Shortening the Candle's Wick

By turns surreal, political, folkloric, and domestic, Shortening the Candle’s Wick is a window into the imaginative world of a poetic relationship. For more than 40 years, husband and wife Andres Ehin and Ly Seppel lived together in Estonia writing poetry. Ehin’s style is that of the surrealist—“a connector of the unconnectable”—while Seppel is a poet of the fleeting moment, the glance of language across it. Translator Ilmar Lehtpere has compiled a selection of translations in the form of a poetic dialogue between husband and wife, incorporating larger discussions of poet and language, nation, and self.

Andres Ehin is an erudite, a researcher of the unexplainable and mysterious, a connector of the unconnectable. Under the surface of his colorful work is a sense a joyful demolition of bureaucratic hierarchies and common truths. Ly Seppel’s poetry is characterized by a quiet tone and a focus on general human topics, the progression of time, the ability to capture fleeting but significant experiences, and on momentary pictures of everyday life. What really matters in her poetry is being a woman, mother, and daughter, as well as a bearer of nature’s continuity.?Ilmar Lehtpere had a bilingual upbringing in Estonian and English. His translations of Estonian poetry have appeared in various literary journals in Europe and America. He is the recipient of a Popescu Prize.