Sirje Kiin

Sirje Kiin (from 1972 to 1989 Ruutsoo; b. 23. VIII 1949) is a literary scholar, critic, commentator and translator.

She was born in Viljandi and educated in Põltsamaa and Viljandi, studied Estonian philology at the Tartu State University (1967-1972), and from 1974 to 1978 was a postgraduate student of journalism. She gained her doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Turku in 2010 with the dissertation “Marie Under. Elu, luuletaja, identiteet ja teoste vastuvõtt” (‘Marie Under: Life, the Poet, Identity and Reception of Her Works’, 2009). She has worked on the newspaper Sirp ja Vasar, the journal Keel ja Kirjandus, the Theatre Association, the Estonian Cultural Foundation and the foreign committee of the Congress of Estonia; she has been a correspondent for Radio Free Europe, and a consultant to the Fatherland Union group of deputies in the Riigikogu. Since 2007 she has been freelance in the USA. She joined the Journalists’ Union in 1978, the Writers’ Union in 1988, the Estonian PEN Club in 1989 and is a member of several societies and organizations. She has belonged to the Wellesto literary group.

She started publishing poems and short prose in periodicals in 1964; in the seventies she also wrote longer articles about, and reviews of, literature and culture. The focus of her studies has been Estonian poetry; she has published monographs on Kersti Merilaas (1989) and Marie Under (2009). She is the script-writer for the documentary film about Under, Lauluga ristit (‘Baptized With a Song’, 1992) and a consultant on a film about Aino and Oskar Kallas, Põletav armastus (‘Burning Love’, 1997). She has written about Estonian-Finnish cultural relations. With Rein Ruutsoo and Andres Tarand she wrote the book 40 kirja lugu (‘The Story of the Letter of 40’, 1990), which dealt with the open letter of protest signed by 40 Estonian intellectuals in 1980 against the policy of Russification. She has compiled and edited various literary collections. Sirje Kiin’s articles are collected in the volume Kirjanduse vabadus ja vabaduse kirjandus (‘Freedom of Literature and the Literature of Freedom’, 2019).

A. K. (Translated by C. M.)



Books in Estonian

Literary criticism and studies
Kersti Merilaas: luuletaja elu. Monograafia. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1989, 268 lk.
Hirme ja arme: artikleid aastatest 1978-1992. Tallinn: Kupar, 1993, 303 lk.
Marie Under: elu, luuletaja ja identiteet ja teoste vastuvõtt. Tallinn: Tänapäev, 2009, 864 lk. [2. täiendatud trükk: 2011.]
Marie Underi Euroopa-reisid: kuuskümmend üks kirja tütardele 17. X 1918-13. V 1930. Tallinn: Go Group, 2010, 159 lk.
Pühendused. Mälestusi eesti kirjanikest. Tallinn: Hea Lugu, 2018, 190 lk.
Kirjanduse vabadus ja vabaduse kirjandus: artikleid, sõnavõtte ja (sise)arvustusi 1977-2019. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2019, 445 lk.

Poems
Mis sinust saab. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1989, 41 lk. [Luuletused keskmisele koolieale.]

Travelogues
Kas Ameerika on olemas?. Kirjad Madisonist 2005-2009. Tallinn: Tammerraamat, 2011, 367 lk.

Miscellaneous
Kõik sõltub kultuurist: valik tsenseerimata artikleid 1997-2003. Tallinn: S. Kiin, 2003, 63 lk.