Viiding was a cult poet and a bard for whom life became too much to bear – he left it at the age of just forty-seven. A professional actor, he often sang his poems in cabaret style. His sparkling wit, allusive language and irony cannot – I believe – be translated, but I recommend him nonetheless.
By Mihkel Mutt
Mihkel Mutt is one of the most popular living Estonian writers and the long-time editor-in-chief of publications such as the weekly newspaper Sirp and the literary magazine Looming. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Mutt was busy publishing his memoirs, but in 2013 he made a successful return to literary fiction with his novel The Cavemen Chronicle, which he has followed with The Estonian Circumciser. Occidental Estonia and The Inner Immigrant have recently been published in English.