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An Introduction to Estonian Literature
Interview with Hilary Bird by Doris Kareva
(Doris Kareva is a leading Estonian poet whose poetry has been translated into over 20 languages. Doris has been nominated twice for the Nobel Poetry Prize. The interview appeared in the cultural weekly Sirp last year)
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The two books were written simultaneously. This was possible because I had the opportunity, time and the inclination to write. I have a UK pension: I do not have to go to work to earn money to live.
Loone Ots (the Estonian writer and playwright) and I started to write „An Introduction to Estonian Literature” in 2003. Indiana University, USA, generally regarded as America’s top academic language press, gave a commitment to publish the book but Indiana will not issue a contract until they have a completed book. Loone and I applied for a government grant (Kultuurkapital) in order to write the book but Kultuurkapital policy requires a signed contract before giving money. Impasse. So. I continued alone and unpaid because I loved the work and was financially independent. I signed a contract with Indiana University (Slavica Publishers) in 2016. Vicki Polansky, my Managing Editor, and I did the final edit in 2018 and the book was launched at the Conference of the Association for Slavonic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies in Boston later in the year. I like to think I have contributed to the 100th anniversary of Estonia.
I started to research and write my Tartu guide around 2005 and finished the first draft in 2010. I could not find a publisher and, in 2017, I decided to publish the book myself.
I also wrote most of the „Xenophobes Guide to the Estonians” in 2010. The book, published in the UK, was written with Lembit Öpik and Ulvi Mustmaa but is 95% Bird. 10,000 copies had been sold worldwide by 2017 and the book is now updated and on its fourth print run. It was translated into Estonian by writer and journalist Mati Soomre, also in 2010. Mati and I worked in tandem on a column for „Maaleht” after this but the column came to an end when alas, Mati died in 2014. This was not my first journalism. I have written for the Canadian- Estonian press for well over a decade and have had two articles about Estonian ballet published in dance journals.
(Full story available via link below)
