Prose-reading Competition

Art is certainly not sport but art can sometimes use athletic forms. How so? It is true that in poetry, the number of publicly performed texts is increasing and the image of the written word as something that is born in solitude and in an individual effort is taking on new meanings. The increase of the importance of public performing also precipitates the broadening of formal possibilities of literary performances. The prose-reading competition is one of these relatively new and unfamiliar performance styles. Festival HeadRead welcomes all prose authors – young and old, men and women, avant garde and traditionalist, writers from city centre and from the peripheries – to present their new prose texts. The only condition for the performers: the performance must not exceed seven minutes. Actually, come to think of it, the prose-reading competition can be viewed by the writers as a chance to try out their new work on their prospective readers. The feedback will be sincere and direct. We welcome all enthusiasts to register via e-mail info@headread.ee, but you can also express your wish to participate on the spot. The event that begins on Thursday, 28 May at 9.30 pm at the Estonian Writers’ Union will be headed by the poet and prose writer Indrek Koff and the judging panel will include writer Leo Kunnas, the director of the A. H. Tammsaare Museum and literary researcher Maarja Vaino, and one of Estonia’s best literary performers, poet Jaan Malin. Some surprise performers are in store.