With the 80th anniversary of the Suurpõgenemine (Mass Flight) being commemorated this month, studying the nature of the Estonian-Canadian identity (or Canadian-Estonian depending on how you look at it) is at the forefront, discomfort aside. And Anne Remmel’s memoir Two Worlds Within – A Memoir of Dual Identity is a valuable written element of that study this year.
At her book launch on September 17th, a large gathering at Tartu College listened as VEMU Estonian Museum Canada’s chief archivist, Piret Noorhani, asked Remmel about the creation of her book. Audiences learned about the book’s first iteration, a search for her father’s story; how history repeating itself in recent years instigated her writing; the personal faith and loved ones that helped her and her parents to endure in times of trouble. Remmel also spoke to the surprises in her research that made crafting the memoir more difficult.
