Tõnis Vilu (Estonia)

Tõnis Vilu (s 1988) is an Estonian poet. His work deals with themes such as mental health, politics, nature, and love. Vilu’s books are almost always different from each other, and literary scholars have said that he has brought more diverse tonalities into Estonian poetry than anyone else.

Several of Vilu’s poetry books have received high acclaim. “Tundekasvatus” (“Sentimental Education”, 2020) received the annual award from the Cultural Endowment of Estonia’s Literature Foundation, while the poetry collections “Kink psühholoogile” (“A Gift to a Psychologist”, 2016) and “Kõik linnud valgusele” (“All the Birds for Light”, 2022) were awarded the Gustav Suits Poetry Prize, making Vilu the only person to have received this award twice so far. He has also been nominated for the Juhan Liiv Poetry Award.

Tõnis Vilu’s poems have been translated into English, Finnish, Lithuanian, and Slovenian. He is a recipient of the Estonian writers salary for the years 2022–2024. He lives in Tartu, writes, and goes on long walks.