The Budapest Bardroom

Elo-Mall Toomet, or ellom for short, was born and is currently living and raising her child in the beautiful old town of Tartu, a cultural and spiritual] centre of Estonia. Influenced by landscapes, seasonal changes, pain and close human relations, she is dedicated to exploration of the inner worlds, finding ways in dark places and creating maps to be able to return. Her main fields of expression are illustrating fairy-tale books and writing poetry. While her first poetry book was published in 2002, this year saw two new volumes, one in Estonian and the other “The Pain in the Beautiful Answer” written entirely in English. Lately Elo-Mall has become interested in spoken word and voice performances. She has appeared onstage with various musicians in Estonia, Paris and London.  You can read Elo-Mall’s poetry and listen to her voice at http://www.v6lur.ee/ellom.

Elo-Mall will read at the Bardroom on Saturday, November 29 at 7 pm at Treehugger Dan’s Bookstore & Lounge (Lazar u. 16).

1. What was your first (poem / piece of writing), and how bad was it?

“The first poem i recall was when I was six years old. It was a fierce declaration of pagan beliefs and patriotism. Very bad of course.”

2. What’s the last thing you read that made your hair stand up on end?

“The biography of Johnny Cash.”

3. What’s the last piece of literature that made you cry?

“Lawrence Durrell’s Justine, mostly because it was so beautiful but also because of the sadness written into it’s different layers.”

4. Does poetry matter anymore?

“That would be yes. It’s in the same category as air and water for me.”

5. What’s the worst thing about writing a book/poem?

“There’s nothing bad about writing a poem. it is a bit tiresome when a new line comes to your head the exact moment you have hid under a blanket and are deadly sleepy. So you have to wake up and write it down. But that’s all good. What I don’t really care for is the bureaucracy surrounding publishing and of course promotion.”