Loomingu Raamatukogu 60: Triinu Tamm and Joonas Hellerma

Loomingu Raamatukogu is a phenomenon in Estonian culture. Even though it is a magazine, it could be seen as a book series – in this case, a most reputable one. The magazine was first published in 1957 and in addition to publishing Estonian literature in Soviet Estonia, it also made possible the publication of older and more recent foreign classics from abroad, including authors who did not quite fit the communist mentality. One only has to glance at the first year of issues that includes Doris Lessing, Alberto Moravia, Stefan Zweig, John Steinbeck, Guy de Maupassant, Halldór Laxness and Karel Čapek. It is all the more telling that the magazine has not lost its relevance today. This year, more feedback was sparked by the issues of Jaan Kaplinski, Emmanuel Bove, Theodor Kallifatides, Tõnu Õnnepalu, Christa Wolf, Marcel Proust, Andrei Ivanov, Witold Gombrowicz and Roberto Bolaño – no mean feat in one year. The festival has asked the editor-in-chief and esteemed translator Triinu Tamm to talk about the continued relevance of Loomingu Raamatukogu and she will discuss the magazine’s past, present and future with journalist Joonas Hellerma.

The event is in Estonian.