Ilmar Mikiver

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Ilmar Mikiver (born January 1, 1920 in Loksa , † September 26, 2010 in Washington, DC ) was an Estonian poet and journalist .

Life

Ilmar Mikiver graduated from high school in Tallinn in 1940 and then studied Romance and English philology at the University of Tartu . During the German occupation of Estonia in World War II , he worked briefly in the Estonian Museum of Literature (1942) and in the editorial department of Postimees before he fled to Finland in 1943 . There he participated as a volunteer in the Finnish Army in the Continuation War .

After the war he moved to Sweden and studied theater at Stockholm University from 1950 to 1954 . and music history. From 1955 he lived in Munich , where he worked as a correspondent for the Voice of America until 1959 . He then went to the USA and worked there both as a stockbroker and as a journalist. From 1974–1976 and 1980–1992 he was editor-in-chief of the Estonian section of the "Voice of America" ​​in Washington.

The artist Olev Mikiver and the artist and poet Heino Mikiver were his brothers, the actor and theater director Mikk Mikiver was his second cousin. Their common great-grandmother was the folk singer Els Mikiver (1824–1900).

plant

Already towards the end of his school days, Ilmar Mikiver was involved in a (literary) group that wanted to tie in with the tradition of Noor-Eesti under the name Elbumus ("rebirth") . In exile he appeared primarily as a journalist and literary critic before publishing his first - and for a long time only - volume of poetry in 1976. This was praised as "long awaited" and compared to the surrealist poetry of Ilmar Laaban . According to the criticism, the main theme of this poem was three E: Estonia, Eros and Life (Estonian elu ).

Mikiver also published prose pieces with which he wanted to show the possibility of surrealism in this genre as well. Only in 2007 did another collection of poems follow, with which the poet consolidated his position as an important surrealist author alongside Ilmar Laaban. In the 1960s, Mikiver was active at the Estonian theater in New York . He was widely known in Soviet Estonia as the radio voice from the USA.

Awards

Trivia

Ilmar Mikiver was a schoolmate of Jaan Kross and once made fun of the fact that in his 1995 novel Mesmeri ring, he described a romantic scene with little discretion, so that one could see which woman was meant. Not least because of this, the reunion of the two schoolmates thirty years later in the USA may not have been very warm, as can also be seen in Kross' own description in his memoir.

bibliography

  • Kirves yes tuiksoon. Luuletusi 1960 1975 ('ax and artery'). Toronto: Boreas & Mana 1976. 47 pp.
  • Urb ('kitten'). Tallinn: Maarjamaa 2007. 58 pp.
  • Ankruketi lõpp. 9 esseed eesti luulest ('The end of the anchor chain. Nine essays on Estonian poetry'). Koostaja Tiit Hennoste . Tallinn: SA Kultuurileht 2010. 144 p. (Loomingu Raamatukogu 36/37)

Literature on the author

  • Felix Oinas: Kuidas kirjanikud kirjutavad. 11. Ilmar Mikiver, in: Tulimuld 4/1983, pp. 213-215.
  • Arno Oja: Ilmar Mikiver 70, in: Looming 1/1990, p. 139.
  • Ilmar Mikiver: Mis oli "Elbumus" ?, in: Akadeemia 10/1991, pp. 2121–2138.
  • Elbujate loomingut, in: Akadeemia 10/1991, pp. 2139-2165.
  • Andres Ehin : Inimhääl läbi triikraua, in: Looming 7/2007, pp. 1095-1097.
  • Hellar Grabbi : Poeet-kriitik Ilmar Mikiver, in: Keel ja Kirjandus 5/2011 , pp. 375–376.
  • Hellar Grabbi: Ilmar Mikiver ja eesti kirjandus, in: Looming 6/2011, pp. 820–824.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eesti kirjanike leksikon. Koostanud Oskar Kruus yes Heino Puhvel. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 2000, pp. 341-342.
  2. ↑ Hellar Grabbi: Ilmar Mikiver ja eesti kirjandus, in: Looming 6/2011, p. 820.
  3. ↑ Ilmar Mikiver: Mis oli "Elbumus" ?, in: Akadeemia 10/1991, p. 2121.
  4. ↑ Eesti kirjandus paguluses. XX sajandil. Toimetanud Piret Kruuspere. Tallinn: Eesti TA Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus 2008, p. 702.
  5. ↑ Mardi Valgemäe in: Mana 42 (1976), pp 105-106.
  6. ↑ Arno Oja: Ilmar Mikiver 70, in: Looming 1/1990, p. 139.
  7. ↑ Hellar Grabbi: Ilmar Mikiver ja eesti kirjandus, in: Looming 6/2011, p. 821.
  8. ↑ Arno Oja: Ilmar Mikiver 70, in: Looming 1/1990, p. 139.
  9. ↑ Andres Ehin: Inimhääl läbi triikraua, in: Looming 7/2007, p. 1095.
  10. ↑ Hellar Grabbi: Ilmar Mikiver ja eesti kirjandus, in: Looming 6/2011, pp. 823-824.
  11. ↑ Jaan Kross: Kallid kaasteelised II. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus 2008, p. 316.
personal data
SURNAME Mikiver, Ilmar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian poet and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Loksa
DATE OF DEATH September 26, 2010
Place of death Washington, DC