Lii Unt
Lii Unt (until 1983, Lii Lomp; born 15. III 1960) is a prose writer and journalist.
She was born in Iisaku, Ida-Viru County. From 1972-1975, she studied in Kohila Secondary School and from 1975-1979, in the School of Light Industry. She has worked as a librarian; and from 1980-1992, as a makeup artist in Tallinn Youth Theater and from 1992-1994, in Von Krahl Theater. From 1996-1998, she worked as a journalist in the newspaper Eesti Ekspress, then as an editor in the magazines Stiil and Eesti Naine. She was married to writer Mati Unt.
Unt debuted in 1987 with poems in Estonian literary magazines. In the 1990s, she published modern psychological stories in the magazine Looming. In 1995, she published the novel Nemad on võitjad (‘They Are the Winners’), which takes a grotesque approach to the problems of creative talent and ambition.
After Mati Unt’s passing in 2005, Lii Unt went to India and stayed there for a while. While living in Varanasi, she wrote the novel Parim näitleja linnas. Varanasi päevaraamat (‘Best Actress in Town. Varanasi Diary’, 2007) based on her personal experience with grief. The novel, written in the form of a diary, is a mixture of styles. Its language is precise and the style short, the text is characterized by unexpected twists and comparisons. The author expresses the belief that in a society, which measures humans’ well-being through consumption, people’s natural dignity suffers. India teaches people to view life differently. In 2009, Illusioonimeistrid (‘Masters of Illusion’), the sequel to the Varanasi Diary, was published.
L. P. (Translated by A. A.)
Books in Estonian
Prose
Nemad on võitjad: romaan. Tallinn: Kupar, 1995, 190 lk.
Parim näitleja linnas. Varanasi päevaraamat. Tallinn: Eesti Ekspressi kirjastus, 2007, 152 lk.
Illusioonimeistrid. Varanasi päevaraamat. Tallinn: Menu Kirjastus, 2009, 214 lk.