Maarja Vaino

Maarja Vaino is an Estonian literary scholar. Since 2017, she has been the director of the.

Early life and education

Maarja Vaino was born in Tallinn, Estonia, the daughter of the art historian Sirje Helme and the politician Mart Helme.
Vaino graduated from Tallinn Pedagogical University with a bachelor's degree in Estonian philology, and she defended her dissertation cum laude in Estonian literary and cultural studies at Tallinn University in 2011; her dissertation title was Irratsionaalsuse poeetika A. H. Tammsaare loomingus. The dissertation received the main prize across disciplines and levels in the National Student Research Paper Competition, and it was selected as the best dissertation of 2012 in the humanities dissertation category in the Tallinn University Student Research Paper Competition. An expanded version of the dissertation intended for a broader audience was published as the book Tammsaare irratsionaalsuse poeetika.

Career

Vaino was the director of the from 2005 to 2016. Since 2017, she has been the director of the. Since 2015, Vaino has contributed as a columnist for the newspaper Postimees and as one of the authors of the daily commentaries on Vikerraadio.
From 2016 to 2020, she hosted the cultural program Vasar on Vikerraadio, and from the fall of 2020 to March 2024 she was one of the hosts of the program Loetud ja kiristeet. From 2022 to 2024, she was one of the hosts of the ETV2 program Kultuuristuudio. Arutelu. In 2019, she published a study of Mati Unt's work: Mati Undi hämaruse poeetika.
In 2019, Vaino was elected a. She is a member of the Estonian Writers' Union, the chairwoman of the board of the, a member of the literary group, a member of the ICOM International Committee for Literary Museums, and a member of the research committee of the Museum Council at the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

Works

2003: Meie lapse jõulusalmid. Tallinn: Kunst
2004: Meie lapse talvejutud. Tallinn: Kunst
2004: "Tammsaare Tõde ja õigus Foucault' võimukäsitluse raamistikus". Keel ja Kirjandus 9
2007: A. H. Tammsaare inimesest, elust, armastusest. Tallinn: Kunst
2007: Johannes Üksi, tegelane kirjanduse mitteteadvusest. Kirikiri
2007: Teistmoodi Tammsaare. Tallinn: A. H. Tammsaare Muuseum
2008: Gailit. Inimesest, elust, armastusest. Tallinn: Kunst
2010: A. H. Tammsaare Õnnelikest ja õnnetuist aegadest. Valik publitsistikat. Tallinn: Kunst
2010: "Anton Petrovitš ja sfääride muusika". Keel ja Kirjandus 7
2011: A. H. Tammsaare Armastusest ja lapselikkusest. Tartu: Ilmamaa
2011: Irratsionaalsuse poeetika A. H. Tammsaare loomingus. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikool
2014: "Ema jälg. Ema Tammsaare loomingus". Looming 6
2015: "Kassi maja. Kodu kuvand ja inimsuhted Mati Undi 1960.–1970. aastate loomingus". Keel ja Kirjandus 4
2016: Tammsaare irratsionaalsuse poeetika. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus
2018: A. H. Tammsaare ütlemisi. Tallinn: Tammerraamat
2019: Mati Undi hämaruse poeetika. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus
2024: Tõde ja õigus: kirjandus, mis kunagi valmis ei saa. Tallinn: Anton Hansen Tammsaare Muuseum

Awards and recognitions

2012: National Student Research Paper Competition, Cross-Disciplinary and Cross-Level Grand Prize
2012: Tallinn University Student Research Paper Competition, Best Doctoral Thesis in the Humanities Category
2013: Looming magazine's Critic of the Year
2019:
2019:
2021:
2023: Order of the White Star, 4th Class
2024:

Family

Maarja Vaino is the twin sister of the politician Martin Helme and the sister of the translation theorist and translator Triin van Doorslaer. Vaino has two children, and her partner is the literary scholar.