Arvi Siig (8 November 1938 – 23 November 1999) was an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

poet, translator and journalist. He was a member of the

CPSU The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

and a communist, but still critical of many aspects of the political aspects of his day. His poetry inspired later

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

poets and many of his texts are used as lyrics by the Estonian alternative rock band

Vennaskond Vennaskond (Estonian for ''Brotherhood'') is an Estonian punk rock band founded in 1984. The band has toured in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Romania, Sweden, Germany, France, India, Poland and the United States (including CBGB). To show respect to ...

. He was among the first to include modern urban themes in Estonian poetry, also giving a voice to

prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...

, including Soviet prostitutes. The creators of the award-winning computer RPG ''

Disco Elysium ''Disco Elysium'' is a 2019 role-playing video game developed and published by ZA/UM. The game was written and designed by a team led by Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz and executive producer Kaur Kender, featuring an art style based on oil pain ...

,''

Robert Kurvitz Robert Kurvitz (born 8 October 1984) is an Estonian novelist, video game designer, and musician. He was the lead writer and designer of the 2019 video game ''Disco Elysium'' as a founding member of the ZA/UM cultural association and the eponymo ...

and Aleksander Rostov hailed Siig as inspiration and the greatest Estonian poet when accepting the president's Young Cultural Figure award in 2020: "Without his modernism, Elysium - the world the game is placed in - would not be half of what it is."

Personal life

Arvi Siig married a Russian cultural journalist Valentina Siig, who published her memories about him after his death.

References

1938 births 1999 deaths Estonian male poets 20th-century Estonian poets Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Tallinn University alumni University of Tartu alumni Writers from Tallinn {{Estonia-poet-stub