Uuno Kailaasta Aila Meriluotoon: suomalaisten kirjailijain elämänkertoja, edited by Toivo Pekkanen & Reino Rauanheimo, Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, 1947, p. 317)

The works of Edith Södergran, Uuno Kailas, Aleksi Kivi, and Dante were especially important for Harmaja's development. And the young Mika Waltari  encouraged Harmaja; they met at NVL's Panu-club. When she was treated at the Hyvinkää sanatorium, Waltari visited her, and filled the room with smoke from his cigarettes. In 1929 Waltari sent her a postcard from Constantinople. Harmaja wanted to kiss him. (Unio Mystica: Mika Waltarin elämä ja teokset by Panu Rajala, Helsinki: WSOY, 2011, pp. 347-350)

However, Harmaja was kissed first time by another young man named Jake (Jaakko Holma) – she was 19 at that time. He became Harmaja's only great love, and she dealt their relationship in several poems. "Sun syleilyys olen liian heikko, / sen silmäs myöntää, vaikka huules ei. / Sa olet juurtuvien puiden veikko, / ma olen lehti, jonka tuuli vei." ('Sumussa I-IV,' in Hunnutettu: runoja by Saima Harmaja, Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, 1936, p. 13) Jake is an athletic type of person, not interested in poetry, but in sports, and falling in love with him is a puzzle for her. Holma ended their affair several times.

In 1932 Harmaja graduated from a secondary school and started her studies at the University of Helsinki. In autumn 1933 she entered the University of Tarto. Harmaja attended lectures on Dante and read half of a short story by Tuglas. During this period she met Aino Kallas, whose polished, diplomatic behavior she found false.

Mika Waltari recommended Harmaja's first collection of poems, Huhtikuu (April), to his publisher, WSOY. The book appeared in 1932. Viljo Kojo said in his review that the poems were exceptionally good for a debutant. "Kustantajan ennakkoreklaamissa mainitaan, ettö tekijätär on nuori tyttö. Sitä suuremmalla syyllä hänen kokoelmansa on otettava ilomielin vastaan . . . " ('Kaksi runoilijaa' by V. K. [Viljo Kojo], Karjala, N:o 118, 1932, p. 12) Arvi Kivimaa was somewhat reserved in his review: "Saima Harmajan runovihkosesta voisi helposti erottaa valikoiman esikoiskokoelmille tyypillisiä puutteita: sen tunnealue on ahdas, ilmaisukeinot rajoitetut, tavoitetut tunnelmat usein hauraita. Ja kuitenkin lukijalla on kaiken aikaa tunne, että Huhtikuun sivuilla etsii ilmaisua aidosti lyyrillinen, herkkä ja elävä henki, jonka pian toivoisi löytävän oman muotonsa." ('Saima Harmaja: Huhtikuu. Runoja' by A. K. [Arvi Kivimaa, Valvoja-Aika, N:o 10, Lokakuu 1932, p. 494)

Huhtikuu was followed by Sateen jälkeen (1935, After rain), Hunnutettu (1936, Veiled), and Kaukainen maa (1937, A distant land). None of her books was a commercial success during her lifetime – and the leftist press was critical. "Lisäksi on kokoelma — emme sano tätä ilkeässä mielessä — porvarillisesti hyveellisintä, mitä meillä on sitten Topeliuksen päivien tuotettu." ('Lapsi rukoilee: Saima Harmaja: Sateen jälkeen' by Arvo Turtiainen, Kirjallisuuslehti, Numero 17, Marraskuun 15. pnä 1935, p. 421)

In 1935 Harmaja made a hopefully journey to Italy, but returned to Finland with worsening health problems. While being treated in a sanatorium, she continued to write poems, in which she shared Edith Södergran's search of "the land that is not." She said in the final collection of her poems : "On maa, / johonka kaikki polut katoaa. / Ken siellä on, ei katso heijastusta, / mi meitä valaisee, kun tie on musta. / Hän katsoo silmiin itse Olevaa." (There is a land / where all paths disappear . . . ) ('On maa,' in Kaukainen maa: runoja by Saima Harmaja, Porvoo: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, 1937, p. 105) With her health becoming frailer, Harmaja's weight dropped from 54,5 kg to 32 kg.

Saima Harmaja died of tuberculosis at home on April 21, 1937. Most likely she died a virgin. Just before the death, she noted in her diary the arrival of the first day of the spring. The diary, Elämän auetessa, came out in 1939. Harmaja's Kootut runot ja kehitys runoilijaksi (1938) was edited by her mother, who influenced deeply the poet's posthumous image. Harmaja's brother Tapani, a fighter pilot, was killed in 1940 in the Winter War. Her younger sister Kirsti Toppari (1923-2018) made a career as a journalist and editor of the Finnish Donald Duck magazine, Aku Ankka. Toppari edited the diaries Varhainen kevät (1977) and Palava elämä (1985) for publication.

Like Kaarlo Sarkia (1902-1945), Harmaja wrote in traditional rhyme. She was not interested in free verse but used skillfully existing poetic techniques. Her favorite subjects were changing seasons, young love, suffering, and death. Perhaps unjustly, Harmaja's work was considered as "girls' poetry" due to her confessional tone and emphasis on inner feelings.

For further reading: 'Oma elämäkerta' by Saima Harmaja, in Kootut runot ja kehitys runoilijaksi: päiväkirjaotteiden valossa, edited by Laura Harmaja (1938); 'Saima Harmaja,' in Uuno Kailaasta Aila Merilutoon: suomalaisten kirjailijain elämäkertoja, edited by Toivo Pekkanen and Reino Rauanheimo (1947); Saima Harmaja: legenda jo eläissään by Kaarina Helakisa (1977); Palava elämä: päiväkirjaa, kirjeitä, ed. by Kirsti Toppari (1985); 'Poets of the 1930s' by Markku Envall, in A History of Finland's Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Koskettavia naiskohtaloita Suomen historiasta by Caius Kajanti (2000); Saima Harmaja, runoilijoista runoilijoin, edited by Päivi Istala (2007); Kirjeitä Saima Harmajalle, edited by Päivi Istala (2013) Saima Harmaja: sydänten runoilija 1913-1937 by Ritva Ylönen (2019); 'Saima Harmaja,' in Runouden ylistys: suomenkielisen runouden tie Mikael Agricolasta 2000-luvulle by Hannu Mäkelä (2024)

Selected works:

• Huhtikuu: runoja, 1932 [April] 
• Sateen jälkeen: runoja, 1935 [After rain]
  
• Hunnutettu: runoja, 1936 [Veiled]
• Kaukainen maa: runoja, 1937 [A distant land] 
• Kootut runot ja kehitys runoilijaksi: päiväkirjaotteiden valossa, 1938 (edited by Laura Harmaja)
  - Tidig kallelse. Dagbok och dikter (övers. av Joel Rundt, 1947)
• Elämän auetessa: Koulutytön päiväkirjoja, 1939
• Päiväkirjan lehtiä vv. 1933-37, 1942
• Valikoima runoja, 1958
• Varhainen kevät: lisälehtiä Saima Harmajan päiväkirjoista, 1977 (edited by Kirsti Toppari) [Early spring]
• Kootut runot, 1984 (14th ed.)
• Palava elämä: päiväkirjaa, kirjeitä, 1985 (edited by Kirsti Toppari) [This burning life] 
• Sydämeni soi: valikoima runoja ja päiväkirjaotteita, 1988
• Aamusateen maa, 1988 (edited by Aino-Kaarina Mäkisalo)
• Läheisyys, 1994
• Kootut runot sekä runoilijakehitys päiväkirjojen ja kirjeiden valossa (1942/2013), 2013
  
• Huhtikuu. runoja, 2020 (E-kirja; kustantaja: Oppian; first published in 1932)
• Kaukainen maa: runoja, 2020 (E-kirja; kustantaja: Oppian; first published in 1967)
• Hunnutettu: runoja, 2020 (E-kirja; kustantaja: Oppian; first published in 1936)
  
• Sateen jälkeen: runoja, 2020 (E-book; Copenhagen: SAGA Egmont; first published in 1935)
  
• Kootut runot, 2023 (teos sisältää myös Jälkisatoa-osuuden, runot vuosilta 1927-1934, ja suomennoksia)