The HeadRead literary festival that begins today features more than 90 writers

© Dmitri Kotjuh

From today until Sunday, the international HeadRead literary festival will be held in various venues in central Tallinn. Five days will offer 60 events with nearly 40 international and more than 50 Estonian writers, poets and musicians.

Readers can meet Mikhail Shishkin, a Russian-born writer living in Switzerland, the popular Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, Lithuanian art historian and writer Kristina Sabaliuskaité, British screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and Swedish writer Elin Cullhed, who wrote a novel about the life of Sylvia Plath. Younger festival audiences are treated to the tandem of Ukrainian artists Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, Danish young adult author Janne Teller, and Swedish children’s author and psychologist Jenny Jägerfeld, whose works deal with finding a balance between being yourself and the societal expectations.

HeadRead is also offering a very diverse overview of the Estonian literary scene. You can see the stage programme of the VHK School of Tallinn, the young authors of the Estonian Writers’ Union, and the bright young things of Estonian literature. There are also dialogues between authors Anti Saar and Kadri-Ann Sumera, Eero Epner and Maarja Undusk, and the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre will host Liis Sein, Juhan Voolaid, Kadri Kiho and Tiina Laanem. The Tallinn Central Library will host panel discussions on graphic novels and book collecting. The audience hit Nice-luule will return with vol 2, giving the floor to female poets, and the Old Town will have poetry cafés. The traditional poetry mass is dedicated to the memory of translator and cultural ambassador Eha Vain. 

The programme also includes concerts, a show of style exercises with Estonian literature, literary walks around the old town, a film screening and a photo exhibition with portraits of Estonian authors in the Tammsaare Park. The main venues of the festival are the Estonian Writers’ Union, the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre, the Tallinn Central Library, Ait, Kellertheatre and KuKu Club. All events are free, except for the film screening in the Sõprus cinema.

In addition to the schedule, keep an eye on the festival’s Facebook page and Instagram account. HeadRead is held from 24 to 28 May, the exhibition in Tammsaare Park is open until 6 June.

The major supporters of the HeadRead literary festival are the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Ministry of Culture, the British Council and the City of Tallinna.

See you at the festival!


Enquires and interview requests:
Mari Rebane
press@headread.ee
503 7930

 

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