Meelis Friedenthal (1973) is an Estonian writer. Already his debut novel Kuldne aeg (2005) attracted attention and won third place in the 2004 novel competition. Friedenthal’s second novel Mesilased (2012) is a fascinating, historical and dream-like insight into life in Livonia and Tartu in the late 17th century. It became his fiction breakthrough and in 2013, he won the European Union Prize for Literature for the work. Friedenthal’s third novel Inglite keel (2016) is also set in Tartu and oscillates between the 17th century and the last decades of the 20th century. It is an intellectual and alchemic horror story with a strangely eerie atmosphere dominated by mysterious watermarks on old manuscripts and a bagpipe player with supernatural powers. His most recent book, Punkti ümber (2023), which won the Prose Prize of the Estonian Cultural Endowment, is inspired by the Estonian-born (life)artist Friedrich Jürgenson who recorded the voices of the dead. With this book, Friedenthal is expanding his geographic range, taking the reader to early 20th-century Odesa, Constantinople, Paris and other locations, to give a broader basis for his mystical-magical sensibility, erudition and visionary voice. Meelis Friedenthal will speak to Tiit Aleksejev.
Performs at
| Date | Event Name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 2 June at 14:00 | Tiit Aleksejev and Meelis Friedenthal | Estonian Writers’ Union |
