Project Description
Jüri Talvet (born 1945 in Pärnu) is an Estonian poet and academic. He is the author of various literary works including poetry, criticism, and essays.
Talvet received his MA degree in English philology from the University of Tartu in 1972 and defended his PhD degree in Western European literature at Leningrad (St. Petersburg) University in 1981. Talvet works as a full-time Professor and Chair of Comparative Literature at the University of Tartu. He has chaired the Estonian Association of Comparative Literature since 1994. He is the editor of Interlitteraria, the annual international journal of comparative literature published by Tartu University Press. In addition to his university roles, Talvet has also worked as an Estonian translator of Spanish authors.
Talvet has been awarded the Estonian Annual Prize of Literature (1986), the Juhan Liiv Prize of Poetry (1997) and the Ivar Ivask Memorial Prize for poetry and essay (2002).
Published books:
Poetry: Äratused (Awakenings, Tallinn, 1981), Ambur ja karje (The Archer and the Cry, Tallinn, 1986), Hinge kulg ja kliima üllatused (The Soul’s Progress and Surprises of Climate, Tallinn, 1990), Eesti eleegia ja teisi luuletusi (Estonian Elegy and Other Poems, Tallinn, 1997), Kas sul viinamarju ka on? (Do You Have Also Grapes?, Tartu, 2001), Unest, lumest (From Dreams, from Snow, Tartu, 2005), Silmad peksavad une seinu (Eyes Beat the Walls of Sleep, Tartu, 2008), Elegía estonia y otros poemas (Valencia, 2002), Estonian Elegy. Selected Poems (Toronto, 2008), Del sueño, de la nieve (Antología 2001-2009) (Zaragoza, 2010)
Prose: Teekond Hispaaniasse (A Journey to Spain, Tallinn, 1985), Hispaaniast Ameerikasse (From Spain to America, Tallinn, 1992), Hispaania vaim (The Spanish Spirit, Tartu, 1995), Ameerika märkmed ehk Kaemusi Eestist (American Notes or Contemplations of Estonia, Tartu, 2000), Sümbiootiline kultuur (Symbiotic Culture, Tartu, 2005), Tõrjumatu äär (The Irrefutable Border, Tartu, 2005), A Call for Cultural Symbiosis (essay, Toronto, 2005)
Translations: Kadunud aja meri, Gabriel García Márquez (Tallinn, 1980), Tormese Lazarillo elukäik, (Tallinn, 1983), Valik luulet, Francisco de Quevedo (Tallinn, 1987), Käsioraakel ja arukuse kunst, Baltasar Gracián (Tallinn, 1993), Elu on unenägu, Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Tallinn, 1999), Suur maailmateater, Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Tartu, 2006), Sevilla pilkaja ja kivist külaline, Tirso de Molina (Tartu, 2006), On the Way Home: An Anthology of Contemporary Estonian Poetry, translated with H. L. Hix (New Delhi, 2006), Kindel kui linnulend, H. L. Hix (Tartu, 2007), Kohaühtsus, Carlos Vitale (Tartu, 2008)
Edited Books: Meel paremat ei kannata / The Mind Would Bear No Better, Juhan Liiv, translated with H. L. Hix (Tartu, 2007), Tuulehoog lõi vetesse, Juhan Liiv (Tallinn, 2007), Ameerika luule antoloogia. Poe’st, Whitmanist ja Dickinsonist XX sajandi lõpuni (Tartu, 2008)