2026

Prima Vista 2026 – “True and Fake “

11.–16. May

Held from 11 to 16 May, the Tartu International Literary Festival Prima Vista explored the points of contact between the artificial and the real. This year’s festival theme was “True and Fake”, with writer Meelis Friedenthal serving as the festival patron and Viljandi as the partner city.

Festival events began even before the main programme. On 23 April, Maria Veske was announced as the recipient of the Esimene Samm during Book and Rose Day at Tartu Kaubamaja. On 7 May, the Biblioteek bookshop hosted a Latvian Book Club meeting with writer Guntis Berelis. The Partner City Day was celebrated in Viljandi on 8 May, with Viljandi City Library and the Kondas Centre contributing to the programme.

Prima Vista 2026 had an exceptionally strong international dimension, as the UNESCO Cities of Literature Annual Meeting took place in Tartu at the same time as the festival. The meeting brought 59 delegates from 40 Cities of Literature around the world to Tartu. In cooperation with the literary magazine EstLit, an English-language evening of Estonian literature, “EstLit Live: Artifice and the Real”, was organised, featuring Kristjan Haljak, Lilli Luuk, Sveta Grigorjeva, Hasso Krull and Mathura. Representatives of the Cities of Literature also took part in other festival events and met with Estonian writers and key figures in the country’s literary scene, making this year’s Prima Vista a truly international celebration of literature.

International guests at the festival included Danish writer Charlotte Weitze, German writer Norman Ohler, Welsh poet Mererid Hopwood, Estonian writer based in Norway Øyvind Rangøy, American poet Leonard Schwartz, Finnish writer Jari Järvelä, Spanish writer Munir Hachemi, Faroese authors Kim Simonsen and Vónbjørt Vang, Ukrainian poet Julia Mussakovska, Norwegian writer Ingeborg Arvola, and Polish illustrator and children’s author Marianna Oklejak.

The special programme “Opening the Black Box”, curated by Erica Masserano and Francis Gene-Rowe, explored the boundaries between the artificial and the real through different art forms. Held at the Armastuse Hall at Aparaaditehas, the programme brought together exhibitions, panel discussions, performance art, literary games and workshops.

As in previous years, the programme also included several events that have become established festival traditions. In cooperation with the Pallas University of Applied Sciences, an art programme inspired by the festival theme was created, while Tartu Elektriteater hosted the film programme “True and Fake”. The festival also featured a range of discussion evenings on history, literature, technology and popular culture.

A programme dedicated to Polish culture marked the 30th anniversary of Wisława Szymborska receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature and featured Tartu City of Literature resident Joanna Lech. The Prima Vista Book Fair, together with a programme for children, took place on Town Hall Square, while readers could meet writers and take part in Living Library events at Tartu City Library and its branches.

At the young authors’ evening “Särtsuga kirjandus”, the featured writers were Mihhail Boitsov, Ekke Janisk, Triinu Kree, Riste Sofie Käär, Liisa Mudist and Mikk Tšaškin. The guest performer at the TarSlämm final was Italian poet Giuliano Logos, while Janiš Laende was crowned the winner. At the concert “Writers in Music”, curated by Toomas Leppik, trio FSK and Veriora Raudvara together with Aapo Ilves performed, with DJ Kaspar Jassa closing the evening.