Silvi-Astrid Mickelin

Silvi-Astrid Mickelin (born 7 July 1936) is a poet.

Mickelin was born as the only child of farmers on Gärdes farm in the village of Sviby on Vormsi island in Läänemaa County. She partly descends from Swedes who used to inhabit the western coast of Estonia. In 1941, her father was drafted into the Red Army and did not return from the war. Mickelin studied at Vormsi 7-year school and Haapsalu evening secondary school, which she completed in 1961. From 1953 to 1961, she worked in a sewing workshop and as a nurse in Haapsalu, from 1961 to 1991 at a pharmacy in Haapsalu. In the 1990s, the Vormsi farm museum was established at her birthplace in Sviby.

In the 1970s–1980s, Silvi-Astrid Mickelin participated in the activities of an underground Christian poetry circle in Tallinn. Her first poetry collection Igal oma päevatee (‘Everyone Has Their Own Daily Road’) was published in 1993. Until 2019, she had published seven poetry collections.

Most of Mickelin’s work is religious poetry. Her poems are sung in Christian congregations as hymns. Mickelin’s poetry has been set to music by nearly ten composers; the number of songs composed to her lyrics reaches a hundred. An important place in Mickelin’s poetry belongs to childhood memories from her home island and emotions from nature; there are also satirical reflections on the role of humans in the present-day world. Mickelin’s poetry is heartfelt and sincere. Most of the poems are written in rhymed quatrains, but there are also haikus and free verse.

L. P. (Translated by I. A.)

Books in Estonian

Poetry
Igal oma päevatee. Tallinn: Logos, 1993. 64 lk.
Hommiku lootus jääb. Haapsalu: Anamnesia, 2001. 99 lk.
Kaapekakk. Tallinn: Logos, 2003. 191 lk.
Soolatera. Tallinn: Kodutrükk, 2010. 156 lk.
Viies ja viimane. Haapsalu: S.-A. Mickelin, 2013. 103 lk.
Järelnoppeid. Haapsalu: Vormsi Veri, 2016. 96 lk.
Üle eluväljade. Uuemõisa: Vormsi Veri, 2019. 96 lk.