Literary mass for Eha Vain

Eha Vain (1954–2021) was the Cultural Secretary at the representation of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Estonia, and on her initiative, the first major international literary event was organised in the 2000s – the Nordic Poetry Festival. The impetus for holding the event came from Eha’s profound interest in Scandinavian culture, especially Norwegian language and literature. In the early years of the festival, a remarkable number of Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish and Faroese poets came to Tallinn, and the festival’s range grew gradually to include international guests from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia, not to mention Estonian ones. Eha Vain also helped launch the HeadRead festival, so that several formats of the Nordic Poetry Festival continued to exist in a new context – in particular, as the Sunday poetry mass held for years at the Niguliste Museum. This year, our festival is celebrating Eha’s contribution to the literary scene of Tallinn: everyone is welcome to the Swedish St Michael’s Church to listen to the written word from the Nordics Eha translated and listen to the music she loved. On the initiative of the Nordic Council of Ministers, renowned Nordic authors will attend the event: Swedish prose writer and poet Eva Runefelt, Finnish author and actor Susanne Ringell and Finnish poet Juha Kulmala. Music is provided by Villu Veski, Tiit Kalluste, Kaisa Kuslapuu and Mariell Vain. Eha’s translations will be read by actors Toomas Tross, Haide Männamäe and Rain Simmul. Eeva Park and Jan Kaus, Eha’s colleagues from the Nordic Poetry Festival days, will read their commemorative poems; Triin Soomets and Indrek Hirv will also perform. This will be a truly memorable evening, offering a chance to remember the beautiful life of a beautiful person through beautiful works. The event is organised in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers.