Mere Õie Kalle - the reality of fantasy
I’m someone who believes that there is more truth in some fantasy novels than in contemporary fiction.
However, usually the truth behind the “how” some authors come to write grandiose fantasy novels with such detail and precision (and often an entirely new language) lay hidden or relegated to the world of imagination and pure skill.
Second sight is still not well accepted or believed, and I’ve met people who simply shut down this gift out of fear of being judged - should someone find out. Personally, as someone who has also certain “gifts,” I’ve never been very open about them… and perhaps there’s no need. What I think is important is to leave traces of stories that testify this is real and this is normal.
I’m super excited about this interview because Mere Õie is a young lady whose sensitivity gives life to fantasy novels in which the characters are well and alive.
And if you ask me what is real? …. I ask back, who can tell? There’s the real of this world we live in, and there’s the real of the other worlds and planes of existence: which are inaccessible to the majority (luckily) - if granted permission, some can write about them for the majority to read.
Thanks to Renata, I discovered your book “La Pietra di Conohiil” - which you wrote when you were super young (11-12 years old). I bought it and became so curious about you, when did you realise you wanted to be a writer?
It was during lockdown, after I finished reading “The Tales from Earthsea” by Ursula K. Le Guin. I began dreaming of these characters and they wouldn’t leave me alone unless I wrote about them. So I just started writing without giving it too much thought, it was also a nice passe temps when I had nothing to do.
Did you write anything else after this one?
Yes I wrote another fantasy novel in Italian, then another book that is in Estonian but isn’t published yet, and I’m currently writing my fourth novel - though it’s taking me over 2 years.
On the side, I also write short stories.
Do you like writing? This job of writing…
In the beginning, I liked it. With time I understood that it’s not that easy. In my mind I have everything ready, I see clearly the story, but when I write it down it comes out very messy. Plus, the process of writing makes the magic, that I feel whilst imagining, disappear because once written I can’t go back and change the facts. On the contrary, when I think, all is free and possible.
Interesting. I too write, and I’ve experienced this painful “obstacle” when what I imagine doesn’t come out as I imagine it. Like something happens between the act of imagining and that of writing, I am not in control and then I give up. I never found the patience to sit for long periods of time, so I tend to write more poetry and short stories. I’m in awe of your genius and patience to work through that “in-between” - I believe that’s where the writer lives.
What genre of poems do you write?
My first poetry anthology has themes drawn from my experience as a woman: how I felt in my body, painful relationships, abortion… The second book is in English and it’s about gratitude. In general, I write poems to express my feelings. When I don’t know how to express what I feel when I don’t even know what name to give to what I feel… I write poetry. And you, do you read poetry?
Yes, I read poems. I really like them because every time I re-read them I discover something new and unexpected. I read every kind of poetry. My favourite poets are F. G. Lorca, Edgar Allan Poe, Leelo Tungal and Alda Merini.
What do you dream of doing after school?
I want to be a scientist and a writer. I’m still unsure what kind of scientist I want to become.
Don’t forget that doing both is absolutely possible. Rita Levi Montalcini is proof of this. You’ll just have to experiment.
I read in your book you mention the runes, Do you know what they are?
Yes, they’re kind of signs or symbols that can represent words and concepts. The idea to make my characters use the runes' written language came to me from the book “The Tales from Earthsea.”
I’ve been wondering how you came across the knowledge of the runes. What languages do you speak and read?
I speak, write and read in Italian and Estonian. I read in English but I have lots of room for improvement to be able to speak it fluently. My teacher says I have a strong Estonian accent.
Can you clarify this fact about you, you were born blind, is that correct? However, now you can see…?
I was born blind because I had a kind of virus that covered my pupils. When I was 3 months old my parents noticed something strange about me and they went for a check-up, that’s how they found out.
Since then I have been operated on and had a transplant of pupils, and now I can see well enough to go to school and do all the normal things. My left eye has some remnants of that virus so it’s not optimal.
How do you view the world? - I’m talking beyond seeing it with your eyes… I’d love to know your vision of the world, about its future.
It depends. I can see it from different angles, and it also depends on my mood and what I’m doing.
I don’t know about the future, I have a few theories but I can’t tell how things will go.
Regarding the present, I think we’re living through times of change. I can’t know what others my age think because I don’t talk to them about it at school.
How do you live change?
It depends. The start of the war in Ukraine has been very tough on me, I got angry with my classmates because nobody knew the war had started and they just went about their day as if all was good. Nobody talked about it. Nobody acted differently. They just didn’t perceive the conflict nearby. The teachers too were silent, no words were spared to discuss the war happening next door.
I understand life goes on, but not to the point of ignoring what’s going on and we need to talk about this a little bit.
Do you have friends with whom you can discuss the matters of the world?
Not here in Italy. I do have in Estonia.
What’s your favourite book?
There are many!
More than my favourite books, I have my favourite authors. There are quite a few Estonian authors I love, such as Andrus Kivirähk, Leelo Tungal and Eno Raud. Then I like Bulgakov, Orwell, Allende, and Otfried Preussler.
I read everything, not just fantasy novels.
Was this love of literature passed on to you? Where did it stem from?
When I was little, my parents read us good night stories that weren’t always children’s books. My mother read me The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham; my father read us a book on the plague after it I had nightmares but I loved the book so much that I re-read it later on my own.
My sister and I had an audiobook of a collection of stories of a famous Estonian author, Andrus Kivirähk, we loved it so much we’d play it in the car all the time wherever we would go.
Do you believe in magic?
I believe in magic. And I believe there is magic in this world, but the magic in other worlds is very different. Even art is a type of magic.
Do you believe in the worlds you write about?
Yes, it’s usually in fact the characters who guide my thoughts and what I write.
Do you see them? Do they come to you in your mind only or do they also show up in your reality?
Sometimes I do see them but I don’t know if I’m dreaming. It’s a slightly strange thing.
It’s not strange. I had a feeling after reading your book that you might’ve had contact with some of the characters… not that you wouldn’t be able to “invent” such a story, but because it felt real. It felt like a tale of another world, of another vibrational plane. Some fantasy books - that we brush off as mere fantasy genres - are written by authors who can see and hear beyond our plane of existence. I felt you have that sensitivity.
How does it make you feel to be able to communicate with them or be able to receive messages?
At times it’s exciting when I talk to them and hear their voices. Other times it’s irritating because they are impatient and want me to write about them, but I can’t right now because I’m writing something else. So they can be annoying.
Does your family know?
Yes. In Estonia, we’re very close to nature and we believe there are things that exist that we aren’t able to perceive. For example, my guinea pigs are the source of my inspiration, I feel they know much more than they show.
Before Christianity, Estonians believed in spirits and that there were sacred places in the forest - this history is very well told in the book “The Man Who Spoke Snakish.” This book is pure folklore, not reality, but interesting.
