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Excerpt from the chapter “Deportation”
The widow Glafira’s sauna has been heated. Sitting in the cramped dressing roo...
Author archives: zoneplus
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“Everybody has won and all must have prizes.”
Those are the Dodo’s words in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and both James F. E...
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Clouds have meaning. The meaning is indistinct and floating, but is simultaneously constant and incessantly turning back. We cannot imagine ...
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Viivi Luik’s collection of essays titled Pildi ilu rikkumise paratamatus (The Inevitability of Ruining the Picture’s Beauty), which also inc...
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Olle Lauli, Kuristik (The Abyss)
Tallinn, Gallus, 2018. 439 pp
ISBN 9789949720637
Olle Lauli, writing under a pseudonym, is inarguably ...
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Berk Vaher, Silmanurga taga (Behind the Corner of the Eye)
Elusamus 2018, 56 pp.
ISBN 9789949884346
The title Silmanurga taga (Behind the...
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Andra Teede, Pikad mehed, pikad elud (Tall Men, Long Lives)
Jumalikud ilmutused, 2018. 70 pp.
ISBN 9789949519934
Andra Teede is a poet an...
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Indrek Hargla, Kolmevaimukivi (The Three-Spirit Stone)
Raudhammas, 2018. 425 pp
ISBN 9789949985166
This spring, Indrek Hargla...
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Kadri Hinrikus, an Estonian children’s literature author, first became known to most of the local population as a TV news anchor. Her hobby ...
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Estonia is a land of theater wonder, with sublime plays that are like Estonian chocolates: once you’ve opened the box, you can’t sto...
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The Estonian public knows Rein Raud foremost as an intellectual and a scholar of the humanities who doesn’t balk at speaking up in discussio...
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I’ve known Doris Kareva for many years. I know her to be a good person, editor, and poet, who works persistently to help and publish other p...
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I went to visit the world.
How it smelt,
how it moved and hummed!
The blood stirred in my arm – svelte,
vein...
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Published in 1935, I Loved a German (Ma armastasin sakslast) was the seventh novel written by the Estonian literary classic A. H. Tammsaare ...
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Undivere Manor, North-Central Estonia. 1979.
Arno was left alone in the lounge of the sauna house. I suppose I should...
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In the late 1990s, Sergei Issakov (1931–2013), who was born in the border town of Narva and taught Slavic studies in Tartu his entire career...
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Mehis Heinsaar, who is one of the most esteemed Estonian prose writers of the last decade, is likewise one of the chosen few to receive a st...
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A woman furtively squeezes the rounded surfaces of hard, unripe pears in her purse: she must somehow change the mind of a man who is threate...
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*
It wasn't I who made you this way
said Darwin,
the divine intuitive care of genetics opted
to give you light hair and a dark l...
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Estonia is a small country where people generally can’t make a living purely on art and literature: the market simply isn’t large enough. ...
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Eva Koff, Sinine mägi (Blue Mountain)
Tallinn, Varrak, 2017. 440 pp
ISBN 9789985342213
Eva Koff’s Blue Mountain, which shared 2nd and 3...
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Vahur Afanasjev, Serafima ja Bogdan (Serafima and Bogdan)
Vemsa, 2017. 560 pp
ISBN 9789949880355
The plot of Vahur Afanasjev’s opus ma...
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Tõnu Õnnepalu, Valede kataloog / inglise aed (Catalogue of Lies / English Garden)
Tallinn, Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2017. 392 pp
ISBN 97899...
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Carolina Pihelgas, Pimeduse pisiasjad (Details of Darkness)
Kaksikhammas, 2017, 84 pp
ISBN 9789949999101
Carolina Pihelgas’s fifth poet...
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Hasso Krull, Kandsime redelit kaasas (We Carried the Ladder with Us)
Tartu, Kaksikhammas, 2017, 64 pp
ISBN 9789949880188
Carolina Pihe...
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Madli Lippur, June/Julien
Tallinn, Tänapäev, 2016. 328 pp
ISBN 9789949850280
Madli Lippur’s highly praised debut June / Julien is a nov...
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Jan Kaus, Kompass. Miniatuurromaan (Compass. A short prose novel)
Hea Lugu, 2017. 111 pp
ISBN 9789949589647
Although Jan Kaus has penn...
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Triin Soomets, Vaba raha (Free Money)
Tallinn, Nynorden 2017. 64 pp
ISBN: 9789949960071
Triin Soomets is known foremost as an...
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Andrei Ivanov, Batüskaaf (Bathyscaphe)
Tallinn: Tänapäev, 2017. 335 pp.
ISBN 9789949851713
Andrei Ivanov’s world cannot simply be rea...
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Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzmatsin (Paavo Matsin)
Must päike (The Black Sun)
Lepp ja Nagel, 2017, 192 pp
EAN 9789789949885
Paavo Matsin...
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The Estonian writer and politician Maimu Berg (71) mesmerizes readers with her audacity in directly addressing some topics that are even see...
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Interest in Estonia has been growing around the world, and rising along with it is the number of those intrigued by the Estonian language an...
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Several years ago, Maarja Kangro began publishing bold, sometimes stylistically grating and riotous poetry and prose in Estonian. She is als...
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2015, ~3:00 PM
My throat hurt and felt swollen. At first, I thought I’d caught a cold from the open wi...
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Cycle
The night before last Wednesday,
my pup died of infection,
and was laid to rest out back
until the resurrection.
He won’t be poki...
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Vladislav Koržets (1951) is a long-time celebrity Estonian writer and fisherman, whose poetry debut Songs or Such (Laulud või nii) appeared ...
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Adam Cullen (31) is a translator and poet from Minnesota. He first came to Estonia in 2006, somewhat incidentally and with his sights set me...
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Siuru, a literary group of the utmost importance in Estonia’s cultural context, was founded in May 1917. It was the second-to-last year of W...
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Over the last few years, the writers Birk Rohelend and Katrin Pauts have set out to enrich the Estonian crime genre with grim, trying tales ...
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Job Lisman is the editorial director of Prometheus/Bert Bakker Publishers in the Netherlands, which publishes such bestselling authors as Je...
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Jaan Kaplinski received a lifetime creative achievement award from the Republic of Estonia. Andrei Ivanov was likewise recognized for his cr...
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Urmas Vadi. Neverland
Kolm Tarka, 2017. 352 pp
Issues of identity remain topical in Estonian literature, and are addressed by Urmas Vadi...
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Eda Ahi. Sadam (Harbor)
Tallinn, Verb, 2017. 48 pp
ISBN 9789949984152
Eda Ahi is a self-standing great of contemporary Estonian poetry....
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Elo Viiding, Teadvuselooja (Consciousmaker).
Tallinn, Tuum, 2016. 64 pp
ISBN 9789949979431
Consciousmaker begins in a psycho-mythologic...
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Kristjan Haljak. Conceptio Immaculata.
Tallinn, Vihmakass ja Kakerdaja, 2017. 65 pp
ISBN 9789949811212
Kristjan Haljak is the only cred...
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Billeneeve, Sügis nagu lõppev suhe (An Autumn Like an Ending Relationship)
Saarde-Pärnu, Jumalikud Ilmutused, 2015. 60 pp
ISBN: 9789949519...
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Triin Soomets, Valitud omadused (Chosen Qualities)
Tallinn, Tuum, 2016. 327 pp.
ISBN: 9789949979424
Chosen Qualities (Valitud omadused)...
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Tarmo Teder, Andruse elu ja õnn (Andrus’ Life and Joy)
Tallinn, Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2016. 102 pp.
ISBN: 9789985796795
Tarmo Teder (19...
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Lauri Sommer, Lugusid lõunast. 2012–2016 (Stories from the South. 2012–2016)
Tallinn, Menu Meedia, 2016. 200 pp.
ISBN: 9789949549436
Es...
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Katrin Johanson, Atlantis abajas (Atlantis in a Cove)
Tallinn, Varrak, 2016. 160 pp.
ISBN: 9789985337967
Katrin Johanson’s (1972) entra...
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Maarja Kangro, Klaaslaps (The Glass Child)
Tallinn, Nähtamatu Ahv, 2016. 208 pp.
ISBN: 9789949813629
Maarja Kangro (1973) has been one ...
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Eeva Park, Lemmikloomade paradiis (Pets’ Paradise)
Tallinn, Verb, 2016. 239 pp
ISBN: 9789949984138
Eeva Park (1950) is one of those rar...
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it’s just about late enough that the clock hands show
you’re-a dope-for-caring-
but-time-for-us-to-have-one-more-drink-now
and some guy i...
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With Mihkel Mutt’s (1953) first novel since his hefty work The Cavemen Chronicle (2012), the unparalleled master of Estonian irony has emerg...
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How can one explain Nikolai Baturin’s works and creative identity to someone from a different and distant culture, when they are quite the m...
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they dance with you, gravity, everyone.
but only the brave know the steps they should take.
you’ve got that cruel but equalizing trait:
b...
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where do little
fat girls go
when insulted
beneath clotheslines
behind a house
to practice
to practice a speech
for
getting back at
...
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an old man wearing
a cotton-padded coat
rubber boots
just stopped before me and said he sees my opening
I was upset
doubtless means som...
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one time in grade school
the topic of reading class was
fairy tales redone by Disney
(that’s not quite how we classified it back then
...
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Writing about female poets, one inevitably arrives at a disturbing thought: why are some women regarded as poets, and others as poetesses? T...
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When I was asked to write about the five Estonian short story writers I enjoy the most, I unconsciously wondered: based on what criteria? Th...
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A fairy tale about warm light.
A fairy tale about the hundred faces of loneliness.
A reflective fairy tale about your life.
A fairy tale ...
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Indrek Koff (1975) is one of the most fascinating Estonian authors of the last decade. His writing stands out for its experimentation, the a...
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Cutlets for Gogol
Katerina had been crying over Grigory’s disappearance the entire day, alone downstairs. She finally pulled herself togeth...
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I last saw Paavo Matsin (1970) at a museum that honors the Estonian literary classic Eduard Vilde, where we were both scheduled to speak. We...
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Too nice a drunk
locking up my bike in front of the store
a babbling drunk approached me
I wanted to withdraw
but he said
listen
you...
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Kai Aareleid’s questions for Veronika Kivisilla
For starters, perhaps tell the story of your own writing. The recognition of it, things t...
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1960
They meet up at Tiina’s house after school. Tiina puts her bag in her room and follows Vova, because he wants to show her his turtle...
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Kai Aareleid (1972) and Veronika Kivisilla (1978) are writers whose works have, in a way, recently debuted. Both published their first liter...
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In February 2016, compelling news rang out: Jaan Kaplinski was awarded the European Prize for Literature. The award, which is sponsored by t...
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Jan Kaus, Läheduste raamat (The Book of Closeness)
Tallinn, Verb, 2016. 72 pp
ISBN: 9789949969067
The miniature, just like many other f...
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Kai Aareleid, Holger Kaints, and Ilmar Taska deal with the 1940s in their newest novels.
Discussing the relationship between memories and...
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I’ll start with children’s own assessment. Together with third-grade students, we drafted a list of important public figures in Estonia base...
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While the topic of confession and a deluge of biographies were items of discussion in Estonian literature during the first decade ...
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The Estonian Literature Center has a magnificent tradition of inviting translators of Estonian literature who hail from all around the world...
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An oracle proclaimed to a Theban king
that he would live a long and happy life —
not one younger kinsman would slay him.
We would never h...
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Just about a year ago, Jüri Kolk, Jan Kaus, Karl Martin Sinijärv, and I were reading our own works and a pinch of others’ to a nearly full h...
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Karl Martin Sinijärv, KMSX: Kuidas öelda (KMSX: How to Say)
Tallinn, Näo Kirik, 2016. 96 pp
ISBN: 9789949980901
Karl Martin Sinijärv (1...
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Mehis Heinsaar, Unistuste tappev kasvamine (The Killing Growth of Dreams)
Tallinn, Menu Publishing, 2016. 232 pp
ISBN: 9789949549245
Me...
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Meelis Friedenthal, Inglite keel (The Language of Angels)
Tallinn, Varrak, 2016. 208 pp
ISBN: 9789985337004
Meelis Friedenthal (1973) i...
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P. I. Filimonov, Laulis, kuni kõik lõppes (She Sang to the End)
Tallinn, Varrak, 2016. 312 pp
Translated into Estonian from the Russian by...
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Silvia Urgas, Siht/koht (Destination)
Tartu, Elusamus, 2015. 48 pp.
ISBN 9789949387083
Silvia Urgas (1992) is one of Estonia’s newest ...
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“I don’t write for children,” Maurice Sendak said. “I write and I’m told: ‘That’s for children.’” A few generations earlier, J. R. Tolkien a...
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SIMPLE POEM
happiness once came into the yard
and the yard was ever so happy
then happiness came into the room
and the room was ever so ...
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When writer and literary critic Igor Kotjuh posted on his Facebook account the top ten events in Estonian literature in 2015, one of them wa...
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As an editor, you never know when you are going to find an interesting writer. Of course, manuscripts usually come from literary agents, but...
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Ten years ago was the one-hundredth anniversary of professional Estonian theatre. To celebrate the grand occasion, Pärnu’s Endla Theatre mad...
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"How’s that—we do have freedom now, don’t we?" Sõrgats insisted.
"Well, we do," Lumepart said, "but what am I supposed to do with that?"
...
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Urmas Lennuk, Ükskord Eestimaal (Once, in Estonia)
Viljandi, Ugala teater, 2015. 294 pp
ISBN: 9789949387342
Urmas Lennuk (b 1971) has b...
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Paavo Matsin, Gogoli disko (The Gogol Disco)
Viljandi, Lepp ja Nagel, 2015. 144 pp.
ISBN: 9789949386918
Paavo Matsin (b 1970) is an ins...
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Rein Raud, Täiusliku lause surm (The Death of the Perfect Sentence)
Tallinn, Mustvalge Kirjastus, 2015. 176 pp
ISBN: 9789949947386
Rein...
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Kaur Riismaa, Pühamägi (The Holy Mountain)
Tallinn, Verb, 2015. 109 pp
ISBN: 9789949947393
Kaur Riismaa, Pimeda mehe aiad (The Blind Ma...
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Olavi Ruitlane, Vee peal (On the Water)
Tallinn, ZA/UM, 2015. 196 pp
ISBN: 9789949384693
Olavi Ruitlane (b 1969) is a Souther...
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Jürgen Rooste, Ideaalne abikaasa (The Ideal Husband)
Saarde-Pärnu, Ji, 2015, 107 pp
ISBN: 9789949519552
Jürgen Rooste (b 1979) is one o...
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Lauri Sommer, Kunagi: 2008–2015 (Once: 2008–2015)
Räestu, Tiivaalune, 2015, 86 pp
Although Lauri Sommer (b 1973) made his debut in 1998 as...
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Besides being born a poet, one can also grow into a poet. One can develop into a poet on the basis of life experience and the heritage of ot...