The HeadRead literary festival in Tallinn will treat lovers of all kinds of literature to a host of distinguished international guests.
In the final week of May, readers will have the opportunity to meet several key figures from the literary world. At the Estonian Writers’ Union, the stage will be given to, among others, French economist Thomas Piketty, whose ideas on economic inequality under capitalism call for reconsidering the pursuit of economic growth so often touted by politicians; Belgian author Gaea Schoeters, who has written about trophy hunting and motorcycle journeys to the Middle East; and Irish writer and literary historian Fionntán de Brún — an academic in the literary world and one of the people keeping Irish-language literature alive.
Swedish historian Stefan Hedlund is primarily interested in Russia, but has also written a book on the Baltic States; the versatile Ewald Arenz is known for both classic love stories and magical realism; Carl-Johan Vallgren’s crime novels take readers into the Stockholm underworld; Satu Rämö, who also writes crime fiction, is both a Finnish and Icelandic author; the plays of Lithuanian playwright Marius Ivaškevičius are familiar to audiences at both the Estonian Drama Theatre and the Tallinn City Theatre; philosopher of science Paco Calvo teaches how to communicate with plants; Liudmyla Taran comes from Ukraine and was among those who brought about a shift in Ukrainian poetry in the 1980s; Latvian prose writer Aldis Bukšs’ Velled is partly set in Tartu and is the first crime novel written in Latgalian; Simon Mason knows how to engage young readers through crime fiction; Ruth Kvarnström-Jones is one of Sweden’s most popular authors of historical fiction; while prose writer Maija Kajanto has been dubbed the “queen of feel-good literature” in Finland.
Guests also include Norwegian film director Bobbie Peers, whose William Wenton series proved unexpectedly popular among younger audiences; Ali Standish, who writes not only for young readers but also for the young at heart; and Minsk-born Alhierd Bacharevič, whose socially engaged works have been banned — and even destroyed — in his home country.
The HeadRead literary festival will take place in Tallinn from 27 to 31 May.
Further information about the programme and festival guests will soon be available on our website, which is currently undergoing a makeover.
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