Leelo Tungal

Leelo Tungal (1947) is an Estonian poet and prose writer. She made her debut in the fourth compilation of the legendary ‘cassette generation’, with her 1966 collection of poems Kummalised kiivitajad kurtsid. She has written poetry for both adults as well as children and she is certainly one of the most popular children’s authors in Estonia. Tungal’s poetry is notable for its extraordinary feel for language – no wonder Tungal is one of the few writers to win the Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann award (in 2015). Tungal has also contributed to the promotion of children’s literature by founding the magazine Hea Laps in 1994 and acting as its editor-in-chief. Many of her lyrics have been used for both choral works as well as rock songs. The memoir boom of the late 2000s gained worthy additions from Tungal with her books Seltsimees laps (2008) and Samet ja saepuru (2009).