Kaspar Jassa
Kaspar Jassa (earlier real name Kaspar Ranniku, born 18 November 1973) is an avant-garde writer living in Tartu.
Jassa studied Russian philology at the University of Tartu where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in 1996 and a master’s degree in Russian literature in 2000. He has practised photography, making imaginative compositions of photos that he has displayed at exhibitions. For a long time, he worked as a guide at the Estonian National Museum.
Under the name of Kaspar, he published the book Haruldane mullikogemus ehk Ummakumma ehk Kogemata bagatellid, milled on lugeja rõõmuks kirjutanud ja piltidega varustanud magister ja kavaler Kaspar (‘A Rare Bubble Experience or Ummakumma or Haphazard Bagatelles Written for the Pleasure of the Reader and Provided with Pictures by Master and Cavalier Kaspar’, 2003). In short, the book is named Ummakumma. The book contains peculiar but intelligent prose poetry combined with stylish silhouette pictures. The critics have called the book eccentric.
The poetry collection Modus silendi (2004), published under the name of Kaspar Jassa, consists of brief and airy poems. In 2014, Kaspar Jassa was one of the authors in the cassette-collection Olematute raamatute antoloogia (‘The Anthology of Non-existent Books’) compiled by Kiwa. His experimental prose book koogel-moogel (‘kogel mogel’) published in 2021 consists entirely of declarative surrealist simple sentences.
Jassa has translated fiction and texts on cultural history from Russian.
L. P. (Translated by I. A.)
Books in Estonian
Haruldane mullikogemus, ehk, Ummakumma, ehk, Kogemata bagatellid / milled on lugeja rõõmuks kirjutanud ja piltidega varustanud magister ja kavaler Kaspar. Tartu: Härmametsa Talu kirjastus, 2002. 96 lk.
Modus silendi. Tartu: Härmametsa Talu kirjastus, 2004. 64 lk. (Luuletused.)
koogel-moogel. Tallinn: ;paranoia, 2021. 236 lk.
