Tartu International Literary Festival Prima Vista joins the international poetry platform Versopolis

Press release
5.10.2026

In September, the Prima Vista Literary Festival joined Versopolis, a poetry platform that presents the work of European poets in English and currently features more than 580 poets from nearly 50 countries. Through the platform, the network of festivals that curates its content and the translation of poetry, Versopolis aims to support poets’ mobility, help them build connections and increase the international visibility of their work. Versopolis also publishes essays and interviews on its website, runs a range of international literary projects, and gives its members opportunities to get to know each other’s festivals more closely.

As the Estonian representative in the network, Prima Vista will add profiles of two Estonian poets to the platform each year, along with a selection of their work in English translation. Each year, Prima Vista will also invite two poets from other countries who are featured on Versopolis to perform at the Day of the Book and the Rose, held on 23 April as a cream-up event of the festival. A selection of both guests’ work will be translated into Estonian and English and published as a multilingual booklet.

In the same way, the other members of the network, more than 35 festivals across Europe, each invite two Versopolis poets to their festivals every year. This opens up new opportunities for Estonian poets to build contacts and perform at festivals abroad. For Prima Vista, joining Versopolis therefore broadens the festival’s international reach, through new partnerships, the promotion of Estonian literature and a richer festival programme.

The first Estonian poets whose work will appear on the platform are Maarja Pärtna and Tõnis Vilu. The guests for Prima Vista’s Day of the Book and the Rose will be announced in late autumn.

Versopolis is funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme.