Foto: Frank Harald Anonsen.
The Poetry Path in Botnane – with poems by Jan-Magnus Bruheim
The poet Jan-Magnus Bruheim came to the coastal community Botnane on 12. December from Skjåk, a local community in the interior of Norway, and he returned on 11. November 1986. For a long time Bruheim had expressed a wish to live at the coast to get an opportunity to experience different conditions in landscape and weather as well as in the human behaviour. His poetry gained new strength and took up new themes, and eleven out of the total of his 45 books were issued during the years he lived in Botnane.
In Botnane Jan-Magnus Bruheim became appreciated as a familiar person and poet, in the local phrase universally referred to as «Bruheimen». Several of his poems and books have Botnane and the coast as source material. To praise both Bruheim and the local community a Poetry Path was opened in Botnane in 2018.
The footpath is lined with ten poems by Jan-Magnus Bruheim, Six of the poems take up typical Botnane themes. On the map at the information boards the six points in the path are marked in purple. Circular purple signs direct you to the poems along the path..
The Poetry Path is 4,3 kilometres long and runs for the most part along the Frøysjøvegen road (Rv 577). You can walk or use your car. To make point 3 and 5 accessible to those who cannot reach them on foot, signboards with those poems have been placed at the start of the path. The full length of the Poetry Path is situated between Jørnjorda and the graveyard.
No 1: The Graveyard in Botnane
The graveyard was established in 1899 and is still the burial site in Botnane. Jan-Magnus Bruheim regarded the graveyard as the community’s history book, in which each grave tells its own story. The poem «Three Neighbours» highlights the custom for two or three men of the community to dig the grave for the deceased. Such was the rule until machines took over for manual power after road transport replaced the ferry in 1993
No 2: The Wharf in the Korsnesvika Creek
From 1965 through 1993 the wharf in Korsnesvika was the meeting point in the community. There we waited for the ferry to arrive, we sent milk and animals, received and dispatched mail, left the community and returned there. Jan-Magnus Bruheim was a frequent customer at the post office, and appeared almost daily to send or receive mail. That is where the local people got to be aquainted with him and vice versa. The poem «Still Sea» may have been inspired by a trip alongside the wharf.
No 3: The Flòtholmen Islet
Jan-Magnus Bruheim called Flòtholmen «My islet». It was his favourite spot, peaceful and quiet. He would sit there for hours. The first time he went there, he did not realise that the sound became flooded, and this event can be recognized in the poem «At Low Tide».
The tide determines whether we can get dry-shod to Flòtholmen proper where the signpost with the poem is easily discovered. For that reason there is a signboard at the road where both the poem and the background story of «My islet» are presented.
No 4: The Community House in Botnane
«To Rome – or to Botnane» Is the title introducing the Poetry Path, Jan-Magnus Bruheim himself, and his literary legacy. You find the signboard at the entrance on the back side of the red community house at Øvrebotten. There are also the signboards with the poems «The Strained One» and «The House with a Voice».
On the wall there is a signboard with the names of all those who supported the Poetry Path project with voluntary work and money. In a mailbox a guestbook is available where you are welcome to submit your name and comments.
No 5: Legene. The poem «Footsteps in Stone»
At the back of the community house there is an old forest trail across Legene and further along the Southern Stream. After a while you reach a stone with what looks like a child’s footprint. This occurence became a source for the poem «Footsteps in Stone».
To get there you have to cross some 300 metres of somewhat rough terrain from the community house. For the assistance of disabled people there is an information signboard at the car park offering a copy of the poem and a photo of Jan-Magnus Bruheim going for a walk in the area in 1985.
No 6: Poems and Parking at Jørnjorda
The poetry columns at Jørnjorda offer the first meeting with the Poetry Path in Botnane, provided you arrive along the Frøsjøvegen road (Rv 577) from the north. There you find the poems «You in me», «Give me a Break of Quiet», «The Oystercatcher», and «Autumna Night at the Sea», along with information about the poet Jan-Magnus Bruheim.
At Jørnjorda a car park is provided to serve the Poetry Path and other walks in the area. You can leave the car and walk from there. Parking near the stream is recommended as the large blocks close to the signboards are put there for their protection, and for rest and play. A playground is also provided along the shore.
At Jørnjorda you have an open view to the red community house, where Jan-Magnus Bruhein had his accomodation in the years 1978 through 1985.
The Information Signboard at Villevika
If you arrive by boat from Florø to Villevika at Årebrot, you find information about the Poetry Path in the red shed at the wharf. A confortable bicycle ride takes you along the Frøysjøvegen road (Rv 577) from Villevika to Botnane. Most points of interest are located along the road, and the first stop if you arrive from the south is the graveyard in Botnane.