Kivisildnik
Kivisildnik (given name Sven Sildnik; since 2007 he has used the styling (:)kivisildnik; b. 3. I 1964) is a poet, prose writer and publisher; one of the most prominent and scandalous of the authors who appeared at the restoration of independence.
He was born and educated in Rakvere; from 1982 to 1986 he was in the faculty of agronomy at the Estonian Academy of Agriculture, and from 1986 to 1989 in the department of journalism in the faculty of philology at the Tartu State University. He has worked in journalism, been a copywriter, and since 2006 he has directed the Jumalikud Ilmutused ('Divine Revelations') publishing house. He was a member of the Tartu Young Authors’ Associacion (1987), and joined the Hirohall and Eesti Kostabi $elts groupings. He is a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union since 1998. He has been chairman of the nationalist Eesti Iseseisvuspartei (Estonian Independence Party) since 2015. He won the Literature Endowment annual award for the poetry collection Sumo (2007) and the ‘Ela ja sära’ ('Live and Shine') stipendium (2013).
With his indisputably original and sometimes contradiction-based texts and statements that challenged fixed attitudes, modes of action and boundaries, Kivisildnik came to literature in the eighties. Among other features his poetry gives an important place to a post-modernist interplay with other texts, in reference to which, or in the use of which, he builds up newly written text. A prominent example is Märg Viktor ('Wet Viktor', 1989) which was composed using a poem by Marie Under. The playfulness was amplified by Kivisildnik’s text appearing with different cover designs and titles.
Controversy arose from a satirical piece or parody of a lexicon, initially circulated in manuscript, subsequently one of the first works by an Estonian author to appear on the Internet (1996), Eesti Nõukogude Kirjanike Liit – 1981. aasta seisuga, olulist ('The Soviet Estonian Writers’ Union – Situation as of 1981, Summary'). The text resulted in a police search of Kivisildnik’s home. Taking the membership list of the ESSR Writer’s Union as its basis, this work creates new text using all manners of epithets, a lot of them obscene.
New connections to the contemporary scene are created with a post-modernist playfulness in his poetry collection Rahvuseepos Kalevipoeg ehk Armastus ('The National Epic Kalevipoeg, or Love', 2003) which is based on motifs from the Estonian national epic.
The basic material of Kivisildnik’s textual creation consists mostly of the following components in combination: Estonian poetry, nationality and patriotism, the world of entertainment and advertising, physicality, or more narrowly, eroticism and pornography, and religious motifs. One example of this, which is described as a novel, is Nagu isane kass ümber isase pudru ('Like a Tom-cat Around a Tom-porridge', 1996), with its interplay of religious dogma and pornography. Persistent motifs in Kivisildnik’s sharp, socially sensitive works are cultural decline of a nation, the cult of consumerism, globalization, often treated in sarcastic terms, such as in Soari evangeelium ('The Gospel of Soar', 2012).
Kivisildnik’s earlier poetry, which cultivated the myth of genius loved by thousands, is gathered in the voluminous Nagu härjale punane kärbseseen ('Like a Red Fly-agaric to a Bull', 1996). A survey of his publications in the press is offered, for instance, by Null tolerants: ajalehes Tegelikkuse KesKus, 1999. – 2003. aastal ilmunud artiklid ('Zero Tolerance: Articles from the Newspaper Tegelikkuse KesKus, 1999-2003', 2004); an insight into Kivisildnik’s poetic principles is given in See õige luuleõpik (The One and Only Textbook of Poetry', 2015).
A. K. (Translated by C. M.)
Books in Estonian
Poetry
Märg Viktor. Tartu: Eesti Kostabi Selts, 1989, 42 lk.
Dawa vita. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1991, 61 lk.
Nagu härjale punane kärbseseen. Tartu: Eesti Kostabi Selts, 1996, 841 lk.
Loomade peal katsetatud inimene. Tartu: Brain Publishing, 1997, 169 lk.
Päike, mida sa õhtul teed?. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 2003, 85 lk.
Rahvuseepos Kalevipoeg, ehk, Armastus. Tallinn: Tuum, 2003, 68 lk.
Otsin naist: koledatel, vaestel, vanadel ja kiimalistel mitte tülitada. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 2004, 119 lk.
Poeem Puutinile. Tallinn: Argo, 2004, 7 lk.
Tali valla ametlik ajalugu: kehtestatud Tali vallavolikogu määrusega 10.10.2005 nr 4. Tali: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2005, 31 lk.
Vägistatud jäämagi. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2006, 78 lk.
Sumo. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2007, 47 lk.
Torti ja aborti: kohustuslik kirjandus gümnaasiumi astmele. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2007, 23 lk.
Liivlased ja saurused. Valuraamatu I köide. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2011, 61 lk.
Enne sõda ja kõike seda. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2012, 58 lk.
Soari evangeelium. Valuraamatu II köide. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2012, 89 lk.
Inimsööja taksojuht. Valuraamatu III köide. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2013, 142 lk.
Õpetaja ütles: luuleõpik. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2013, 142 lk.
100% (:) / (:)kivisildnik. Saarde, Pärnu: Ji, 2014, 247 lk.
Tunnete sümfoonia, ehk, Kerjused liftides. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2014, 96 lk.
Luuletused. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2015, 76 lk.
Seitsmes Moosese raamat: eneseabi nõiaraamat maagidele ja maagia ohvritele. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2015, 135 lk.
Kehakultus. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2017, 70 lk.
Kirsiõis 007. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2017, 69 lk.
Pariis 1911. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2017, 124 lk.
Ma olen siga. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2018, 75 lk.
Armuloo prügikast. Valuraamatu IV-VIII köide. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2019, 404 lk.
Doris Taukari järelejäänud luuletused, ehk, Tal on nii ilusad silmad. Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2019, 66 lk.
Prose
Jutustused ja romaanid 1984-2004. Valitud teosed 1. Tallinn: Argo, 2004, 993 lk.
Aarne Anmann, (:)kivisildnik, Visa hing Kilingi-Nõmmelt: legendi sünd. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2013, 201 lk.
Aarne Anmann, (:)kivisildnik, Visa hing Kilingi-Nõmmelt ja Karlova inimsööjad. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2013, 204 lk.
Aarne Anmann, (:)kivisildnik, Visa hing Kilingi-Nõmmelt ja Donetski Lolita. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2014, 163 lk.
Plays
Olovernes: kaks vaadet elule. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2015, 160 lk.
Miscellaneous
Null tolerants: ajalehes Tegelikkuse KesKus 1999.-2003. aastal ilmunud artiklid. Pärnu, Tallinn: Tegelikkuse Keskuse Raamatukogu, 2004, 231 lk.
Raadiopastor. Pärnu, Saarde: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2011, 156 lk.
Laulurahvas hakkas mõtlema: esseed 2014-2002. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2014, 210 lk.
See õige luuleõpik. Saarde, Pärnu: Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2015, 270 lk.