Opening the Black Box: Black Box Game Day
Wednesday, May 13th
15:00–19:00
Aparaaditehas Culture Factory, Hall of Love
A friendly and relaxed afternoon spent playing story games. The games are light on rules; no prior preparation or experience in tabletop gaming is required, and you can drop in and out as you please. Options for both group and solo play will be available. Just bring your imagination.
In English.
See the full Opening the Black Box programme
Finnish writer Jari Järvelä in conversation with translator Piret Pääsuke
Wednesday, May 13th
16:00
Tartu Public Library
Järvelä is a writer who readily gives voice to the overlooked – women overshadowed by men, and in his novel I Love Eva Braun (“Rakastan Eva Braunia”; Estonian translation published by Hea Lugu, 2024, tr. Piret Pääsuke), even to Eva Braun herself, who has remained an enigma to subsequent generations. In Aino A (Ühinenud Ajakirjad, 2023, tr. Kai Aareleid), he celebrates the architect Aino Aalto, who lived in the shadow of her famous husband. Also available in Estonian are On Both Sides of the Waterfall (Loomingu Raamatukogu, 2023, tr. Kadri Jaanits) and the travel writing collection Mozzarella Moon (Hea Lugu, 2025, tr. Piret Pääsuke).
The conversation will be held in Finnish with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian.
The event is supported by the Finnish Institute.
Discussion and poetry reading with Ukrainian poet and translator Yuliya Musakovska
Wednesday, May 13th
16:00
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House
The guest will be in conversation with linguist and translator Anna Verschik.
Yuliya Musakovska is one of the most prominent contemporary Ukrainian poets, whose work has been translated into more than 30 languages. In Estonian, her poetry has appeared in Maarja Kangro’s translations in the literary journals Looming and Vikerkaar, as well as in Anna Verschik’s translations in the anthology Will I Break Free from This Sorrow? In 2025, Anna Verschik was awarded the August Sang Poetry Translation Prize for her translation of Yuliya Musakovska’s poem Magnolia is Blooming in Someone Else’s Garden. This poem is central to her latest collection, Stones and Nails (2024), capturing how the poet’s voice breaks through numbness to record and process the unimaginable realities of war. Together, they will discuss how Russia’s war against Ukraine has reshaped Musakovska’s writing and her understanding of the poetry’s mission.
The conversation will be in English; poetry will be heard in Ukrainian, with translations into Estonian and English.
Opening of the exhibition Curves of Design: 70 Years of Book Design Competition in Estonia
Wednesday, May 13th
17:00
University of Tartu Library, second and third floor
This exhibition, celebrating the Estonian Book Year, presents an overview of the best in Estonian book design over the past 70 years. The featured works have been recognised for outstanding design and printing craftsmanship. The exhibition offers a cross-section of how aesthetic ideals, technical possibilities and notions of the finest and most beautiful book have evolved between 1956 and 2025.
Prima Vista and magazine EstLit present: EstLit Live : Artifice and the Real
Wednesday, May 13th
17:30
CultureClub Salong, Tartu Literature House
How much of art is artifice, and how much reaches toward the Real?
At this literary event, Lilli Luuk, Sveta Grigorjeva, Hasso Krull and Mathura will read from texts published in the magazine EstLit. The readings will be mainly in English, with occasional passages in Estonian. The evening may include selections from Mathura’s The Western Glide, Ernst Enno’s poems in Mathura’s translation from Unheard, the Home Is Humming, Hasso Krull’s My Body Is the Dream of My Ancestors and Sveta Grigorjeva’s The Universe Is My Tinder, as well as an excerpt from Lilli Luuk’s short story Miss Kolkhoz – but other texts and surprises may also appear. The evening will be hosted by Kristjan Haljak, editor-in-chief of EstLit.
See also www.estonianliterature.ee
Faroese writer Kim Simonsen in conversation with Norwegian-Estonian poet Øyvind Rangøy and poet Maarja Pärtna
Wednesday, May 13th
17:30
Tartu City Museum
Kim Simonsen is a poet, publisher, curator and academic. His work is characterised by themes such as environmental philosophy and poetics, speculative realism, interspecies relations and ecocriticism. Simonsen’s latest poetry collection, The Biological Composition of a Drop of Sea Water Resembles the Blood in My Veins, was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in 2024. This collection, which deals with grief following the death of his father, will also be published in Estonian by Nordur (translated from Faroese by Andry Arro) and will be available for purchase at the event.
The conversation will be held in English.
The event is supported by FarLit and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ representation in Estonia, and takes place as part of the Café Norden event series.
Spanish writer Munir Hachemi in conversation with translator and lecturer in Spanish literature Klaarika Kaldjärv
Wednesday, May 13th
18:00
Tartu Public Library
Munir Hachemi has published both prose and poetry, as well as translations from Chinese. He has been selected as one of the rising stars of Spanish-language literature. In Estonian, Hachemi’s debut novelLiving Things is available in Klaarika Kaldjärv’s translation (Toledo, 2025). It is a playful, (self-)ironic and energetic yet erudite and literarily ambitious work, in which a group of bohemian young people who have gone to do agricultural work for the summer find themselves asking, among other things, how real the food we eat is and how artificial the way we live has become.
The conversation will be held in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian.
Faroese writer Vónbjørt Vang in conversation with Norwegian-Estonian poet Øyvind Rangøy, with poetry translations read by Maarja Pärtna
Wednesday, May 13th
18:30
Tartu City Museum
Vónbjørt Vang is a Faroese writer and librarian. Her most recent poetry collection, Black Orchid, won the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in 2025. The collection deals primarily with a mother’s fears around her child growing up and finding their own path. The poetry collection will also be published in Estonian by Nordur (translated from Faroese by Andry Arro) and will be available for purchase at the event.
The conversation will be held in English.
The event is supported by FarLit and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ representation in Estonia, and takes place as part of the Café Norden event series.
Cinema Theatre Tartu Elektriteater presents: “Ghost In The Shell” (1995, director Mamoru Oshii)
Wednesday, May 13th
20:30
Cinema Theatre Elektriteater
Cinema Theatre Tartu Elektriteater presents: “Ghost In The Shell” (1995, director Mamoru Oshii).
Ticket: €7, see elektriteater.ee for details.
Living Library for schoolchildren at Annelinn Library
Thursday, May 14th
11:00–12:00
Annelinn Library of Tartu Public Library
In the Living Library, participants can meet so-called living books—people with fascinating life stories or unique backgrounds. The “living books” share 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.
In Estonian
Meeting with Liina Vagula
Thursday, May 14th
14:00
Karlova-Ropka Library of Tartu Public Library
Liina Vagula is a writer for young adults whose books offer deep and engaging experiences that reflect the everyday challenges and dreams of young people. She creates stories that help young readers see their own problems through the eyes of others.
In Estonian
Oskar Luts Walking Tour
Thursday, May 14th
15:00
Gathering at the Oskar Luts monument
We take a completely unnecessary stroll through spring Tartu in the company of the beloved writer Oskar Luts. We start at the Luts statue in Vabaduse Avenue, look left and right, carefully cross the street and the market square, and take a turn around Barclay Square. We then turn into Aia Street at the right moment and, after some wandering in Vanemuise Park, make our way to Riia Street and arrive at Oskar Luts’s house (Riia 38). The literary-historical walk will be led by Ants Siim from Tartu City Museum and Ülo Treikelder from Tartu Public Library.
In Estonian
Opening the Black Box: creative workshop “Constellations”
Thursday, May 14th
15:00–17:00
Aparaaditehas Culture Factory, Hall of Love
Llew Watkins and Francis Gene-Rowe will act as your star guides in this workshop about memories, objects, and their connections. The session will gradually expand from individual reflection to collective sharing and map-making, before culminating in weaving our constellations across the Hall of Love. All welcome, no prior preparation required.
In English.
See the full Opening the Black Box programme
Discussion with German writers Ursel Bäumer and Claudia Kiefer
Thursday, May 14th
16:00
Tartu Public Library
The conversation will be moderated by University of Tartu lecturer Hella Liira.
Ursel Bäumer, author of novels about artists, is from the UNESCO City of Literature Bremen and is currently the Goethe Institut’s resident in Tartu. Claudia Kiefer, who writes poetry and short prose, represents the UNESCO City of Literature Heidelberg. Alongside their work, the conversation will also explore how the festival theme ‘True and Fake’ resonates with them.
The conversation will be held in German with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian.
The event is supported by the Goethe Institut Estonia and the German Culture Institute in Tartu.
Poetry app LULLU presents: discussion “Where Does Poetry Belong?”
Thursday, May 14th
16:00
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House
Why does reading poetry matter? How does poetry reach its readers? How has poetry changed over time, and in which direction is it heading? The conversation features Estonian language and literature teacher Ivika Hein, poetry editor of magazine Värske Rõhk Saara Lotta Linno, writer and poet Jüri Kolk and young poet Anastassia Kuznetsova. The discussion will be moderated by poet and LULLU poetry app team member Joonas Veelmaa.
In Estonian.
Emerging authors’ evening Literature with a Spark
Thursday, May 14th
18:00
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House
Presenting their work: Mihhail Boitsov, Ekke Janisk, Triinu Kree, Riste Sofie Käär, Liisa Mudist and Mikk Tšaškin.
In Estonian.
Launch of Kristiina Oelsner’s book „Minu (Ida-)Saksamaa“ (My (East) Germany, Petrone Print)
Thursday, May 14th
18:00
Apollo Bookstore, Tartu Kaubamaja
The author will be interviewed by world citizen and author of “Minu Holland” (My Netherlands) Meelike E.-Villup. The book brings together two decades’ worth of stories from eastern Germany. These stories look at Germany more deeply than a tourist peering over their sunglasses. They are tales of real people and places, and of a girl with a hesitant smile growing into a multifaceted woman. But it is also the story of a people separated by a wall for decades, and their struggle to grow into one. Painfully and honestly.
Apollo Club members receive 10% off at the launch!
In Estonian.
Norwegian writer Ingeborg Arvola in conversation with Norwegian-Estonian translator and poet Øyvind Rangøy
Thursday, May 14th
18:00
Tartu Public Library
Ingeborg Arvola’s sweeping historical trilogy Songs from the Arctic Ocean has been published in Estonian by Eesti Raamat in Riina Hanso’s translation. The trilogy tells the story of the Kven people – a community that migrated from Finland to northern Norway – and their fate in the second half of the 19th century, across the novels Knife in the Fire (Estonian edition 2024), Vestersand (Estonian edition 2025), and Wolf Tracks, which will be published just before the festival.
The conversation will be held in Norwegian with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian.
The event is supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) and Eesti Raamat.
The author will also take part in an event on 13 May at 18.00 at Tallinn Südalinn Library.
Final of Tartu poetry slam competition TarSlämm at Vilde ja Vine, with guest performer Giuliano Logos (Italy)
Thursday, May 14th
20:00
Restaurant Vilde ja Vine
It has become a tradition that the thunderous and uplifting TarSlämm final takes place during the Prima Vista festival. The time has come! On 14 May, the brightest performers from four qualifying rounds will meet at Vilde ja Vine, invited to the stage with their usual energy by hosts Sirel Heinloo and Toomas Leppik. The guest performer is spoken word poet and activist Giuliano Logos, who became the first Italian to win the world poetry slam championship (Paris 2021). Finalists: Susan Kolde, Tanel Mällo, Bella Swan, Annabel Allas, Hanna Stiina Kangur, Janiš Laende, Kadri Ugur, Kaja-Riina Plumann, Anna-Liisa Leppik, Siim Anton, Jayde Will.
The guest performer’s texts will also be available in Estonian and English translation.
Opening the Black Box: All Her Beautiful Wolfmilk – film screening, reading, discussion
Thursday, May 14th
20:00
Aparaaditehas Culture Factory, Hall of Love
Animals and technology collide in unexpected and revealing ways. This event will consist of a screening of Amy Cutler’s short experimental nature film All Her Beautiful Green Remains in Tears and a reading of Charlotte Weitze’s “Ulvemælk” (Wolfmilk), followed by an artist discussion on nature, AI, art and more, facilitated by Erica Masserano.
In English.
See the full Opening the Black Box programme
