Asp was born in
Utajärvi in 1853. She was one of the nine surviving children of Jaakko Asp and Beata Elisabet Asp (née Puhakka). Asp was a precocious child who followed her father's example and wrote poetry. She was taught Swedish by her grandmother. When she first attended school they recognised her pre-knowledge. The family moved to
Suomussalmi. Her first surviving poetry was written there when she was 19. The poetry talks of her respect for her father and her country. In 1864 she attended a private school in
Raahe where she was taught in Swedish. She was befriended by the local priest Fanny Hethal. She graduated in 1866 she was at home talking to her friends by letter. She created a magazine called
Lahja which was only shown to her family, but it ran for 22 issues. The following year she found a boyfriend but he died of
pneumonia in the following spring. Publication was made possible when she discovered the magazine '''' and she sent off her poems. Trollsländan was written and organised by
Alexandra Gripenberg,
Zachris Topelius and his daughter
Toini Topelius. In 1871 Asp began to write poetry in Finnish after attending a
teacher training college in Jyväskylä. ==Death and legacy==