A weekend celebration of Estonian writing, EstLitFest will bring together some of the country’s finest writers and familiar faces from the UK for a festival filled with words, food, drink, and live music.
The Estonian Literature Festival takes place at the Print Room at the Coronet on Friday, 13 and Saturday, 14 April, as an extension of London Book Fair, where the Baltics are this year’s market focus.
EstLitFest – which is part of the centenary celebrations of the Estonian Republic, Estonia 100 – is a chance to explore the extremely vibrant, but underexplored Estonian literary scene first hand.
One of Estonia’s most successful poets, Kristiina Ehin opens EstLitfest with her deeply spiritual and unflinchingly honest work, accompanied by the experimental musician Silver Sepp.
The Estonian fiction writer and translator, Kai Aareleid, will be in conversation with the award-winning British novelist Linda Grant, and Rein Raud, one of Estonia’s best known writers and an influential opinion leader, will meet the equally curious British novelist, writer and editor Tony White.
EstLitFest will host the UK launch of Ilmar Taska’s first full length novel, Pobeda 1946: A car Called Victory, an evocation of Estonian life under Soviet occupation, which will be brought to life with a dramatic reading and music.
Nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, the poet Doris Kareva will be in conversation with the poet, novelist, playwright and academic Philip Gross.
The late Jaan Kross, Estonia’s best-known and most widely translated author, will be celebrated by Christopher MacLehose, Ian Thomson and Jaan Undusk.
The writer, columnist and critic Mihkel Mutt, who is Author of the Day at London Book Fair, is joined by the Estonian Ambassador to the UK, Tiina Intelmann, to take Estonia’s perspective on Europe in transformation.
Andrei Ivanov, a writer who sees himself as part of the Russian literary tradition, will be in conversation with the Moscow-born bilingual author Zinovy Zinik.
There will be Estonian snacks and drinks throughout the festival, and live music on both nights: One of Estonia’s best-known jazz musicians, Villu Veski, teams up with the UK’s Robert Mitchell to bring live jazz to the EstLitFest stage on Friday night. On Saturday, Rüüt deliver their explorative original arrangements of traditional Estonian songs.
Tickets for all events are £6 and include free Estonian snacks and drinks. To buy tickets go here.
More information here.