Mario Kivistik
Mario Kivistik (born 15 June 1955) is a poet, publisher and translator of science fiction and fantasy.
Kivistik completed Tallinn Secondary School No. 7 and studied English and German at Tallinn Pedagogical Institute. He has worked as an English teacher for three years, in the Road Traffic Inspectorate of the Estonian SSR for six years, and later in the editorial office of the children’s magazine Põhjanael (formerly called Pioneer). In 1983–1984, he was the chairman of the Tallinn Young Authors’ Association. For several decades, Kivistik worked as a department head at the Estonian Authors’ Society. From 1989–1991, he was the chairman of the Estonian Green Party.
Mario Kivistik published three poetry collections at the end of the Soviet period. The musings and love themes included in them display an image of a young person searching for his direction and trying to grasp the unknown sides of human relationships and human nature. Mario Kivistik’s poems have been translated into Russian and Belarusian. Kivistik has also published poetry collections for children. In the 1980s, his puppet shows concerning traffic problems, Tänavatund (‘Street Lesson’) and Vusserdused kooliteel (‘Mishaps on the Way to School’) were staged.
Mario Kivistik’s work as a translator and editor has contributed to the emergence and development of the Estonian fantasy and science fiction community. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the editor of the magazines Pioneer and Põhjanael, he published science fiction stories translated by himself and others as well as Estonian authors’ own creations. Kivistik was also a pioneer in the promotion of local art of comic strips by commissioning comics for Pioneer from Estonian authors. Kivistik was the founder and editor of the horror and fantasy magazine Mardus, published between 1991 and 2001. In addition, he compiled and edited several influential science fiction anthologies between 1993 and 2004. Thanks to Kivistik, several later well-known writers like Veiko Belials, Marek Simpson, Lew R. Berg and others started their careers as science fiction writers. Kivistik has translated numerous science fiction books from English, including the works of H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Dan Simmons, George R. R. Martin and M. John Harrison.
Kivistik has won several Stalkers — Estonian science fiction awards — for his translations and the same award in 2015 for his contribution to promoting Estonian science fiction culture.
L. P. (Translated by I. A.)
Books in Estonian
Poetry
Läbilõige. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1981. 45 lk.
Terra incognita. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1985. 55 lk.
Silmapiiririkkuja. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1990. 129 lk.
Children’s books
Fooriku vembud [piltlugu värssides]. Tallinn : Valgus, 1984. 19 lk.
Remoste planeet [piltlugu värssides]. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1984. 35 lk.
Üle linnatänava [luuletused väikelastele]. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1987. 15 lk.
