Agu Kask
Agu Kask (22./9. XI 1906 - 24. VII 1977) was an expatriate prose writer, whose novels describe the experiences of Estonians during turbulent times.
He was born in Vana-Tännassilma parish, Viljandi county, and studied in Viljandi. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper Päevaleht in Tallinn and at the State Broadcasting Company. During the war, he was a war correspondent on the eastern front. He fled to Germany in 1944, after that to Sweden in 1950 where he worked in industry. He passed away in Stockholm.
He started publishing his fiction in exile. His main theme is the events and post-war years of World War II and how Estonians fared in the whirlwind of turbulent times. The novels Võõra risti all ('Under a Foreign Cross', 1950) and Kartuse ja lootuse vahel ('Between Fear and Hope', 1952) describe a young woman’s life in the final years of World War II. Having married a German, the woman leaves Estonia but due to familial conflict finds herself in a war refugee camp, where the corrupt nature of other Estonians becomes evident. The novel Unustatud sugupõlv ('The Forgotten Generation', 1951) presents a soldier’s point of view on various issues such as the pointlessness of war. The novel Varjud udus ('Shadows in the Mist', 1956) depicts a young Estonian’s life in Soviet prison camps. Agu Kask's novels prioritize descriptions of events, which reflects the author’s experience as a journalist, and focus less on the psychology of characters. Preserving and remembering what happened is most important.
A. K. (Translated by A. S.)
Books in Estonian
Novels
Võõra risti all. Göteborg: Orto: 1950, 231 lk.
Unustatud sugupõlv. Göteborg, Toronto: Orto, 1951, 324 lk.
Kartuse ja lootuse vahel. Toronto: Orto, 1952, 236 lk.
Varjud udus. Lund: Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv, 1956, 344 lk.