Opening the Black Box: Wireless Letters into the Archive
Wednesday, May 13th
13:00–14:00
Aparaaditehas Culture Factory, Hall of Love (Armastuse saal)
Interactive writing session
What is it like to break into an archive and dialogue with someone who has passed? What happens when language, culture, space, and time are suspended and rearranged? Join the Kabusha Radio Remix installation by Kwame Phillips and Debra Vidali for a session of writing letters to Zambia’s most famous radio advisor.
Danish writer Charlotte Weitze in Conversation with Mie Mortensen, Visiting Lecturer in Danish Language and Literature, University of Tartu
Monday, May 11th
16:00
Tartu Public Library
Weitze is a writer with a unique ability to blend reality with stories and fairy tales, bringing together everyday life and a magical universe. The author’s collection of mystical short stories, The Realm of Darkness (Pegasus, 2008, trans. Kai-Mai Aja) and the novel Rosarium (Varrak, 2024, trans. Eva Velsker) which tells a poetic and unsettling story about the relationship between humans and nature.
The event will be held in Danish, with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian.
The event is supported by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.
Sam Wachman, Sunflower Boys– book launch and discussion
Monday, May 11th
17:00
Apollo bookshop of Tartu Kaubamaja shopping centre
Video greeting from the author; on-site conversation with translator Marge Pärnits and film director Vahur Laiapea. Sam Wachman is a writer of Ukrainian descent living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His debut novel, the moving and extraordinarily tender Sunflower Boys, explores love, longing, the search for identity, survival amid the chaos of a turbulent world, and the way war has fractured present-day Ukraine.
Opening of Prima Vista 2026 and the UNESCO Cities of Literature Annual Meeting
Monday, May 11th
18:00
University of Tartu Museum, White Hall
Opening of Prima Vista 2026 and the UNESCO Cities of Literature Annual Meeting in the White Hall of the University of Tartu Museum
By invitation only
A Polish poetry evening “Nothing Twice”
Monday, May 11th
20:00
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House
A Polish poetry evening “Nothing Twice,” dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Wisława Szymborska’s Nobel Prize, will take place at the Salong cultural club of the Tartu Literature House (Vanemuise 19).
Poetry by Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) will be read by admirers of Polish poetry, and in Estonian by young performers from the Jakobi Mäe Theatre Studio. The evening will be enriched by musical interludes creating a cozy atmosphere.
The spring resident of the literary city of Tartu, Polish writer Joanna Lech, will also read from her own work.
Wisława Szymborska will be introduced by Barbara Palmas, representative of the UNESCO City of Literature Kraków.
The following young performers from the Jakobi Mäe Theatre Studio will present Szymborska’s poetry: Annabel Allas, Ida Vares, Irene Herodes, Kristjan Kundla, Lee Holm, Ronja Talunik, Hanna Saara Hiir, and Teele Piibemann.
The young performers are coached by Maarja Johanna Mägi. The poems presented have been translated into Estonian by Hendrik Lindepuu.
Guitar music will be performed by Karel Mändar. His instructor at Tartu II Music School is Jakob Laidus.
Joanna Lech, the literary resident of Tartu, will present her own poetry in Polish. Her poems have been translated into Estonian by Liisi Laineste.
The event takes place as part of the Prima Vista literary festival and is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
Welcome to Opening the Black Box – discussion panel and visit to the exhibition
Monday, May 11th
20:00
Aparaaditehas Culture Factory, Hall of Love (Armastuse saal)
Join exhibition curators and residents Erica Masserano, Francis Gene-Rowe, Llew Watkins, Amy Cutler, Debra Spitulnik Vidali, Märten Rattasepp and Jaak Tomberg for a discussion of the exhibition theme and artworks and their connection to the 2026 Prima Vista festival, then explore the Hall of Love and its exhibited wonders.
In English.
See the full Opening the Black Box programme
Children’s Programme at the Book Fair
Tuesday, May 12th
11:00–14:00
Town Hall Square
An art tent for children has been set up on Town Hall Square, welcoming kindergarteners and pupils from grades 1–4.
11:00 The day opens with a welcome concert by children from Tartu Karlova Kindergarten.
11:15 Art room with a writer: kindergarteners and grade 1 pupils are visited by writers Daila Ozola and Contra
12:30 Art room with a writer: children from grades 2–4 are visited by writer Margus Haav
Literature Competition Page by Page / “Seitenweise”; Estonian Final
Tuesday, May 12th
12:00
Tartu Public Library
As part of an international book project, young learners of German read Tom Limes’s novel “Voll verkackt ist halb gewonnen” and prepared a creative work in free form — video, spoken word, play or comic — inspired by the book. The competition, initiated by the Central Office for German Schools Abroad (ZFA), aims to motivate young language learners to engage creatively with German youth literature. Participating school pupils are aged 15–18.
Laying of flowers at the memorial plaque of King Stefan Bátory on the occasion of Polish Flag Day
Tuesday, May 12th
13:30
At the University of Tartu Main Building (outdoors)
Tartu played an important role in Polish history from 1582, when it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The colours of Tartu’s flag (white and red) were granted to the city on 9 May 1584 by Polish King Stefan Bátory, modelled on the Polish flag.
Discussion Real or Fake History? at Tartu Public Library: historian Prof. Mart Kuldkepp and writer Gert Kiiler
Tuesday, May 12th
15:00
Tartu Public Library
The conversation will explore what constitutes real history and to what extent our understanding of the past is shaped by ideas that are not grounded in fact. How much does a writer draw on real history when constructing their own fictional historical world? And what do historians make of alternative approaches to history?
In Estonian.
Polish Flag Day
Tuesday, May 12th
15:00
Town Hall Square
Carillon performance with a polonaise, addresses by Mayor Urmas Klaas and ambassador of the Republic of Poland Artur Jan Orzechowski. We commemorate Poles and friends of Poland from Tartu who have passed, at the Arch Bridge.
Opening the Black Box: The Generative Author ‒ live writing performance with participatory elements
Tuesday, May 12th
15:00–18:00
Aparaaditehas Culture Factory, Hall of Love (Armastuse saal)
The author takes the inputs of inspiration, puts them through the large language model of their minds, consults their dataset of memories and experiences, applies organic learning, and produces new content for their readers. But what are these inner workings, and how do they operate? UK author David Hartley will plug himself into a projected screen and, with the help of your commands, turn a blank page into a new short story.
In English.
See the full Opening the Black Box programme
„No such thing as a small language”: Mererid Hopwood (Wales) and Doris Kareva
Tuesday, May 12th
16:00
Estonian Literary Museum, main hall
Welsh poet Mererid Hopwood and Estonian poet Doris Kareva will explore questions relating to the positions of Cymraeg and Estonian in the contemporary world, and the role of craft in poetry. Mererid Hopwood is an accomplished Welsh poet currently serving as the Archdruid of Wales. Doris Kareva is one of Estonia’s most beloved poets and the poetry editor of the literary magazine Looming. The conversation will be moderated by writer Maarja Pärtna.
The conversation will be held in English, with poetry translations into Estonian and English.
The event is also part of the UNESCO Cities of Literature Annual Conference programme in Tartu.
German author Norman Ohler in conversation with Olaf Mertelsmann (Professor of East European History at the University of Tartu)
Tuesday, May 12th
17:00
Tartu Public Library
The discussion will cover Ohler’s book The Magic Mountain, the Full Story (“Der Zauberberg, die ganze Geschichte”, 2024, Diogenes), which looks behind the scenes of Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain one hundred years after its publication, as well as the book that brought Ohler international fame, Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich, and its sequel The Most Powerful Substance: Psychedelics — Medicine, Weapon, Pleasure. Both non-fiction titles have been published in Estonian by Helios, translated by Elina Adamson. An excerpt from The Magic Mountain, the Full Story, translated by Anne Arold can be read in Akadeemia no. 4, 2026.
The event will be held in German with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian.
Opening of the installation “Uni ootab sind / Sleep Awaits You” by Tartu Interdistsiplinaar (Krista Ojasaar, Hannes Einpaul, Riina Oruaas)
Tuesday, May 12th
17:30
University of Tartu Library
The installation synthesises different art forms, demonstrating the relevance and necessity of poetry in the surrounding environment. The work is interdisciplinary and experiential, expanding the boundaries of literature as an art form. The poem in the installation was written by Krista Ojasaar, the English translation is by Maarja Pärtna, and the technical solution was created by Hannes Einpaul.
Patron’s evening What is Real, What is Fake?
Tuesday, May 12th
18:00
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House
Meelis Friedenthal: “Since 2023, when a working group was convened at the initiative of the Estonian Literary Museum to engage with large language models – so that they might better learn Estonian language and culture – I have at times thought about this topic to the point of exhaustion, met with various practitioners and theorists, worried frequently and needlessly, debated questions of copyright, tried (with limited success) to make the voices of writers heard, fine-tuned models on a GPU bought at the right moment to learn early modern Latin and Greek texts, nudged Chinese models into writing better Estonian using my own work, vibe-coded the platform VUTT (Early Modern Texts Workbench, you know), brooded in forums apocalyptically yearning for the singularity or equally apocalyptically predicting the annihilation of all humankind, watched far too many videos about artificial intelligence (lately leaning towards those made by Anthropic’s Claude), thought about moving to the countryside and perhaps even keeping bees, tried to understand whether the alchemists and occultists of the past felt the same as we do now, read science fiction, read history, compared, questioned. Nobody knows anything. And I feel stretched thin, like too little butter on a slice of bread. All of this is what we will talk about. And alongside that, Jaanus Kaasik will present texts, music and visuals.”
In Estonian.
The Kratt, the Compost and Versions of Freedom: meeting Leonard Schwartz (USA)in conversation with Estonian-Norwegian poet Øyvind Rangøy
Tuesday, May 12th
20:00
Culture Club Salong, Tartu Literature House
Leonard Schwartz (born July 10, 1963) is an American poet, essayist, translator, and academic who has published numerous books of poetry as well as essays and multi-genre works. His latest book draws on the many stories surrounding Flaco, the owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo, exploring how stories, fragments, and impulses are composted and transformed. In May, Schwartz is artist-in-residence at Rangøya International Cultural Centre. In Tartu, he will read from and discuss his latest work and experiences, as well as his interest in the Estonian kratt.
In English.
Cinema Theatre Tartu Elektriteater presents: “Ex Machina”(2014, director Alex Garland)
Tuesday, May 12th
20:30
Cinema Theatre Elektriteater
Cinema Theatre Tartu Elektriteater presents: “Ex Machina”(2014, director Alex Garland).
Ticket: €7, see elektriteater.ee for details.
Meeting with Kristi Piiper
Wednesday, May 13th
10:00–11:00
Tammelinn library of Tartu Public Library
In her books, Kristi Piiper considers adventure, humour and excitement just as important as real-life issues. The author has received several awards, the most recent being first place in 2024 at the youth novel competition organised by the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre and publisher Tänapäev, for her manuscript Exchange Student (You Have 24 Hours).
In Estonian
Meeting with Jaanus Vaiksoo
Wednesday, May 13th
11:30–12:30
Annelinn Library of Tartu Public Library
Jaanus Vaiksoo is a well-known author of children’s and young adult fiction. The Kinga book series, written for young readers, is a story about growing up and how the most unexpected moments can reveal who we truly are.
In Estonian.