The winners of the Estonian Writers’ Union’s 2023 Novel-Writing Competition were announced at the Estonian Writers’ House on June 16. Sven Mikser won first place and the prize for Best Language and Style, sponsored by the Estonian Language Institute and the Estonian Language Foundation, with his manuscript Vareda.
The other prizes were as follows:
2nd place: Hannes Parmo, Beta
3rd place: Piret Jaaks, Daughters of the Sky
Jaan Tõnisson Prize, sponsored by the Postimees Fund: Kaur Riismaa, Before Sin and Robots
Tallinn City Prize: An Ode to Death (the author wished to remain anonymous)
Special Mention:
Anete Kruusmägi, The Last Sunrise
Meelis Ivanov, Collapse
Anonymized manuscripts were evaluated by a jury consisting of Rein Raud, Heidi Aadma, Reeli Reinaus, Karl-Martin Sinijärv, Igor Kotjuh, and Tiit Aleksejev.
Competition winner Sven Mikser is also an Estonian Member of the European Parliament.