Tiit Aleksejev (1968) is an Estonian prose writer and playwright, and the long-time Chairman of the Estonian Writers’ Union (2016–2024). Aleksejev is trained as a historian, which is evident in his fiction, as it has taken inspiration from very different sources of the past. He has also taken a poetic look at the history of his homeland and Europe more broadly. Aleksejev has explored Estonian history on a very large temporal scope: his play Leegionärid (2010) takes a look at the most difficult moments of the 1940s; Tõlkija, which won the 2018 Friedebert Tuglas Short Story Award, describes the late life of pastor and Bible translator Adrian Virginius (1663–1706) in Tartu that has been overrun with the forces of Tsar Peter I; and his play Kuningad (2014) takes the readers to the 14th century, right in the middle of the events of the St George’s Night Uprising. Aleksejev’s best-known and most substantive work of fiction goes back even further both in time and space – to the First Crusade. Aleksejev describes this pivotal event in three novels: Palveränd (2008), Kindel linn (2011) and Müürideta aed (2018). The first book of his Crusades trilogy won Aleksejev the European Union Prize for Literature in 2010. Tiit Aleksejev will speak to Meelis Friedenthal.
Performs at
| Date | Event Name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 2 June at 14:00 | Tiit Aleksejev and Meelis Friedenthal | Estonian Writers’ Union |
