Viivi Luik

Viivi Luik (b. 6. XI 1946) is an Estonian poet and prose writer, one of the leading figures of the Estonian poetry revival in the 1960s and one of the most translated Estonian novelists.

Luik was born in Tänassilma, Viljandi county. Her father was an electrician, her mother worked in a kolkhoz. As a country child she did not have friends of her age, she learned to read at the age of three and quickly became a voracious reader. She went to several schools in Viljandi county and from 1962-1967 to secondary school through distance learning in Tallinn while working as a librarian and archivist. Since 1967 she is a professional writer, since 1970 member of the Estonian Writers’ Union. From 1964-1973 her husband was the writer and artist Jaan Paavle, from 1974 she has been married to the writer and diplomat Jaak Jõerüüt. As his spouse, Viivi Luik has lived in Helsinki (1993-1997), Rome (1998-2003) and New York (2004). As a stipendiate of various literary organisations she has lived Switzerland (1989 and 2003) and Berlin (2006). She has also travelled widely. In 2019 she received the Estonial National Lifetime Achievement Award for Culture.

Viivi Luik’s first poem was published in 1962 in the Viljandi newspaper Tee Kommunismile. In 1963 she won the first prize at the literary competition of the children’s magazine Pioneer, but only after editors of the magazine had visited the young author at her home and confirmed that the poems were not written by a grown-up. Her first poetry collection Pilvede püha (‘Holiday of Clouds’) was published in 1965 on the poetry cassette Noored autorid 1964 (‘Young Authors 1964’). It contained poems written from 1961-1963. Since then, she has published a dozen collections of poetry that contain both rhimed and free verse. Her first collections were mostly inspired by nature, but since her third poetry book Lauludemüüja (‘Songseller’, 1968) the urban setting has become dominant. What has been always a characteristic of Luik’s poems is “the other side”, revelatory or religious in a very broad sense that is reflected in the mundane details of modern everyday life. All of her poetry books are highly regarded, but many critics have described Luik’s collection Rängast rõõmust (‘Of Hard Joy’, 1982, Juhan Smuul prize in 1983) as an apotheosis of her characteristic sensitive mix of urban details and the eternal. Notable in her verses are subtle allusions to events of Estonian and world history in the 20th century. Her lyrics have been used in dozens of popular songs.

Rängast rõõmust is also Viivi Luik’s last collection of new poems; after that, only several editions of selected or collected poems have been published. However, in the 1980s, she reinvented herself as a prose writer. Her novel Seitsmes rahukevad (‘The Seventh Spring of Peace’, 1985) observes life in Estonian village after World War II through the eyes of a child. The novel received widespread acclaim and was translated into many languages. It also won the Juhan Smuul prize and The A.H. Tammsaare novel prize. Despite handling sensitive historical topics in her novel (Stalinist reforms, deportations, anti-Soviet guerrilla activity, destitution) Luik received the title of the Merited Writer of the ESSR in 1986.

Seitsmes rahukevad was followed by Ajaloo ilu (‘The Beauty of History’, 1991, the Estonian National Culture Award in 1992) where the plot unfolds in Tallinn, Riga and Tartu during the invasion of Soviet forces to Czech Republic to crush Prague Spring – an event that resonated strongly everywhere in Eastern Europe. In the novel, 21-year old unnamed Estonian woman falls in love with a sculptor of Jewish, Latvian and Russian descent and spends time alone in his apartment in Riga. Ajaloo ilu was also positively received. The introspective, modernist, history-sensitive and poetic language of Ajaloo ilu and Seitsmes rahukevad helped to shape the tone and style of Estonian prose innovation in 1990s, of which the works by Emil Tode (Tõnu Õnnepalu) and Ene Mihkelson are prime examples.

In 2010, Viivi Luik published an autobiographical novel Varjuteater (‘Shadow Play’, the Estonian National Culture Award in 2011) that reflects mostly on the author’s yearslong stay in Rome, but also on her time in Berlin and Helsinki. Varjuteater was also enthusiastically received and translated to several languages.

After 1991 when Estonia regained its independence Luik has also been an influential essayist. She has published four books of essays and articles, the more recent ones being Pildi ilu rikkumise paratamatus (‘The Inevitability of Spoiling the Beauty of Picture’, 2017) and Selle kevade tervitus (‘Greetings from This Spring’, 2020). The former won the Jaan Kross literary award in 2020.

Children and childhood has always been an important subject in Viivi Luik’s work. She is also known for her works for children: three storybooks about pensive teenage boy Leopold (published in 1974 and 1976, one of them won the Juhan Smuul prize) and poetry collections Tubased lapsed (‘Indoorsy Children’, 1979) and Kolmed tähed (‘Three Kinds of Signs’, 1987). Viivi Luik has also written a radio play and an opera libretto.

Besides the prizes mentioned above, Viivi Luik has won numerous others. They include yet another Juhan Smuul prize for the poetry collection Põliskevad (‘Ancient Spring’, 1975) and the Juhan Liiv poetry prize in 1988 for the poem “On aastasaja lõpp. On öö” (‘It’s the End of Century. It’s Night’). In 1995, Luik won the Badge of Honor of the Republic of Finland, and in 2000, the Order of the White Star, III Class. Additionally, she has received several scholarships, including the Swiss Writers’ Union Scholarship in 1989, the Swiss Bielefeld City Scholarship in 1993, a scholarship in Germany in 1996 and 2000, and a scholarship in England in 2000.

Several films has been made about Viivi Luik – in Estonian, Finnish and German.

M. K., S. V. (Translated by M. M. and S. V.)