Mart Sander (b. 10. VIII 1967) is a musician, stage director, writer and artist.
He was born in Tallinn, studied at the Tallinn School of Music, the Tallinn School of Choreography, the Georg Ots School of Music in Tallinn, the Estonian Institute of the Humanities, the Tallinn Pedagogical University and the Baltic Film and Media School (with a master’s degree in television directing); he is also pursuing a doctorate there.
Being multi-talented, he has worked in various fields, having been for example soloist in the band Modern Fox, the host of various television programmes, and taken part as a singer and actor in various dramatic and musical productions. He has also been a director, producer, theatrical artist, is involved in painting, and has written theatre and film criticism, scripts and novels.
Mercator, the first short story collection by Sander, who writes in both Estonian and English, appeared in 1994. He has written both fantasy and science fiction (such as Kõledad muinaslood, ‘Desolate Tales’, 2019) as well as works with a historical background, the most famous and popular of which is Litsid (‘Whores’; in three parts so far, 2015-2019), which, by placing the women of a so-called high-class gentlemen’s club at its centre, reveals the revolutionary years of the forties in Estonia. He is a skilful storyteller with a knack for exciting turns of events. A television series based on the books has been made; its first series was shown in 2018.
A. K. (Translated by C. M.)
Books in Estonian
Prose
Mercator: 2 novelli. Tallinn: Underwelt, 1994, 215 lk.
Litsid. Naiste sõda. Esimene raamat. Tallinn: Ajakirjade kirjastus, 2015, 279 lk.[2. trükk: 2018.]
Litsid. Naiste sõda. Teine raamat. Tallinn: Paradiis, 2016, 239 lk.
Lux graavis, ehk, Raske valgus. Tallinn: Paradiis, 2017, 319 lk. [Ingliskeelse esmaväljaande tõlge, ümbertöötatud ja täiendatud trükk.]
Litsid. Naiste sõda. Kolmas raamat. Tallinn: Tallinn: LiteRarity, 2019, 251 lk.
Kõhedad muinaslood. Tallinn: LiteRarity, 2019, 294 lk.
Children’s literature
Jõulurahu: tõestisündinud muinaslugu. Tallinn: LiteRarity, 2015, 80 lk.
Miscellaneous
Lugusid suurtest heliloojatest. Tallinn: Pilgrim, 2013, 112 lk.