The Australian-Estonian artist and writer Gunnar Neeme (1918–2005), who was born with the name Johannes Näkk, and his wife Hilja Neeme (née Leitu) were close friends of the writer Peeter Lindsaar and his wife Leonida Lindsaar. Both the Neemes and the Lindsaars lived in Australia after the Second World War. There they contributed to the continuation of Estonian cultural life in exile.

Alongside his work as an artist, Neeme found time to write poetry, drama, prose, essays, and critical reviews. He has stressed in interviews and biographies that his work in writing was simply a hobby for him and that he did not define himself as a writer. A total of 106 letters by Gunnar and Hilja Neeme sent in the interval 1950 to 1990, the author of which was primarily Gunnar Neeme, have been preserved in Peeter Lindsaar’s personal collection. The published letters are from 1967, which proved to be an important year for Gunnar Neeme’s career. In that year, the artist started actively striving to gain acceptance in expatriate Estonian literary circles. At the same time, he also achieved a breakthrough as an artist because Australians noticed Neeme’s talent and offered him new opportunities for participating in exhibitions.

The letters he sent to his friends show what Neeme’s ambitions actually were in literature. He cared very deeply that his texts should be published and read but that is unfortunately not how things turned out – to this day, Neeme’s belletristic oeuvre is little known. The artist’s feelings and thoughts in reaction to instances when expatriate Estonians did not notice his creative work or efforts are also expressed in his letters. In addition to this, the letters provide an inkling of how Gunnar Neeme presented his artwork and literary works, and how expatriate Estonians who lived in Australia organised their cultural events.