The Scent of Your Shadow

by Kristiina Ehin, Ilmar Lehtpere (Translator), Sujata Bhatt (Contributor)

Bilingual translation by Ilmar Lehtpere of Kristiina Ehin's poems. Selected from Emapuhkus (Tallinn: Pandekt)2009.

Translated from the Estonian by Ilmar Lehtpere
Introduced by Sujata Bhatt
PBS Recommended Translations Summer 2010
"Here is a generous, honest imagination: visceral, shamanistic and wise. Kristiina Ehin is a visionary poet with a discerning and distinctive voice, a voice resonant with genuine passion, close to the primordial world of spirts and myths, but also rooted in history and in contemporary life. There is a refreshing lightness and originality to her poems, which are nonetheless poignant. She is able to express strong emotions without being sentimental. Her work has truly haunted me; it has entered the deepest layer of my being with its rare combination of directness and subtle nuances, ancient traditions and modernity."
- Sujata Bhatt (from her introduction)
Part of our Visible Poets series edited by Jean Boase-Beier
ISBN: 978-1906570-53-8 (pbk), 978-1906570-54-5 (hbk)

Dimensions: 216 x 138 mm
Pages: 110
Bilingual edition Estonian / English
Published July 2010

Genres: Poetry

110 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2010

About the author

Kristiina Ehin on eesti luuletaja ja proosakirjanik.
Ta on õppinud Tartu Ülikoolis eesti filoloogiat ja spetsialiseerunud rahvaluulele. Aastal 2004 omandas ta Tartu Ülikoolis magistrikraadi eesti ja võrdleva rahvaluule alal. Magistritöö teemaks oli "Eesti vanema ja uuema rahvalaulu tõlgendusvõimalusi naisuurimuslikust aspektist". Ta on töötanud Vodja koolis õpetajana.
Kristiina Ehin on kuulunud kirjandusrühmitusse Erakkond.
Ta on ka laulnud ansamblis Sinimaniseele.
Ta esines Eesti esindajana Londoni 2012. aasta olümpiamängude satelliitüritusel Poetry Parnassus, mis toimus 26. juunist 1. juulini 2012.

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

Beautiful

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the coming of dusk
and the dropping of leaves I become
more and more nocturnal
I am brimming
with this summer evening's nameless hum

I become ever more nocturnal
and I don't need your fire today
the fire of the coals of your feelings
to warm myself

This was such a fascinating potpourri: dreamy, lovely, bizarrely fantastical, everyday and ordinary.