Kätlin Kaldmaa


Kätlin Kaldmaa is an Estonian freelance writer, poet, translator and literary critic. Since 2010, Kaldmaa is the president of the Estonian PEN. In 2016 she was elected Secretary of the PEN International.

Early life and education

Kätlin Kaldmaa was born August 30, 1970, and grew up in Voore, in Jõgeva County. She was the second child of four. Her parents were veterinary technicians. Books have had an important role in Kaldmaa’s life since childhood, when reading and writing them became her favourite pastime. At 18, she moved to Tartu, where she studied Estonian philology at Tartu University. Later, she graduated in English philology from Tallinn University.

Career

From 1999 to 2006 Kaldmaa worked as an executive director at SDI Media Estonia, a company providing translation services for television. 2006–2010 she was the manager of the cultural news department of the daily newspaper Eesti Päevaleht, and the editor and publisher of its cultural supplement Arkaadia. 2009–2011 Kaldmaa was the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Lugu, from 2010–2016 the director of foreign relations at the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre. On the February 3rd 2010 the Estonian PEN was reestablished and Kaldmaa elected its president, a position she holds to this day. Since 2016 she works as a freelance writer and translator. She organises and performs at many literary events in Estonia and abroad. On 28 September 2016, at the 82nd PEN International Congress in Ourense, Spain, she was elected Secretary of PEN International.
Kaldmaa has written poetry, children’s books, prose and numerous other texts, including literature textbooks and exercise books for schools with Anni Kalm. The uniting elements of her work are magical realism, experimentation and play with language and form, and sharp, critical observations and analysis of different aspects of being human. Bravely and honestly she dissects topics such as death, pain, love, growing up and family. Many of her works contain social criticism and a feminist dimension. Poetry and prose are not sharply distinct literary categories for her, but intertwined and mutually supporting ways of writing and thinking. Kaldmaa has said that her poems are often born from ideas that don’t leave her alone, ideas that want to be expressed and are searching for a form.
Kaldmaa started her literary career as a translator, and most of her extensive language skills are self-taught. For Kaldmaa, translating and working with other translators is inspiring work, the best training for creative writing. She has translated over 70 literary works into Estonian from English, Finnish and Spanish. Her own poetry has been translated into numerous languages: Arabic, Japanese, Korean, and Galician, for example. Kaldmaa’s Lugu Keegi Eikellegitütre isast is the first children’s book by an Estonian author that has been translated into Icelandic, her Armastuse geograafia was the first collection of poetry by an Estonian author published in Arabic, and in 2017, Geografía del amor, based on Armastuse geograafia, became the first ever book of Estonian poetry published in Chile.

Publications in Estonian

Poetry

  • Larii-laree
  • Üks pole ühtegi/One is none
  • Nägemata ilmad
  • ''Armastuse tähestik''

Prose

  • Islandil ei ole liblikaid
  • ''Väike terav nuga''

Children's literature

  • Neli last ja Murka
  • Lugu Keegi Eikellegitütre isast
  • ''Halb tüdruk on jumala hea olla''

Essays

  • ''Kolmteist Eesti kirja''

Autobiographical works

  • Õnn on otsuse küsimus
  • ''Kaks armastuslugu''

Publications in other languages

Multilingual

Arabic

English

  • ''One Is None''

Finnish

Islannissa ei ole perhosia Rakkauden aakkoset
  • ''8+8. Eesti ja Soome luulet / 8+8. Suomalaista ja virolaista runoutta. I''

Galician

  • ''Eno mar cabe quant’i quer caber''

Hungarian

  • Breviárium
-Izlandon nincsenek lepkék

Icelandic

  • ''Einhver Ekkineinsdóttir''

Latvian

  • Būt sliktai meitenei ir dievīgi ''

Russian

Новые oблака, 3-4 2016
  • ''Октябрь: БЕРЕГ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ. Новое слово Латвии, Литвы, Эстонии''

Spanish

  • ''Geografía del amor''

Selection of translations into Estonian

Awards and honors