I first visited Tallinn in 2016. Compared to where I grew up, the city felt remarkably free, creative, and unmistakably European. I felt an immediate connection. While exploring areas around the former Patarei Prison, with its brick walls, rows of barbed wire, and constant sea wind, I noticed strange graffiti painted on a wall: thick serpent coils beneath two large letters, with a squarish smiling head emerging on a snake-like neck from one of them. The creature resembled either a snake or a worm. In my family, anything worm-shaped or affectionately strange was often called a “glist,” So that’s what I named him. I photographed the graffiti, and over time that worm slowly evolved into Glist™—a recurring character connected in my mind with Tallinn itself.
The first book, The Story of Glist, developed as a documentary-style literary colouring book shaped by themes of migration, memory, Tallinn, and the search for freedom, with Glist™ gradually becoming an independent character and a symbol of hope and survival. The project received support from Nobel Prize-winning writer J. M. Coetzee, who wrote: “I look forward to following the adventures of Glist, the cheerful worm who seems to know the secret of burrowing through prison walls.” In the second book, Glist’s Garden of Gifts, rather than being the main subject of the narrative, Glist™ appears as its guide. He leads readers through the book while placing his “Approved by Glist™” mark beside the descriptions and illustrations of each of the fourteen chosen flowers. Conceived as a gift book for loved ones, the project also encourages a more thoughtful and lasting relationship with living plants and nature.
Alongside the books, the project has also expanded into postcards, badges, stickers, and other small printed works connected to the world of Glist™. Both books are currently available through Amazon as part of The Glist™ Series: www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX2Y1VR9 What began as a graffiti image on a prison wall in Tallinn continues to grow into new stories, illustrations, and printed works connected to the world of Glist™.
