David Hartley (UK)

David Hartley is a writer of strange stories based in Manchester, UK. At Prima Vista 2024, he collaborated with performance artist Henri Hütt to create “The Forest of Ink & Skin”, an immersive folklore experience inside a woodland made of tattooed Estonians. Later the same year, he took “The Embassy of Utopia” to Manchester, a spoken word event which originated at Prima Vista 2023, where over 100 Mancunians spoke about their visions for a better future. Hartley is the author of three collections of short stories, including “Spiderseed” (Sleepy House Press), “Incorcisms” (Arachne Press), and “Fauna” (Fly on the Wall Press). His latest book is the self-made limited edition zine Sprites of Svenshögen, which reflects on his time as a Writer-in-Residence in a converted train station in rural Sweden. He is excited to be returning to Tartu to lead a pilgrimage through Karlova to meet an important hedgehog. Along the way, new mythologies will be discovered, Good Thoughts will be encouraged, and new stories will spring to life. In the meantime, he can be found at @DHartleyWriter on Instagram.