Science fiction evening: awards ceremony of the short story competition held by Estonian Science Fiction Association and Fantaasia publishing house

Friday, 9th May
19.00
Estonian Literary Museum

Science fiction evening: awards ceremony of the short story competition held by Estonian Science Fiction Association and Fantaasia publishing house.

Afterparty at the Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House: DJ BIRCH PLEASE (Latvia)

Saturday, 10th May
22:30
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House

22:30 Afterparty at the Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House: DJ BIRCH PLEASE (Latvia)

Open Mic session at the Culture Club Salong

Saturday, 10th May
21:30
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House

21:30 Open Mic session at the Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House

A Short History of the Nightingale – a walk to Emajõe Beach with Penny Boxall (UK)

Thursday, 8th May
21.00
Meeting point in front of the Tartu German Cultural Institute (Kastani Street 1)

Penny Boxall (writer-in-residence in Tartu in 2022 and 2024) had never heard a nightingale before visiting Estonia, though the birds (now rare in the UK) hold a particular place in English folklore. In this dusk walk to Supilinn Beach, she’ll consider the legacy of these diminutive and mysterious birds.

In English.

The walk is part of the project “Tartu Revisited” – Walks with Former Writers-in-Residence.
See also: https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/tartu-revisited-walks-with-former-writers-in-residence/

Penny Boxall (UK)

The Vaba Akadeemia theatre troupe “Frogs” presents “Lysistrata”

Saturday, 10th May
14.00
Attic hall of the Tartu Literature House

The troupe “Frogs”, made up of secondary school students who took part in the Vaba Akadeemia theatre course, will bring a studio/style adaptation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata to the stage at the literary festival. Audiences will witness the wildest peace plan of the ancient world, conceived by women who had grown tired of waiting for their men to stop waging war. The director is Helery Pikk, and the stage text is based on Anne Lill’s translation.

Circa 7 Celsius: presentation of the anthology of young Baltic writers

Friday, 9th May
17.00
Genialist’s Club courtyard

Circa 7 Celsius: presentation of the anthology of young Baltic writers at the Genialist’s Club courtyard.

“Living Library” for school children

Monday, May 5th
12.00–13.00
Karlova-Ropka library

In the “Living Library,” participants can meet so-called living books—people with fascinating life stories or unique backgrounds. Each “living book” shares their personal experiences, professions, or hobbies in small groups over multiple rounds. These interactions broaden perspectives and can also help with future career planning. The “Living Library” concept was first introduced in Estonia in 2006 as part of the Council of Europe’s “All Different – All Equal” campaign. The format was originally developed and piloted for the Roskilde Music Festival in Denmark in 2000 and has since spread and gained popularity worldwide.

Literature Competition “Page by Page” / “Seitenweise”; Estonian Final

Monday, May 5th
13:00
Tartu Public Library Hall

As part of an international book project, young learners of German have read Juliane Pickel’s novel “Krummer Hund” and created free-form creative works based on the book (such as videos, slam poetry, plays, or comics). The creative works of Estonian participants will be presented in Tartu. A jury will decide which of the participating students will attend the winners’ meeting in Berlin. The competition, initiated by the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZFA), aims to inspire young learners of German from Central and Eastern Europe to engage creatively with contemporary German youth literature. Participants are school students aged 15–18.

A Walk in the Footsteps of the Baltic Germans – and perhaps also Eduard von Keyserling?

Monday, May 5th
16:00
Meeting point: ruins of Tartu Cathedral

This walk takes participants back more than a hundred years to the memories of Baltic German students who studied at the University of Tartu. We will explore whether traces of their springtime celebrations, diligent studies, and mischievous student pranks can still be found in the city. The walk is suitable both as a standalone event and as a prelude to the meeting with Klaus Modick, who wrote about a Baltic German student, Eduard von Keyserling, in his novel “Keyserling’s Secret”.
Guides: Professor Reet Bender (German Studies, University of Tartu) and Kadi Kähär-Peterson (Coordinator of the Centre for Baltic German Studies).

More information: heimatrevisited.ut.ee

An Evening with German Writer Klaus Modick

Monday, May 5th
18:00
Hall of Tartu Public Library

The conversation with the guest will be led by Professor Liina Lukas, a literary scholar from the University of Tartu. The discussion will focus on the novel “Keyserling’s Secret” (“Keyserlings Geheimnis”), which tells the story of Baltic German writer and German literary impressionist Eduard von Keyserling, whose greatest secret is connected to Tartu. The novel was published by Eesti Raamat (2020) and translated by Anne Arold. Books by the author will be available for purchase at the event.

The discussion will be held in German, with simultaneous translation into Estonian.
Supported by the Tartu German Cultural Institute.

Klaus Modick ( Photo: private collection)

Klaus Modick (Germany)

Cinema Theatre Tartu Elektriteater presents: “Golem: How He Came into the World” (Germany, 1920; directors: Paul Wegener, Carl Boese)

Monday, May 5th
18:00
Cinema Theatre Elektriteater

The screening will be introduced by writer Paavo Matsin.

Ticket: €7, see elektriteater.ee for details.

Literary Stroll in Tartu with Kaspar Jassa

Monday, May 5th
19:00
Gathering at the Kristjan Jaak Peterson monument

The tour guide and writer Kaspar Jassa will lead a literary-historical tour of downtown Tartu. Tartu’s writers will be remembered through quotes and biographical events during the excursion. The gathering point is at the Kristjan Jaak Peterson monument on Toomemägi. The stroll will end at the Koidula and Jannsen memorial.

Lecture, discussion and poetry evening with Klaske Havik (Netherlands)

Monday, May 5th
19:30
University of Tartu Library Conference Hall

The lecture “Urban Literacy: Reading and Writing Architecture” will focus on questions such as how we can read and write places and how the gaze of the literary writer offers tools for architects and planners to make designs more site-specific, more empathic, and more evocative. Through the book Urban Literacy, three literary perspectives are proposed that address the experiential, social and imaginative aspects of place as branches of a literary approach to architecture. In the conversation “Writing Places” with Eik Hermann, the practical and philosophical potential of a literary approach to architecture will be discussed, including the initiative Writing Urban Places, an international network of architects, writers, literature scholars, and others interested in urban narratives. The poetry reading will include poems from the collection of poems “Way and Further”. In this collection of poems, Klaske Havik builds her worlds in words. With stone, sand, snow and salt as founding materials, her poems unveil lived, remembered, and imagined places. Poems will be read in Dutch / English by author Klaske Havik and in Estonian translation by Urmo Mets.

Klaske Havik (Netherlands)

Prima Vista Book Fair

Tuesday, 6th May
11:00–19:00
Town Hall Square

Prima Vista Book Fair at Town Hall Square.
See the fair programme on page https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/projects/prima-vista-book-fair/

Meeting with Tuuli Tolmov

Tuesday, 6th May
11:30–12:15
Tammelinn Library

Tuuli Tolmov has written both short stories and novels. She is a founding member of the Estonian Young Adult Literature Association. Since 2017, she has been the regional representative for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in Estonia. Her book “Esimene käik” was recognised as a Good Young Adult Book 2023 by the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre and the Estonian Union for Child Welfare.

Meeting with Laura Evisalu

Tuesday, 6th May
12:20–13:05
Karlova-Ropka Library

Laura Evisalu has published the young adult novels “Juhused”, “Oodates Norra kuningat”, and “Õiged mehed”. Her novel “ Juhused “ was recognised in the 2020 Young Adult Novel Competition organised by the publishing house Tänapäev and the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre.

Children’s Programme at the Book Fair

Tuesday, 6th May
11:00–14:00
Town Hall Square

Children’s Programme at the Book Fair
See also: https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/projects/prima-vista-book-fair/

Polish Flag Day

Tuesday, 6th May
14:00
Town Hall Square

Carillon with a polonaise, speeches by Deputy Mayor Raimond Tamm and the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Republic of Poland, Artur Jan Orzechowski, followed by a procession to the university’s main building. Laying of flowers at King Batory’s memorial plaque. Commemoration of Poles and friends of Poland who have passed away in Tartu at Kaarsild Bridge.

Historical-Literary Walk: “Polish Traces in Tartu”

Tuesday, 6th May
15:00
Begins at Toomemägi near the ruins of the Cathedral

This walk takes us back centuries in search of signs of Poland’s connections with the city of Tartu and its people. The walk begins at Toomemägi near the ruins of the Cathedral and continues towards the city centre. From 1582 to 1625, Tartu (then Dorpat) was the capital of the Tartu Voivodeship within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita). In 1583, King Stefan Batory granted the city special privileges, and in 1584, he established the colours of the Tartu city flag.

Opening of Prima Vista 2025 and the Micro Library

Tuesday, 6th May
16:00
Near the Old Observatory

Opening of Prima Vista 2025 and the Micro Library near the Old Observatory.

See page: https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/micro-library-a-library-of-physical-impact/