Eva Koff
Eva Koff (née Rõuk; born 17 April 1973) is a prose writer and translator.
She was born and attended school in Tallinn and studied French language and literature at the University of Tartu. She has been a freelancer and has worked as a teacher. A member of the Estonian Writers’ Union from 2013.
She entered literature with the play Meie isa (‘Our Father’) which won the first prize at the playwriting competition of the Estonian Theatre Agency. The play which is based on the documentary book L’Adversaire by the French writer Emmanuel Carrère presents the children’s point of view of the story of a fraudster who has killed his close relatives. In 2005, Koff won the third prize at the playwriting competition of the Estonian Theatre Agency with her play for children Sabaga täht (‘Star with a Tail’). The youth play Mirr (2008) deals with estrangement and loneliness in the present-day society. Keerutädi (‘Swirling Aunt’, 2012), a warm-hearted story for smaller readers about the children of the Pelgulinn neighbourhood in Tallinn and the eccentric aunt won the first place at the Põlvepikuraamat (‘Books for Knee-high Readers’) competition. She has also written scripts for television and radio programmes for children and young people.
Her first novel for adults, Sinine mägi (‘Blue Mountain’, 2017) won the second prize at the novel competition of the Estonian Writers’ Union and in 2018 brought her the title of the Writer of the Year which is issued at the literature festival at Juhan Liiv Museum at Alatskivi. Through the life choices of three women characters, the novel consisting of fragments set in the initial and final decades of the 20th century views the unchangeability of the human essence. Koff was also awarded the title of the Writer of the Year for the novel Kirgas uni (‘Lucid Dream’, 2021) which revolves around an extraordinary event – seven people fall into an odd coma of sleep. The novel where the main themes are sleep, the circumstances and essence of dreams includes numerous references to various texts, characters and motifs.
Together with her husband, writer and translator Indrek Koff, Eva Koff manages the publishing company Härra Tee ja Proua Kohvi (‘Mr Tea and Mrs Coffee’).
A. K. (Translated by I. A.)
Books in Estonian
Novels
Sinine mägi. Tallinn: Varrak, 2017, 434 lk. [2. trükk: 2018.]
Kirgas uni. Tallinn: Härra Tee ja proua Kohvi, 2021, 264 lk.
Children’s books
Kust tulevad vastused?. Tallinn: Valgus, 2002, 128 lk.
Mirr. Tallinn: Kirjastuskeskus, 2008, 83 lk.
