Author Description

"A magic poetical journey through Estonian history and a poet's life." Doris KarevaIn 2019, Ron Whitehead was named Writer in Residence for the UNESCO City of Literature international residency program in Tartu, Estonia and invited to spend April and May 2019 living in the Karl Ristikivi Muuseum. When he arrived, he had no intention of writing a book of poems about Estonia. He had resolved to use the gift of the residency to finish two manuscripts. He also eagerly anticipated helping coordinate Estonia's first Insomniacathon-a 24-hour nonstop poetry and music performance to conclude Tartu's 2019 International Prima Vista Literature Festival. Since he was young, Ron has had wanderlust and simultaneously experiences profound homesickness immediately upon leaving. To help distract him from missing home as he adjusted to complete immersion in Estonia and to challenge him to get out and about, Ron's partner in art and life-Jinn Bug-suggested he take long walks and write a daily poem about what he saw and experienced. Ron's first poem-which does not appear in this manuscript-was raw and painful. Jinn invented a device-the adventures of an old man and an imaginary boy in Estonia-and suggested creating a series of fairytale-like storied poems that explored the folklore, myth, politics, and culture of Estonia while simultaneously capturing a bit of the poets' own human experiences. Separated by 5,000 miles and a seven-hour time difference, the two poets visited daily with each other via Facebook video calls and in the body of this manuscript. In late April 2019, Jinn joined Ron for ten days in Estonia. The poems in this book were born out of research, reading and personal experience, enriched by contacts made and friendships formed by Ron during his time as Writer in Residence. The poems were also enlivened by mutual puzzling over and attempting to explain and understand things that were foreign. Simple questions such as "What to do with my trash in Estonia?" and "What is up