TWENTY-THREE was a productive year. I wrote two or three books, if you count the material generated for this site as future book material. There were diverse stories, some of them articles, others observations, others dream fiction. The top five most-read stories of the whole year were:
“Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” published 19 August 2023. This piece was published in the magazine Edasi under a different title. This article reveals some of my American influences, in which the Estonian countryside takes on a Great Depression-era, Dust Bowl flavor. People seem to like these articles about cultural differences, for whatever reason, and I have been too happy to write them, in fact, I seem to specialize in them. This one seemed to really hit the mark.
“Principios de Declaración by Tomás del Real,” published 12 July 2023. Nothing like some web traffic generated off the back of a popular folk singer. This was my attempt to do a quick, magazine-style review of del Real’s newest album. I don’t feel I did the record full justice, but I got it up and posted in time for the maestro’s 30th birthday. People seem eager to read about Tomás. Another story I wrote about South American musicians in Viljandi, that featured interviews with Tomás, as well as Pepi Prieto and Lee Taul from Araukaaria, was among the top 10 most-read stories.
“My Love, She Speaks Like Silence,” published 28 December 2022. This story raised quite a few eyebrows. Who was she? I actually managed to write several stories this year about an unnamed muse, who remained anonymous to everyone, including herself most likely (hopefully). The title of this one derives from a Bob Dylan lyric from the song “Love Minus Zero/No Limit.” I am not capable of writing like this on demand. I have to feel it, and I cannot make myself feel things. I have to feel them naturally. And as long as nobody gets hurt in the process, then, well, why not? I only know that some people wish I could write this way about them.
“Za Tallina, Za Rodinu,” published 26 September 2023. This reflection on Estonians and Russians in Tallinn was actually requested by Edasi, and I wrote it in Estonian, and later translated it into my native language. Most of it was written during coffee breaks during the Tallinn Digital Summit. All of the photos are mine. It’s been a black-and-white kind of year.
“Art Nouveau,” published 1 August 2023. After the Viljandi Folk Music Festival, I was exhausted and went to Tartu for a few days. I stayed in a friend’s apartment. It happened to be during a film festival, and so I could hear the 1995 movie Heat playing loudly through the windows. I took an herbal sleeping aid, and then the events recounted in this story more or less transpired. I was terrified when I woke up. The next morning I went over to Kohvipaus and typed up this story, which is probably among the weirdest I have ever produced.
What I like about dream fiction is that I am not responsible for the content. I am merely the messenger. And I plan to write many more stories in ’24.
north! 