Olivia Saar


Olivia Saar was an Estonian children's writer and poet, and a journalist and editor associated with major Estonian children's periodicals. She worked for decades on the children's magazine Pioneer and was among the founders of the magazine Täheke.

Life and career

Saar was born in Narva and grew up in Mäetaguse in Virumaa. She attended Mäetaguse primary school and the Rakvere Pedagogical School, graduating from the Tallinn Teachers' Institute in 1952 and from the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute in 1959, specialising in Estonian language and literature.
From 1952 to 1955 Saar worked in the editorial office of the children's newspaper Säde. From 1955 to 1987 she worked on the children's magazine Pioneer, and after the founding of Täheke she also worked in the joint editorial office of Pioneer and Täheke.
Later, she worked in the Estonian Book Society and in the registry of the Tallinn Children's Hospital. From 2006 to 2011 she served as a senior consultant on children's literature at TEA Publishers, where she initiated and compiled several children's book series and collections.
Saar was a member of the Estonian Writers' Union from 1982 until her death.

Writing

Saar's first standalone children's poetry collection, Tere, tere, tedretähnid, marked the start of a long publishing career in children's poetry; she went on to publish around thirty children's poetry collections.
Her best-known prose work for children is the humorous collection of allegorical stories Lõvi Lõrr ja jänes Jass, which has been reprinted in expanded editions and adapted for television.
In addition to children's literature, Saar published memoirs for adult readers, including Humalapuu and Kanarbikukartus, as well as the aphorism collection Hetked endas.

Awards and recognition

In 1988, Saar received the Karl Eduard Sööt Prize for Children's Poetry for Tuulelillede tuba. She received the prize again in 2019 for Tähed on taevatuled.
In 2017, Saar was awarded the Order of the White Star, V Class.
In 2019, Tallinna University named her among its "alumni of the century".
Her poem text "Naerulohkudega maailm" was included in the official repertoire of the 2019 Estonian Song Festival, set to music by Helin-Mari Arder.

Selected works

Tere, tere, tedretähnid Lõvi Lõrr ja jänes Jass Mängitud mängud Maasikamaiad Humalapuu Kanarbikukartus Hetked endas
  • ''Tähed on taevatuled''